The Clark Township Planning Commission is asking that the township Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) not approve building variances based on the new township zoning ordinance, which is not yet approved. The commission doesn't want residents constructing or developing beyond what is legal under the current zoning ordinance while the new ordinance is under final review.

The request comes on the heels of a variance approved by the ZBA Tuesday, August 4, for James and Debra White on Island No. 8 to extend the height of their garage. The Whites plan to live in the extended space above the garage while their home on Forrest Lane is reconstructed.

"A lot of the decision-making is based on the fact that, under the new ordinance, that would be a legal situation," said commissioner Joe Eger, who is also the commission liaison to the ZBA. "I think we ought to let the ZBA know they're really in violation by doing that. They're giving a variance, but it would have been otherwise shot down."

Commissioner Eger is concerned that too much time will pass before the new ordinance is finally approved and he doesn't want a multitude of variances approved based on that document in the meantime.

The new zoning ordinance has been under review by the Clark Township Board of Trustees since March. The township board is reviewing the 23 articles of the ordinance in increments and passing along their notes and recommendations to the planning commission as completed. The new ordinance is already approved by the township planning commission and the Mackinac County Planning Commission.

The ZBA approved a similar request by Steven and Kathy Fountain to extend the height of their garage to 24.5 feet in March, anticipating the approval of the new ordinance. The current zoning ordinance allows garages to be 18 feet in height, and the new ordinance, when approved, will allow such structures to be up to 25 feet in height.

In other news, the planning commission tabled its review of zoning ordinance articles seven, nine, and 10 at its Tuesday, August 11, meeting owing to not enough commissioners present. The commission wants to have more of the commissioners who helped write the new ordinance on hand when reviewing the township board's recommendations.

"We should really have more people involved here that were involved in the original time put into this," said Commissioner Steve Honnila. "I really think that we should, in order to make the right decisions, we should probably take these home to read them closer."

Commissioners Honnila, Eger, Vaughn Rye, Gary Wellnitz, Mike Freel, and John Grenier attended last week's meeting, and commissioners Jeff Davis, Pam Thompson, and Paul Smith were absent. Commissioners Freel, Grenier, Honnila, Eger, Davis, and Smith helped pen the new ordinance, which was started in May 2007, and completed in December 2008.

The commission expects to review the recommendations to those three articles during its Tuesday, September 22, meeting as well as subsequent articles approved by the township board.