12/09/2006

Zoning amendment approved

Resort district guidelines in tune with master plan

By
Record-Eagle staff writer

TRAVERSE CITY — Elmwood Township officials approved a zoning ordinance amendment they previously rejected, correcting a situation the township's attorney said exposed it to "horrendous” legal liability.

The new Rural Resort zoning language brings guidelines for the commercial resort district in line with the township's master plan. Township planning commissioners spent about 10 months drafting the proposed amendment with help from Val Lazdins, a planning consultant hired to help revamp the township's zoning ordinance.

The township board in October rejected the amendment on a 4-2 vote. On Wednesday it reversed that decision, voting 6-1 to adopt the new language.

Lazdins said state zoning law requires that local zoning ordinances reflect the vision outlined in a community's master plan.

"That really should be your Bible or encyclopedia you refer to as you make these decisions,” he said.

The RR-1 district includes 230 acres on M-72 that Wisconsin-based Wilderness Development Inc. proposed for the Glacier Bay Resort hotel and water park. Planning commissioners started work on the amendment while processing the Glacier Bay application.

Wilderness Development pulled its application in May, saying time was running out on a contingent offer to purchase the property.

Trustee Terry Lautner cast the lone vote against adopting the ordinance amendment. He said the new zoning language is too restrictive.

"Nobody in their right mind would want to do anything in these districts,” Lautner said. "We need the development in the township.”

Township attorney Jim Young recommended the board adopt the amendment then deal with possible changes to the ordinance or the master plan. He said if a developer pushed on with an application through the existing resort commercial ordinance, the township could face disastrous financial consequences if it were sued.

"The liability is horrendous,” he said. "The damages would have been horrendous. That's what you're facing if you do nothing.”

The intent of the Rural Resort district is to maximize and protect the township's rural residential character by "permitting resorts with limited commercial development that satisfy market needs of the local community.” A commercial resort would be required to devote at least 65 percent of the site to open space or unpaved outdoor recreation areas.