Grant Township zoning board removes fence requirement in Tellkamp use-variance amendment

Grant Township Zoning Board approved an amendment on Sept. 26, 2024, to a May 30, 2024 use variance for a parcel owned by Spencer Tellkamp, removing a prior requirement that replacement greenspace be fenced. Chair Jason Fulton called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m., and after hearing testimony and reviewing written letters from local public-safety officials, the board approved the amendment by a roll-call vote of 4-1.

The proposal under review would have required replanting trees and installing a 6-foot fence beginning at the south corner on the west side of parcel '019' and extending north to 40 feet from the right-of-way. Tellkamp requested that the replacement greenspace and fence requirement be removed; the board considered that request alongside safety testimony from school representatives and a school resource officer, and letters the township received from the Sheriff Department and the school superintendent urging that no fence be required.

The school resource officer told the board that schools had recently received multiple threats and described current emergency training, saying, "Get Out, Get Away, Get Cover," and explaining that evacuation practices now include sending students out windows or away from buildings in some scenarios. Board members and school representatives noted that the lunchroom and fine-arts center are the only areas currently planned to evacuate east, and they expressed concern that a fence could block an evacuation route or otherwise impede emergency procedures.

A board member also said the greenspace had been a condition of the original variance granted to the business and that the greenspace was removed in 2023 without township consent; the member said the school had authorized the removal but did not have authority to waive the township condition. The board considered additional factors listed at the meeting, including student safety related to shootings, proximity to heavy equipment stored on the adjoining excavation site, a study cited by participants showing less student trespassing since the greenspace removal, and statements from county, city and emergency-service leadership supporting removal of a barrier.

Using its Zoning Findings checklist, the board answered the checklist questions in a roll-call fashion (Question 1: 5 Yes; Question 2: 4 Yes, 1 No; Question 3: 5 No; Question 4: 4 Yes, 1 No; Question 5: 5 No) and determined that the amendment should be granted under the checklist guidelines. Sam Scholtens moved to approve the amendment to the May 30, 2024 use variance to remove the requirement that the greenspace be replaced by a fence or other barrier; Mike Bouwkamp seconded. The motion carried on a 4-1 vote. The board imposed no new conditions and required no barrier between the properties. The meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m.

The record shows the board approved the Aug. 1, 2024 minutes earlier in the meeting; no further actions on the Tellkamp parcel were announced at adjournment.