Planning staff presents annual review; commissioners raise local road and pedestrian-safety concerns

Planning department staff presented the annual report to the planning commission, summarizing the department—s recent workload, progress on the master plan and zoning-ordinance work and interdepartmental coordination with the building department to ensure final zoning compliance.

Staff said the township had worked on hotel licensing during the past year and expects to issue licenses for 16 properties in the near term. The report also described improvements to planning workflows, including a development-request spreadsheet and a final zoning review process intended to ensure that plans submitted on paper match completed construction.

Commissioners asked whether neighbors would receive notice during annual review steps and discussed how the department could use its tracking system to prompt mailings or other outreach. The commission set a deadline of the 27th of the month for commissioners to submit 'hot button' ordinance items to staff for a focused ordinance-review meeting planned for Feb. 3.

During other business commissioners raised traffic- and pedestrian-safety issues. Several members discussed a narrowing of the pedestrian lane on the Cascade Road bridge near the dam during an MDOT improvement project; commissioners noted the temporary pinch point and asked staff to monitor the project and communicate with MDOT. Commissioners also asked staff to reach out to Kent County about an awkward curve and striping at the Whitneyville/44th intersection and to review the Thornapple River/60th approach for potential signal or lane adjustments.

The commission concluded the meeting after setting follow-up items for ordinance-review input and for staff to contact county and state road authorities about the flagged traffic concerns.