By Lisa Carolin
Because of an error in Sylvan Township’s zoning map, Zoning Administrator Carol Konieczki, asked for a work session with the township planning commission March 11 via Zoom to go about correcting the error.
The error was discovered when the Business Park (BP) Zoning District was adopted in 2010 at a public hearing when township officials noticed documents identifying the parcels in the Business Park District did not sync with each other.
According to Konieczki, “Not all parcels were included in the public hearing, or the publication for the hearing, or the list of properties listed in the notice of adoption by the Township Board. Furthermore, the action taken by the board was improper because the board approved/adopted the BP zoning district by resolution not by ordinance.”
This means all properties identified in the BP defined area revert back to their previous zoning district of ag and includes all parcels south of I-94.
“The 2017 Master Plan supports a rezoning to General Commercial since the area on the future land use map designates the area as “mixed use” suggesting various zoning districts could be supported if rezoning was requested,” said Konieczki.
“The other parcels north of I-94 that were included in the Business Park District revert back to their previous zoning districts as well; or, the Planning Commission can take this opportunity to zone the area to Local Commercial as recommended in the 2017 Master Plan.”
She told planning commission members at the work session that several parcels will retain their zoning designation and will be identified as “Consent Judgment”. This will stay with the respective consent judgment properties in perpetuity.
After Konieczki notifies all property owners affected by the error, the planning commission will schedule a public hearing for the rezoning.
The next regular meeting of the Sylvan Township Planning Commission is on March 25 at 7 p.m.
