Everyone who is interested in the future growth or even the survival of Cheboygan County must attend the April 11, 2017 Cheboygan County Board of Commissioners Finance/Business Meeting.
Who do the Cheboygan County Board of Commissioners represent?
It will not be Cheboygan County residents if these three individuals, County Administrator Jeff Lawson, Community Development Director Steve Schnell, and Legal Counsel Bryan Graham; none of who reside in Cheboygan County; have their way.
Item 15 on the agenda is a "closed session", behind closed doors private meeting, not open to the people who will be governed by the "Language-Draft Proposal" Planned Unit Development Zoning Ordinance (PUD). The staff and legal counsel ignore our rights and think proposed laws governing our land use should be discussed, influenced, and decided upon in closed doors sessions.
In simple terms, a PUD could facilitate a major mixed retail development (Meijer), a unique innovative healthcare development (Heritage Cove), or a huge mixed residential/retail/ accommodation development (Bay Harbor). It would empower Cheboygan County to think beyond the narrow confines of failed Ordinance #200 and its 139 amendments.
Michigan Law offers two paths for a PUD. This link to an MSUE article explains the process.
The first process allows the elected officials, our County Commissioners, to have final oversight and approval of a PUD. That does not mean they will rewrite or ignore the laws. It simply means they should, as our elected representatives, have the opportunity to represent their constituents when major or controversial developments are proposed.
The second, allegedly simple and more streamlined process, means the Community Development staff and Planning Commission base an administrative decision solely on standards spelled out in detail in the zoning ordinance. That means decisions based on the failed standards in Ordinance #200.
The Heritage Cove application was approved at the administrative and Planning Commission level and is still embroiled in lawsuits after more than two years. It was a victim of an archaic use of definitions and administrative delays caused by staff attempting to work with failed zoning standards. The Meijer project should have been a PUD but the Community Development Department was again unprepared. The chosen Meijer site required rezoning contrary to the year old Master Plan and approval by the County Commissioners. It is still delayed by infrastructure needs unforeseen and ignored by the Community Development Department.
Please attend this meeting on April 11th and protest the planned "closed session" where our property rights will be decided. I encourage each of you to stand at the podium and remind the Commissioners that we do not live in a totalitarian society ruled upon by a board making decisions in secrecy.
Cheboygan County Board of Commissioners
MISSION STATEMENT
Cheboygan County officials and staff will strive to provide public services in an
open and courteous manner and will responsibly manage county resources.
Finance/Business Meeting
April 11, 2017
9:30 a.m.
Agenda
15. CLOSED SESSION – Pursuant to MCL 15.268(h) Planned Unit Development Zoning Ordinance
Language - Draft Proposal
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