Clyde council hears safety, traffic concerns at rezoning public hearing for County Road 236 property

The Clyde City Council held a public hearing Oct. 26 on a request to rezone property owned by Charles and Mary Williams on County Road 236 from I-1 (industrial) back to C-2 (general commercial). No final vote was taken; council members said they will consider a first reading at the next regular meeting and a second reading and formal vote at the following meeting.

Neighbors attending the hearing pressed the council on safety and traffic issues they say would be exacerbated by further commercial or industrial development. Mary Ann Spears of 1048 County Road 236 told the council that semi trucks, school buses, bicyclists and pedestrians already create congestion near the Route 20 intersection and the nearby travel center. "Since the gas station was built on Route 20, there are constantly semi trucks going in and out of County Road 236," Spears said. "A lot of times . . . the end of County Road 236 and Route 20 is quite congested."

Spears described trains frequently blocking the railroad crossing on County Road 236 and said traffic often backs up onto local driveways. She also said people — including teenagers carrying purchases from the travel center and workers walking from the bike trail — regularly use the road on foot. "We have walkers on the road... we do have a lot of bicyclists that go down through there," Spears said. She also questioned which agency would respond to incidents because the municipal boundary runs down the middle of the road.

Zoning Director Ken Winke described the property's recent zoning history: the parcel previously held a C-2 (general commercial) designation, was rezoned to I-1 (industrial) a few years ago, and the owners now seek to return it to C-2. Winke said the Planning Commission met April 3 and recommended the rezoning to the council. He noted the sign on the site advertises "15.75 acres," which he said represents the two adjacent parcels and that the parcels remain separate for sale purposes; he added owners could cooperate to sell both lots to a single buyer if needed.

Property owner Charles Williams, present at the hearing, said he had "no comment" on the traffic concerns and that truck traffic from the travel center and credit union was beyond his control. Resident Wade Biers also spoke, saying farm machinery and speeding vehicles have damaged the narrow road and that the area needs road improvements if a high-traffic use is approved. "If something is going in there that's gonna generate a lot of traffic, that road should almost be completely redone, widened," Biers said.

A staff member who spoke about law-enforcement response clarified that city police can and do operate outside city limits as part of patrol routes and that mutual assistance with the sheriff is common in emergencies; dispatching protocols may, however, reference which side of the road a caller reports. Winke added that road mowing is shared between the township and the city under an agreement, and he expressed hope that a planned rail spur by Sunrise could reduce some train-related delays but said the rail authority controls rail operations.

The council did not act on the rezoning at the hearing. Council members were told a first reading on the ordinance would occur at the council's upcoming regular session and a second reading — when a final vote is scheduled — would happen at the second meeting of the month. The meeting ended with a motion to adjourn, which passed unanimously.