Eaton County Planning Commission approves expanded event venue plan at former quarry with conditions after heated public comment

The Eaton County Planning Commission voted April 7 to approve a change of conditions to the Quarry LLC’s existing conditional use permit (CU-10-25-9) that will allow relocated short-term rental cabins, a rick-house tasting room, and a sledding hill with snowmaking, among other features, on a roughly 240-acre site at 3659 East Clinton Trail / 710 South Perky Highway in Eaton Township.

Staff described the application as a material change from the previously approved permit: the applicant proposes new buildings (a tasting room and pole barns), relocation of 24 cabins to the east side of the property closer to Perky Road, development of an amphitheater and a sledding hill with a "magic carpet" lift, and expanded parking to serve a main event building designed for up to 800 persons and a maximum island occupancy that the Charlotte Fire Department has set at 3,000 people (which would require an additional ~750 parking spaces). Agency reviewers provided extensive comments: MDOT indicated a left-turn lane and a right-turn taper at the M-50 driveway may be required pending an updated traffic study to be performed in June or July; the Eaton County Road Commission requested commercial-driveway permits and gating for service access; the Barry Eaton District Health Department and Charlotte Fire Department listed permit and engineered-design requirements for wells/septic, sprinklers, alarms, fire lanes, hydrants and emergency access.

Hundreds of pages of neighbor correspondence were read into the record. Petition signers and dozens of commenters urged denial or stronger conditions, citing:

- concerns about inadequate notice for the scope changes and changes since earlier notices; - traffic and safety risks at the M-50/Perky/Stewart/Island intersections given recent fatal crashes and reduced county road patrol resources; - potential for overflow parking on local roads; - noise and late-night disturbance from events (music to 11:00 p.m. and cleanup to 2:00 a.m. in the application); - lighting and light trespass despite proposed "dark-sky" fixtures; - proximity of new septic fields and cabins to private wells; and - risks tied to snowmaking equipment and a sledding hill next to residential property.

Applicant representatives (identified in the transcript as Chadrandle) emphasized safety mitigation and cooperation: they submitted a set of self-imposed conditions (advance event permits and contracts for events over 2,000 people, a centralized safety plan signed by chiefs of responding agencies by July 1, 2026, berm construction and tree-planting schedules, dark-sky lighting, private-road submittals, a $10,000 trash bond and 48-hour cleanup requirement, and a communications link for neighbors) and said they would work with a private security firm (Total Security) and local law enforcement to staff and manage events. Total Security representatives described experience at large events and said staffing scales by event type (roughly 1 security officer per 500 attendees as a starting point) and that a site-specific camera/security plan is being developed.

After deliberation, the commission approved the change request with a set of conditions that incorporated many of the applicant’s self-imposed items plus staff-directed requirements and pending items. Key conditions included: advance submission of MDOT/road/EMS/fire/law-enforcement contracts and permits for events over 2,000 people; a centralized, agency-signed safety plan by July 1, 2026; berm and landscaping schedule and dark-sky lighting; private-road applications by end of April 2026; a $10,000 trash bond and a 48-hour cleanup requirement after events; placement of no-parking signs on Perky Road and Bell Highway if approved by the Eaton County Road Commission and requested by homeowners; specified sledding-hill hours (Mon–Thu 9 a.m.–8 p.m.; Fri–Sat 9 a.m.–10 p.m.; Sun 10 a.m.–8 p.m.) with the additional requirement that lights and snowmaking equipment not run when the hill is not actively in use; and a staff-reviewed updated site plan showing the additional ~750 parking spaces required by the island’s occupancy and a sledding-hill site plan with setbacks, height (zoning restricts hills to 40 ft above grade), orientation, lighting, and engineered details.

Vote and next steps: the roll-call vote was recorded as eight yes and one no (Commissioner Frank Holmes opposed). Staff said the final conditional use document will list the approved uses, hours, conditions and submittal requirements in detail to aid enforcement by Eaton Township and the county. Several outstanding technical items (engineered drawings, updated traffic study including the Stewart/Island intersection, MDOT and county road-commission approvals, and final health-department approvals) must be completed before issuance of building permits for affected structures.

Why this matters: the decision permits development of a regional-scale event venue on a formerly industrial site and shifts cabins and active uses closer to existing residences along Perky Road. The commission’s conditions attempt to balance the applicant’s operational goals with agency safety standards and neighbor concerns; however, several elements — traffic mitigation, enforcement of noise/light limits, and long-term management if ownership changes — remain dependent on future agency reviews and enforceable agreements.