About two dozen people attended the Lyndon Township Planning Commission meeting on Thursday, May 14.
The McCoig Materials sand and gravel mine was back on the agenda, and while no one on the Planning Commission was willing to say outright that McCoig is giving up on putting their mine in Lyndon Township, Planning Commission Chair Kevin McLaughlin stated that “As far as they’re (McCoig) concerned, they’re progressing very well with another venue. They are supposed to have that done by November or earlier, when they would remove their proposal.”
The other venue referred to by McLaughlin was a piece of state land in the Brighton area, and if McCoig aquires this land for their mining operation, officials said there could be a land swap with the the State of Michigan, and the property owned by McCoig at 18100 and 18200 M-52 would become state owned land under control of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
In other news, a ground breaking ceremony for a new mountain biking trail system in the Waterloo State Recreation Area will take place on Saturday, May 16. There will be a bicycle ride starting at the Chelsea Alehouse, and ending at the Gerald E. Eddy Discovery Center for the ground breaking.
Planning commission member John Reilly, who runs a cattle operation on Joslin Lake Road, is trying to find a way to make his farm viable into the future. Reilly wants to try offering a plot of land with a pond on it for family reunions, picnics, and possibly weddings. Reilly said he wants to also offer Percheron horse-drawn carriage rides around the Christmas holidays.
Reilly is asking the Planning Commission for guidance with zoning issues, as there is nothing in the existing zoning ordinance referencing what has come to be known as “agritourism.”
Members of the Planning Commission, along with Ordinance Officer Merritt Honbaum, concluded that Reilly’s best course of initial action is to obtain a seasonal permit while he tries out his new venture, and the Planning Commission looks into the matter further.
