By Jim Pruitt
Owners of a local farm that wants to become an Agri-Tourism location will have to wait a bit longer before gaining Sylvan Township’s blessing.
That’s because the township’s Planning Commission had to wade through several language changes to the Ag Tourism text ordinance amendment covering event facilities. The commission spent more than 90 minutes on the text changes and ran out of time at its Sept. 24 meeting.
As a result, the owners of Robin Hills Farm, 20390 Stockbridge-Chelsea Road, will have to come back Oct. 22 to get a review of the preliminary site plan. The owners want to add an event barn to the site plan previously reviewed by the Planning Commission in 2014.
The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing the same night on the text changes for the event facilities section of the ordinance. If the Planning Commission agrees to the changes, it will recommend the township board approve the new text for the ordinance as well as the site plans for Robin Hills.
The Planning Commission reviewed the updated document created by Zoning Administrator Carol Konieczki and went through an exhaustive review and discussion.
Some of the highlights of the discussion and actions included:
- Rejected a motion by Chair Dawn Caplis to increase the minimum lot size to 20 acres.
- Rejected a motion to increase the minimum space allowed for an event facility from 50 to 100 acres.
- Upheld a ban on overnight stays by guests.
- Limited tents to be on the property a maximum of three business days before and after an event.
- Establishing a rule requiring a 200-foot buffer between event barns and the property line.
The new document will make it clear to prospective applicants for a special use permit what they must meet before approaching the Planning Commission, member David Seitz said.
(If you would like to contact Jim Pruitt, please email him at [email protected].)
