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Commissioners briefed on PUD amendment request for Stone Age Institute; plan commission recommended 6-0
Summary
County planning staff presented a requested amendment to the Stone Age Institute’s PUD that would remove a gravel-driveway requirement and increase the allowable developed area to 30,000 square feet to accommodate a proposed library addition.
County planning staff on Thursday presented Ordinance 2025-38, a requested amendment to PUD-25-3 for the Stone Age Institute (operated by Friends of Craft) at 1392 West Dittamore Road in Washington Township. The petitioner seeks to remove a PUD condition that requires driveway and parking areas to remain gravel and to raise the allowed developed area from 15,000 square feet to 30,000 square feet to permit a proposed library addition.
Planning staff said the site is just shy of 30 acres in Section 19 of Washington Township and noted the original PUD, approved in June 2001, allowed the research facility by PUD because the use was not a permitted use at that time. Staff described on-site changes: the driveway and parking areas have already been paved, which conflicts with the current PUD condition, and the petitioner included site photos and stake-out marks showing the location of the proposed 1,688-square-foot library expansion.
The petitioner, represented in the session by a waiting attendee identified in the transcript as "Mr. Smith," asked that the county hear the amendment as soon as possible. Planning staff said the Monroe County Plan Commission voted 6-0 to forward a positive recommendation on the outline-plan amendment, subject to compliance with reports from the Monroe County Highway Department and the county stormwater program and subject to the existing use limitations in the original outline-plan that limit uses to the Friends of Craft research facility or similar research and any uses permitted under the forest reserve zone in ordinance 1997-36, table 2-1.
Staff said the requested 30,000-square-foot cap is well below the amount the site could support under general PUD standards (staff cited a theoretical 324,000-square-foot maximum under standard PUD allowances) and would allow the petitioner room to expand while remaining below standard thresholds. Commissioners asked about scheduling; staff and the petitioner indicated a preference for the board to hear the petition at the Oct. 23 meeting (referred to in the transcript as "the 20 third").
No formal county-commission vote on the ordinance amendment occurred at the work session; staff requested the item be placed on the regular meeting agenda for formal consideration. Planning staff said the proposed amendment will be subject to Monroe County Highway and drainage-engineer review before final action. No public testimony was recorded at the work session.
