Clark Township Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously approved four variances Tuesday night, June 24, one for a porch extension and three for oversized storage structures.

Kara and Greg Guertin, Marquette residents who recently bought a home on Hodeck Street in Cedarville, will build an 8-foot by 24-foot covered porch on the front of the house. The porch is non-conforming because it will be 26 feet from the front lot line, instead of the 35 feet required by the ordinance.

There were no objections from neighbors, and board member Mike Lofdahl moved to grant a variance, because doing so would allow substantial improvements to the building, and would not hinder the use of properties around the house. The Guertins have told the township they plan to remodel the entire exterior of the building this summer.

Rex and Virginia Wisner of Cedarville received a varience for a 24-foot by 40-foot addition to their 36-foot by 40-foot garage. Building the addition would have exceeded the maximum allowable square footage of 1,200 square feet (or 10% of the lot) for an accessory building. The 12-foot-high addition will hide automobiles and snowmobiles from view, Mrs. Wisner said.

No complaints were received.

The zoning board of appeals reversed a 2006 decision to allow a storage building as a principal structure on Chuck Albright's commercial lot on Island View Road in Hessel. Mr. Albright and Lea Brunson now want to build a home with an attached garage and tear down a smaller garage. The 28-foot by 42-foot chalet-style home will be a mainland residence for the couple, who have a cottage on Marquette Island. He had planned to park a fifth-wheel trailer there, but Clark Township is planning to forbid the practice of camping in recreational vehicles for extended periods.

The board removed the principal structure designation of the existing storage building on the lot and placed it on the proposed house.

Joyce and Henry VanderWerp will attach a 12-foot by 25-foot carport to an existing 30-foot by 40- foot garage on Pennsylvania Lane in Cedarville. The VanderWerps requested the addition in 2005 when they requested a variance to build the garage, which would have exceeded the maximum allowable accessory building square footage with the proposed, attached, 10-foot by 40-foot "lean-to." They were denied a variance to build the "leanto" at that time. Since then, Mr. VanderWerp wrote in a letter to the board, neighbors have complimented the appearance of the existing structure, and have no objections to the addition. The garage and addition are screened from view of the road by large trees, he said, and the VanderWerps need more space to store their boat and trailer.

Mr. Lofdahl's motion to approve the addition noted the structure will be screened from view and will not impede the use of neighbors' properties.

The next Zoning Board of Appeals variance hearing will be Tuesday, July 22, at 7 p.m., when members will hear a request to tear down and rebuild an existing boathouse at the Hunt property on Marquette Island.