Despite an outcry from neighboring property owners, lots 22 and 23 in Hessel were rezoned from residential to commercial Thursday, April 30. The Clark Township Board of Trustees voted 4-1 to rezone the lots at a public hearing and special meeting attended by about 35 area residents.

The two lots were rezoned with the conditions that the lots are to be used for parking and storage of vehicles and boats only, allow access to the property to the north, that a landscape buffer be installed and maintained, and that no structure, other than one related to single family residential use, be placed on either parcel.

The rezoning is the latest in a series of steps to legally turn lot 22 into a parking lot to accommodate members of the Hessel Harbor Association, which are deeded parking space for one car with their dock. The lot has been improperly used for parking by the association since it formed in 2000, however, has been overlooked because of its preexisting use for parking since the early 1990s.

Brad Koster, president of the association, plans to apply for a special land use permit to the Clark Township Planning Commission as the final step to allow a parking lot as a permitted use on lot 22. He said lot 23 will not be developed for use.

Clark Township Trustee Mike Lofdahl was the lone dissenting vote. He believes the rezoning will lower values of neighboring residential properties and make those properties difficult to sell in the future.

"Having been on the township zoning board for four years, my main philosophy has always been, as long as the people are not hurting the property values or the property around them, it's all right," he said. "I find this is definitely hurting the property values of the people in residential areas around that. Property values of people who bought property there did not envision this happening."

Although Mr. Lofdahl didn't have the support of the board, he did have the support of nearly all of the audience members who addressed it.

Ireta Vaught lives on Island View Road property east of lot 22 that's been in her family since the 1930s. She doesn't want to see the commercial zone in Hessel expand.

"I'd like to see this area remain residential. It's been a nice quiet area to live in until all this happened. I'd just like to see it made nice for the people who live there. We're the ones who are affected, not everyone else in the township," she said.

Julie Dumbauld, who lives across from lot 22 on Hillcrest Lane, complained about noise coming from large equipment used by Mertaugh Boat Works to move boats between its storage facility on M-134 and the water.

"Your home is supposed to be your sanctuary," she said. "It's so noisy there, it's like living in the middle of a construction zone."

The south side of the storage facility borders the north side of lot 22, allowing Mertaugh Boat Works, which is owned by Mr. Koster, to use it as a path to move boats to and from its dock area on Hessel Point Road. Mr. Koster also owns lot 35 between Hillcrest Lane and Hessel Point Road, completing the path. A front-end loader pulls a hydraulic boat lift to move the boats to and from the water.

"We have the permits and done everything necessary to use our property, which we have on both sides of Hillcrest Lane," Mr. Koster said.

Two of the eight people to address the board showed support for the rezoning. Gary Tassier, who is a member of the Hessel Harbor Association, said if lot 22 is allowed to be used for parking, it will help alleviate a lack of parking in downtown Hessel without creating an excess of traffic.

"As we all know, there is a terrific parking problem in Hessel. I think the Harbor Association addresses this problem... I just don't see that much of an increase in traffic on that road. That lot probably has maybe only eight cars in it at any time of the year" other than during boat show weekend, he said.

Cedarville resident Mike McMaken also supported the rezoning and said neighboring property owners should have anticipated noise and commotion when buying property bordering a commercial district.

Supervisor Gerald Hill received applause for his comments about the need for more parking.

"Take Cedarville," he said, com paring it to Hessel: "We have an athletic field and football field near the high school. On a Friday night, there might be 200 to 300 cars that go through after the game's over and we never hear a complaint."

"When I saw the proposal and saw that it was a private individual putting boat dockage in and also car parking spots close enough to the boat tie-up, I thought, 'It's a miracle. Here's something we've looked for 40-some years.'"

Nearby property owner Greg Malcho, who requested the public hearing along with Curtis and Ireta Vaught, Gary and Julie Dumbauld, and Elizabeth Malcho, said he plans to appeal the decision with the Clark Township Zoning Board of Appeals.

"The next step, as I understand it, is to appeal to the Zoning Board of Appeals. We've had an attorney advise us to that effect, so that's going to be our next step," he said.