Bay City Planning Commission voted to approve special use SU25-08 on Dec. 17, 2025, allowing an RV and boat storage yard at 2709 South Euclid Avenue in the 6th Ward, but required the parking area be paved with hot‑mix asphalt as a contingency to the permit.

The decision followed staff and commissioner discussion about whether milled or recycled asphalt ("millings") satisfies the zoning ordinance's requirement that parking areas be a "hard surface" such as "concrete, asphalt, or brick." Terry, the planning department staff member, told the commission the code lists those materials but does not specify installation standards, leaving the commission to decide whether milled asphalt qualifies.

Applicant Leonard Grossman said he proposed crushed asphalt to lower startup costs and described plans for fencing, lighting, landscaping and coded gate access. "I gotta start getting some income. Right now, there's 0," Grossman said, explaining the economic need for a lower-cost surface initially. He also said management would be handled locally by a partner and that a vendor for crushed asphalt had not been finalized.

Commissioner Dennis Wojniczak, speaking from his engineering experience, disputed that millings meet the ordinance's intent. "The millings just aren't where they need to be in terms of what our ordinance is calling for," he said, explaining that recycled asphalt pavement is typically used mixed into base courses and that loose millings can track onto public roads. Commissioners also noted the Bay City Road Commission reviews work in the public right-of-way and staff reported a stormwater permit would likely not be required for the site's small scale.

After weighing options — drafting city specifications for millings, requiring inspection regimes, or outright prohibiting milled-surface parking — the commission approved the special use "with the contingency of hot mix asphalt being used to pave the parking area," as stated in the motion. The motion was moved and supported and passed by voice vote; the minutes record no roll-call tally but the chair announced the motion passed.

The approval includes standard site-plan conditions the commission cited in its motion: compatibility with surrounding land uses, landscaping and screening, fencing standards, lighting design to comply with code, and public-utility and emergency-access considerations. Staff also noted there had been no written correspondence or phone calls about the application prior to the meeting.

Next steps: the applicant will work with staff to satisfy the site-plan and special-use conditions, including the hot‑mix paving requirement. The commission discussed, but did not adopt at this meeting, a draft ordinance approach that would more narrowly define "hard surface" or specify installation procedures for recycled materials; staff said the city engineer could assist if the commission requests codified standards.

(Provenance: case introduction and staff report began at SEG 103; motion and passage recorded SEG 981'SEG 1080.)