Planning Commission Moves to Update Surplus Property List
IRONWOOD, MI - Sunday, November 08, 2009 - The Ironwood Planning Commission (IPC) held their regular monthly meeting Wednesday evening. The meeting was held in the Community Development Conference Room on the second floor of the Ironwood Memorial Building at 213 South Marquette Street, Ironwood, Michigan.
1. Call Regular Meeting to Order - The meeting was called to order by Planning Commission Chairman John Wyssling at 5:30 PM.
2. Recording of the Roll - IPC Secretary Jane Bowman recorded the roll. All members were present except Eric Lytwyniuk, who was excused: (1) Margaret Rayner; (2) Jackie Powers; (3) John Wyssling; (4) Sam Davey; (5) LeRoy Johnson; and (6) Bob Burchell (Ex Officio Member). Also in attendance was City Assessor/Building Inspector Dennis Hewitt. Representing the media at Wednesday night's meeting were Ralph Ansami, Daily Globe, and yours truly.
3. Oath of Office: Courtland Geib - When John Wyssling read item #3 of the agenda, "Oath of Office for Courtland Geib," Secretary Bowman said, "Courtland!"
Geib responded, "I do!"
"Okay!" Bowman said as the Commission laughed. She handed Geib his written oath of office. He read the document and signed it making him an official member of the Commission.
Geib, who was formerly a member of the Commission is filling the unexpired term left vacant by the resignation of Debbie Bowles.
4. Approval of the Minutes - The Commission unanimously approved the October 7th, 2009, regular meeting minutes, without discussion.
5. Approval of the Docket - Prior to approving the docket, Chairman Wyssling asked that that the Commission discuss a variance request that will be going before the Board of Zoning Appeals so that they will be prepared in the event that the request be sent back to the IPC. The amended docket was then unanimously approved.
6. Citizens Addresses - Denise Schroeder, 115 West Pine Street, told the Commission that she was the person who was about to go before the Board of Zoning Appeals (BOZA) to which Chairman Wyssling previously eluded. She explained that the garage that was attached to her house collapsed due to snow load last winter. She said she would like to rebuild a garage in the same footprint that was occupied by the existing structure. She indicated that she has hired Chuck Gotta from Little Bear Construction to rebuild the garage. She said that she ran into issues with the City this fall when she went to apply for the building permit.
Dennis Hewitt told the Commission that the existing garage does not meet the minimum setback requirement of 8 feet and that a new garage in the same footprint would not be allowed. He said the current garage has only a 5 foot setback. He said once the building is razed to rebuild the structure, the new structure would have to meet the 8 foot setback requirement.
Commissioner Rayner suggested that the variance should be easy to obtain considering it was simply to rebuild an existing structure. Hewitt pointed out that the time-consuming process of setting up the variance request would be the biggest problem, considering winter is on its way.
Commissioner Davey questioned the need for a variance, stating that he recalled previous discussions on the new ordinance that allowed a homeowner to rebuild on the existing footprint in such a case.
Wyssling explained that the rules for an attached garage are different than an unattached garage. He said, according to Hewitt, because the garage is attached, the larger setback was required.
Davey said he believed that even a house that was going to be rebuilt on the same footprint wouldn't require a variance request according the the new ordinance.
After considerable discussion on the matter, Commissioner Johnson found the new ordinance and pointed out that a variance was not required provided the building was to occupy the same footprint as the structure it was replacing. (30-290)
According to Johnson, the ordinance only required the approval of the Zoning Administrator. Dennis Hewitt agreed to make arrangements with the homeowner to allow the construction of the garage to begin. Ms. Schroeder was also informed that the $250 she paid for the variance request would also be refunded.
OLD BUSINESS
7. Project Updates - Wyssling explained that Project Updates were usually given by the Community Development Director, Dan Petersen. Since he was no longer with the City, Wyssling told the Commission that they would move on to the next agenda item.
NEW BUSINESS
8. Surplus Property List - The City Commission requested that the properties on the Surplus Property list be updated to match the current appraised values. It was mentioned at the previous City Commission meeting that the values of the properties did not match the current appraised value.
After considerable discussion the IPC agreed to have the List updated to meet the recently reassessed values. They also agreed to change the title of the "Minimum Bid" column to "Assessed Value." A IPC subcommittee will review the properties with Dennis Hewitt and after the new values are established, a new list will be sent back to the IPC for their approval.
9. Citizens Addresses - There were no citizens wishing to address the Commission on non-agenda items.
10. Other Business - Chairman Wyssling pointed out that the next meeting of the IPC would be on December 2nd, and that, according to Jane Bowman, there are no pressing issues that need to be addressed at this time. The Commission agreed that there would be no meeting on December 2nd unless something came up that needed to be addressed.
11. Adjournment - Prior to adjournment, Wyssling congratulated Bob Burchell for being elected Mayor. He said that Noren was a good leader over the past several years. He indicated that he was very pleased with the direction things were going. He told Burchell that the Planning Commission was at the Commission's disposal to move on. "Don't forget about us!" Wyssling warned.
