Planning Commission Meets Wednesday

IRONWOOD, MI - by Keri Singleton - Friday, March 5, 2010 - There was a regular meeting of the Ironwood Planning Commission on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010, at 5:50 PM. The meeting was held in the Community Development Conference Room, on the second floor of the Municipal Memorial Building, downtown Ironwood, Michigan.

The meeting was called to order at 5:30 PM by Chairman John Wyssling.

All members present: Jane Bowman, Margaret Rayner, Eric Lytwyniuk, Leroy Johnson, Jackie Powers, John Wyssling, Dennis Hewitt, Cortland Geib, Rick Semo, and Tom Bergman.

All were in favor of a motion to approve the February 3, 2010 Public Hearing/Regular Meeting Minutes.

The docket was approved with one additional point added by John Wyssling. The purchase of a lot will be brought up under other business.

Jeanne Saari was a citizen wishing to address the Commission on Agenda Items (3 minute Limit).

OLD BUSINESS

Update on sale of 8 acre parcel (City owned property north of Ayer Street) to Farmhaus, LLC. Dennis Hewitt said it has been a few years and Farmhaus has an option to purchase the property. Dennis said that Farmhaus renewed his option, which was running out last June. Farmhaus then went to the City Commission and offered to purchase it for $20,000. The Commission had originally agreed to it with some stipulations on the reversionary clause and such, so they asked the City Attorney to redo the contract with Farmhaus, and they also asked for an appraisal. The appraisal, said Hewitt, finally came in about a month ago, for 8.29 acres at $23,000. Farmhaus had offered $20,000 for eight acres. The City Commission then decided to bring it back to the Planning Commission for any remaining questions. The last thing Mr. Hewitt knew, the plan for the property was for townhouses. The was a two-year reversionary clause when this started, and Farmhaus was asking for a longer time because of the economy. The offer for $20,000 is still on the table.

Farmhaus is under option, and the money was to go for the Downtown Blueprint. Dennis said that there are minutes in the packets they received that said the Commission approved it at that time.

Dennis said as of now, they have heard nothing from Hovey.

Jackie Powers asked about a decision to freeze all surplus property sales until assessed values are updated. She asked why there was an appraisal when the buyer is locked into $20,000. An appraisal is required by ordinance. John Wyssling said an appraisal is an opinion of value, no matter what appraiser appraises it. He gives a fairly scientific opinion based on sales he finds at the time, but it is an opinion of value. Based on that, there was an offer of $20,000 to the City. Mr. Wyssling said that basically, if this is in line with the option agreement and he has followed through with the other part, there should be somewhere where there is a written offer of purchase, or at least an offer to the City. Dennis Hewitt said that Farmhaus came to the Commission with his option agreement, and wanted to exercise his option to purchase.

Dennis said that they had a legal description that was drawn up for the Hovey Project. There is no legal for this parcel; however, there is a legal for the whole thing, and they need to put a new legal description together for Farmhaus. The property is currently zoned at C3, which is highway commercial. The property will have to be rezoned to allow for the townhouses. The Master Plan will have to be updated to allow for the rezoning. Tom Bergman said it would be wise to find out what happens when you go against the Master Plan. Margaret Rayner said there have been cases where small parcels have been purchased and they have asked to have the zoning changed. If the requests are reasonable, they are usually granted. Tom Bergman said they are in a difficult situation, because something should be in place to guide them. All they have are existing ordinances. Tom said when you have new ordinances it’s hard to tell where the Master Plan comes into play. He said it would be good for them to get some guidance in general. He said his instinct is that they need to have something in place to guide them. Even though the ordinance tells them their rules for the day, when it comes to rezoning, it is like looking into the future.

Margaret Rayner said that the zoning was done to be consistent with the other end, which was residential, when Hovey came.

Mr. Schonberg is still interested in the property, and is not sure how soon he could build. One extension has been granted already. John Wyssling said that the idea of the Reversionary Clause is to instigate action, changing the tax base.

A question was asked whether or not this property was ever put out for bids. It was not. Originally, there wasn’t any appraisal of the property, it wasn’t advertised for bids, but Schonberg got an option to buy it. It was decided that the City violated their own ordinance. Now it all needs to be corrected, and the first step is to get an appraisal of the property, step two is to advertise the property (if the council wants to sell it, as the option was expired and an offer was made on an option). The question is whether or not the City can put an option on surplus property that has never been done before.

