The review process to update the Clark Township Zoning Ordinance is waiting on the Clark Township Board of Trustees. The Clark Township Planning Commission has reviewed and accepted most of the township board's review notes thus far and is waiting for the board to send more articles for the commission's final review. The only revisions not accepted by the planning commission were the board's suggestion to scrap article nine completely, which outlines landscaping requirements for new commercial developments. The commission hopes to find some middle ground with the board to include the article, as commissioners believe setting landscaping requirements is important for beautification.

Updates to the ordinance and its 23 articles were completed by the planning commission and handed over to the township board for review in March. The board is reviewing the individual articles and recommending changes to the planning commission for final revision before being enacted. Eight of the articles are approved by both groups. The planning commission is waiting for the township board to complete its review of the remaining articles.

The planning commission reviewed article 10, zoning districts, Tuesday, October 13, to catch itself up with the township board's revisions. The commission accepted each of the board's additions and deletions, including updates to the zoning district table of permitted uses.

The additions to the table of uses will give the township better defined control of what types of structures can be built in which districts, Commissioner John Grenier said. The goal is to encourage development in the area.

"My initial reaction when I looked at this was suddenly it got more restrictive, but then it became clear that it actually makes it less restrictive," he said.

Several "special uses" for future developments, which will require special use permits under the new ordinance, were added to most districts, including civic and social organizations will be allowed in resort, single-family residential, rural residential, industrial, and light industrial districts, and philanthropic institutions will be allowed in commercial, industrial, and light industrial districts. Other special uses to be allowed with permits are: apartments, two-family, and multiplefamily dwellings in commercial districts; charitable organizations in industrial and light industrial districts; retirement, assisted living, and nursing homes in agricultural, resort, single-family, and rural residential districts, and public utility buildings in industrial and light industrial districts.

Under the proposed ordinance, hunting cabins will be permitted, without special use permits, in agricultural, resort, single-family, and rural residential districts, and community buildings will be permitted in industrial and light industrial districts. Charitable and civic organizations will also be permitted in commercial districts under the revised table of uses.

Article Nine: Landscaping

The planning commission and the township board have different views on the impact of setting minimum standards for commercial landscaping. The township board feels that guidelines in the article will discourage future development from coming to Clark Township owing to an extra cost to developers, while the planning commission feels the article will beautify new businesses that do come and keep minimum landscaping standards. The township board wants to scrap the entire article.

Township Clerk Mike Miller, who attended the planning commission meeting last week, recommended to commissioners that they send the article back to the township board with suggestions on finding middle ground to leave the article in.

The planning commission will discuss, at its November meeting, possible reductions in landscaping requirements, which were previously reported in the September 17, edition of The St. Ignace News, from the article to appease the township board to have some form of the landscaping article in the zoning ordinance.