Commission schedules public hearing on rezoning in Sumner Township; commissioners flag spot-zoning and ordinance review

The Gratiot County Planning Commission set a public hearing for an October meeting on a rezoning request to change a parcel in Sumner Township from Rural Preservation to Industrial.

The property owner was identified in the meeting as Christopher Kress. Staff told commissioners the parcel is roughly 1.5 acres of mostly road frontage, currently used for miscellaneous storage, and that the owner has a buyer who intends an industrial use if the rezoning is approved. Staff said detailed materials and the corrected parcel number will be circulated to commissioners in September ahead of the October public hearing.

Commissioners reviewed the stated purpose of the Rural Preservation District, which is intended to protect areas characterized as primarily rural and to limit development intensity where soils, flooding risk or sensitive habitat may exist. Staff noted the district can be applied broadly and sometimes parcels included in a larger designated block may not individually match every criterion.

Commissioners expressed concern about spot rezoning — changing the zone of a single parcel inside a larger residential or agricultural area — and discussed examples in the county where small industrial pockets exist or where homes are now nonconforming uses within industrial zones. Staff warned that rezoning a parcel creates a permanent zoning classification that runs with the land, not the current buyer’s stated intent.

Separately, commissioners discussed the need to revise the county zoning ordinance. Staff reported the ordinance was written in February 2017 and that repeated variance requests — particularly over solar panel height — indicate portions of the ordinance need updating. County staff said a committee to review the ordinance will be created within roughly the next year and that the county’s legal reviewers (identified as Kyle and Mira in the meeting) will examine proposed updates for legal issues.

No vote was taken on the rezoning request at this meeting; the item will return for a public hearing and a recommendation to the Board of Commissioners, which has final approval authority.