A motion was made to table the issue until they get a legal opinion on clarification on zoning, and the legality of the option, but that the appraisal be considered valid on the 8.29 acres. Motion was supported, all in favor.

Update on Draft Access Management Ordinance Amendments

John Wyssling said he attended a meeting in Bessemer with City Manager Scott Erickson, with MDOT(Michigan Department of Transportation). Access Management has to affect the entire US2 Corridor. They are trying to make a uniform ordinance for the County, affecting the highway passage through our area. John said they need to review the Access Management Draft before the next MDOT meeting in April. There are things in it that are not Ironwood specific. They are to the point of getting it ready to be part of the Comprehensive Plan for the County. Ironwood Township, Ironwood, Bessemer, and Wakefield are weighing in on this. Access Management is talking about how the highway goes through curve cuts. Drawings in the draft as well. John asked the members to read it and see if there is anything to add to or delete from the ordinance. Mr. Wyssling said he is sure that the Planning Commission’s next meeting is before MDOT’s next meeting. Leroy Johnson asked if the C-3 district will be expanded because of the demands of this new ordinance. John Wyssling said that in 2008, they were supposed to have by 2010 a rebuild of their highways. It got put on the back burner for 2013, and now has been put back to 2015. They need two years to apply for visual enhancement grants that go with Access Management going into effect. Mr. Wyssling said they have a very good chance of getting Visual Enhancement Grants at the same time, so the City can do improvements along the highway while things are being built. John Wyssling urged members to contact him with any comments or questions about the Draft. At the next meeting, they are to bring back their recommendations. MDOT wants US2 to be uniform all the way across the US2 Corridor. The question for April is whether or not they can live with the Draft.

Comprehensive Plan Review

Margaret Rayner said that when she talked to Scott Erickson, he said legally they cannot start a comprehensive plan update. There is a legal process by the State of Michigan that has to be followed and there is a dollar amount between $60,000 and $80,000 that has to be earmarked by the Council. Focus groups to deal with issues such as tourism, must be formed within a city being able to respond to each area. The city has to earmark the funds before the process can start. Tom Bergman asked if they can get legal guidance dealing with rezoning, dealing with an antiquated Master Plan map. Margaret Rayner said that they cannot act as a Zoning Board. Rezoning is done by the City Council, as of about two years ago. They will check with the Charter.

Project Updates

The City will be interviewing the week of March 15th for the new Community Development Director. There are six interviews scheduled, and they had forty applicants. The new Mexican Restaurant owners have a contractor lined up and will be working on construction soon. Nothing will be done on the outside, requiring no curb cuts.

New Business

Citizens Wishing to Address the Commission on Items Not on the Agenda

Jeanne Saari addressed the Commission about the Ayer Street parcel. Mrs. Saari said that they live on Luxmore Street, adjacent to the land Schonberg wants to buy. She said that before Mr. Schonberg put in a bid, they wanted to buy a small piece behind their property to have a buffer, to provide privacy. They have been on their property for many years, and said every time the property comes up, they give Schonberg more and more options, and considerations that they haven’t received. Mrs. Saari said that there is no site plan for Mr. Schonberg, and she would like to see one. They have been there for thirty seven years, and have tried to get the area cleaned up for years. Jeanne said she has nothing against Mr. Schonberg, but she is a little disappointed in the lack of consideration for the; no bids and no appraisals have been done on the property. Mrs. Saari said they just wanted to buy 100-200 feet as a buffer behind their house. She said it was years ago, and they were turned down. The property is part of what Schonberg wants to buy.

John Wyssling said that now that the appraisal process has been done, it has to be put out for bids. They are in C-3 zone, non-conforming use. The Saari’s were assured that their zoning wouldn’t change even if the property was sold to Schonberg, and were told to submit something saying what they want to purchase.

Other Business

John Wyssling said that a house on Marquette Street burned and came down, creating a vacant lot, which is now city-owned. There are people who would like to buy the lot, to add onto their property. It’s a normal city lot, bordered by an alley in the back and Marquette Street in the front. It would then bring the property up to code, and if they want to enhance, just a permit would be required. The property has to be put out for bids. Sealed bids then come in to the city.

A motion was made to recommend that the City Commission declare the Marquette Street property surplus, and put out for bids, and was supported. All were in favor.

Adjourned