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Wolverine Lake planning commission forwards childcare zoning amendment to council
Summary
After a public hearing, the Wolverine Lake Planning Commission voted to send a zoning amendment that would allow child care centers in RM1 to the town council with a recommendation to adopt; staff said the draft mirrors state law while a public commenter warned short-term church programs might be excluded by the phrasing.
The Wolverine Lake Planning Commission voted to forward a proposed amendment to the zoning ordinance that would permit child care (daycare/educational school use) in RM1 residential zones, recommending that the town council adopt the language as written.
The commission opened a public hearing on the amendment and heard a staff presentation from Shaina, who said the draft is the same proposal the commission reviewed two meetings ago and that the only substantive change was removing a conditional standard tied to floor area, reducing the list from 11 to 10 conditions. "This is the same proposal as we saw two meetings ago... we had 11 we agreed as a group to remove the one that was about floor area," Shaina said, summarizing the edits.
A commissioner asked for clarity about a phrase on page five that reads "facility which provides care for not less than two consecutive weeks," noting it was hard to parse and asking whether it implied continuous daily care. Shaina responded that the language was assembled from state law and other communities' language and cautioned that matching state statutory phrasing could be important if the amendment were later challenged in court.
During public comment, Laura Pliy, who identified herself as representing Behavior for All, said church-run short-term programs such as vacation Bible school or week-long holiday programs could be read out of the definition under the current wording. "They read it as excluding events like vacation Bible school that happen for a consecutive week and then is dismantled," Pliy said, adding she had discussed the language with a local church council. Pliy also said she agreed with staff that keeping the state-law wording reduces the risk of legal challenge.
After the public comment period the commission closed the hearing and voted to send the amendment to council with a recommendation that the council adopt the language. The motion to forward the draft was made by Commissioner Thorne and seconded by Commissioner Brazowski; the motion carried on a voice vote.
The council will consider the amendment at a future meeting; the commission did not alter the draft's statutory phrasing during its meeting.
What happens next: The council will receive the amendment and may hold further review or a public hearing before adopting an ordinance to amend the zoning code.
