The Suttons Bay Township Planning Commission has been working on an overhaul of their zoning ordinances for many years, according to Zoning Administrator Steve Patmore.
At their Aug. 14 meeting, the township board retained services from the civil engineering and community planning firm Giffels Webster to see the changes through to adoption.
Back in April, the township board approved a contract with Giffels Webster to review the overhaul so far. Upon completing their review, the planning firm concluded the document “need(ed) some structural and content changes to be clear, concise, and functional,” according to Patmore.
They proposed a $24,000 work plan, to include updating the ordinance format, facilitating workshop/study sessions to obtain public engagement, and helping facilitate the public hearing and eventual adoption. The township board approved this contract Wednesday on the unanimous recommendation of the planning commission.
The contract also says Giffels Webster will finalize the document after adoption. Patmore said that the final document would be kept at the village offices, rather than uploaded digitally to the cloud, which he views as a positive.
The board also approved a second proposal from Giffels Webster to update the township master plan for $37,020 over two fiscal years. Patmore said that the plan was developed in 2011 and reviewed in 2016. The planning commission reviewed it again this spring and determined that it needed to be updated, to remove references to Suttons Bay Village among other things.
In other business, the board approved the appointment of township resident Deon Vaughan to the Suttons Bay-Bingham District Library board of trustees as a representative from Suttons Bay Township.
As a late addition to their August meeting agenda, the board approved a quote from KAL Excavating of Omena for tilling, with topsoil and seed, at Ice Rink Park on 214 W. Broadway St., for a cost not to exceed $7,000.
“If we wanted a flatter area for the ice-skating rink this winter, we need to probably get this done, rather than wait ‘til September or October,” Township Trustee Debbie Slocombe said.
Earlier this month, the board held an Aug. 1 special meeting, where they approved increasing a contract with Intex Painting to paint the pavilion/gazebo at Herman Park by $4,762, from $20,080 to $24,842. According to the meeting minutes, the contract price went up because using white requires an extra coat of paint.
