HOLLAND CHARTER TOWNSHIP PLANNING COMMISSION 

Regular Meeting 

December 7, 2010 

The meeting was called to order by Chairman Hoeve at 7:00 p.m. 

Present:           Chairman Marion Hoeve, Vice-Chrmn/Secretary Jack VanderMeulen and Members Arlan Hossink, LaVerne Johnson, Ken Bosma, Dennis Gebben and Bill Driesenga.  Also present was Zoning Administrator Jon Mersman. 

Absent:            None. 

The minutes of the meeting of November 9, 2010 were approved as printed. 

Mr. Hoeve explained that no public hearings were scheduled, but because the medical marijuana agenda item has brought out several interested persons, there will be a public comment period for those who wish to speak.  Several individuals spoke indicating their perspective of the Michigan Medical Marijuana law. 

Mr. Mersman presented some regulations now under discussion addressing the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act and reviewed the present draft ordinance.  Commissioner Gebben indicated that while the Planning Commission works on Land Use decisions, this problem is broader and has several law enforcement characteristics.  He indicated that he would like to hear more from the Law Enforcement Community as to why and what an ordinance should address.  It was noted that the Township Attorney’s office is having a training session about this matter tomorrow and following that the planners would try to finalize the suggested draft of the ordinance. 

The Property Maintenance Code amendments were reviewed using questions submitted by Commissioner VanderMeulen.  It was noted that often times the Maintenance Ordinance has to address situations that have different solutions and standards over time and so the provisions of the Maintenance Code may not be as they are in the current building code.  This allows older homes to remain in compliance with our code.  It was also noted that because this is an international code, sometimes the provisions use language or address situations that are foreign to us, but rather than scour the ordinance for only locally applicable items, it makes sense to adopt the code in the form as printed in the international document.  Concern was expressed that this ordinance seems to provide for a large measure of inspector interpretation, and that if we were to have an inspector that wanted to operate in a manner that was not prudent it could be a problem.  It was acknowledged that this could be a problem but there are safe guards to either prevent or address this situation. 

The Master Plan Amendment Process was discussed.  The need for development of citizen participation is a major and important component in this process.  Commissioners were asked to give thought to the citizen engagement process and to bring ideas and or concerns to the next meeting. 

In other business, Commission Members considered officers for 2011 and reviewed the proposed meeting dates. 

It was moved by Mr. Driesenga and supported by Mr. Bosma to retain the current officers for 2011.  Motion carried. 

It was moved by Mr. Johnson, supported by Mr. Hossink to approve the meeting dates for 2011, changing the July meeting from the 5th to the 12th.  Motion carried. 

The meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Jon Mersman
Zoning Administrator