Planning Board Places Time Limit on Variances
By Ryan Schlehuber

Minor zoning changes were recommended to St. Ignace City Council by the Planning Commission at its meeting Wednesday, May 23. One recommendation is to require anyone who has been granted a zoning variance to obtain a building permit within one year.

City building inspector Paul Sved made that and other suggestions to correct omissions in the ordinance.

Under the recommendation, if a building permit is not obtained within a year, the variance will expire and the process of requesting a variance, which includes a $100 fee, will have to be repeated.

If a building permit is allowed to expire for lack of progress on the project, the variance will also expire, said Mr. Sved. Building permits also have a life span of one year, but can be extended as long as there is steady progress on construction or a legitimate reason for delays.

Mr. Sved and City Manager Eric Dodson both said since the issue of incorporating an expiration date on variances was brought up last month and reported in The St. Ignace News, the city has received no complaints.

St. Ignace has nine outstanding variances.

The word "ground" was removed from the ordinance referring to the city's R-1 and R-2 districts.

In the ordinance for R-1 districts, it states "a one family dwelling shall contain a minimum total ground floor area of 1,000 square feet and a minimum volume of 8,000 cubic feet."

Ground should be removed, Mr. Sved said, because a two-story home, 24 feet by 28 feet, could have a floor area of 672 square feet and not meet zoning requirements. The second floor, however, he said, would provide the necessary area to meet the 1,000-square-foot minimum.

The same example could also be used for the R-2 district ordinance, he explained.

Mr. Sved's final suggestions, which Planning Commission agreed with, were to require bed and breakfast operations to maintain a log book for the city to review and to implement a review process for establishment of a bed and breakfast.

"We don't keep track of them in any way," said Mr. Sved. "Someone should at least know where these B and B's are, and follow up with them."

He knows of only three bed and breakfast operations in the city, he said, but there could be more.

Mr. Dodson said he will see what kind of review process other communities have to gather ideas that could be used in St. Ignace.

The process of establishing a tower and antenna ordinance is slowly progressing, Mr. Dodson told the Planning Commission. The issue was brought up last month following discussion of the state's plans to dismantle the unused police communications tower on Amelia Street, and the possibility of a Nextel antenna tower being constructed on First Street.

The proposed ordinance must be sensitive to air traffic regulations and obstruction concerns, said Mr. Dodson.

The ordinance must include maintenance regulations and plans for dismantling any tower or antenna that is inactive, said Commission Chairman Art Underwood.

No action was taken on the issue.

Bob Boynton has resigned from the Planning Commission because of a busy work schedule, he announced in a letter. Mayor Paul Grondin said he will begin gathering names of interested people to fill the seat, and may advertise its availability in the newspaper, at the suggestion of Commissioner Fred Strich.

Other commissioners include Mr. Underwood, Mr. Strich, Renee Vonderwerth, Susan Tamlyn- Massaway, and Mike Lilliquist.

The Planning Commission's next meeting will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 20.