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Newaygo planning commission directs staff to draft rules for shipping storage containers
Summary
The Newaygo City Planning Commission voted Aug. 7 to have city staff draft regulations that could permit shipping storage containers as accessory structures, after the city manager presented photos of an unpermitted container and a city-attorney opinion advising caution.
Chairman Chambers and the Newaygo City Planning Commission voted unanimously Aug. 7 to ask city staff to prepare draft rules that could allow shipping storage containers as accessory structures under specified conditions.
City Manager Jon Schneider reopened a discussion from a prior meeting and displayed photos of a resident who placed a shipping storage container in a yard without a permit and planned to use it as an accessory building. Schneider said the meeting packet included a legal opinion from the city attorney that characterized shipping containers as potentially problematic for use as dwellings because they “almost never meet the Michigan Building Code requirements.” The attorney outlined three options: ban containers, regulate them (limits on number, location, setbacks, appearance, etc.), or allow them with few restrictions, and advised the city to proceed carefully because it is easier to loosen rules later than tighten them.
Commission members raised specific regulatory considerations they want the draft to address: limiting container size and number on a parcel; placement and setback requirements; requiring coloring or other appearance rules so a container harmonizes with the residence; roof and sturdiness standards; and potential effects on property valuation. The commission discussed safety and building-code compliance as central concerns.
Planning Commission member Fedell moved, and Chairman Chambers seconded, a motion directing city staff to prepare draft rules and regulations regarding shipping storage containers and return the draft for a future Planning Commission meeting for further discussion and review. The roll call vote was unanimous: Chambers, DeVries, Faulkner, Fedell, Francis, Wight and Williams voted yes. The motion carried.
Next steps: staff will prepare draft language for the commission to review at a future meeting; the minutes record that the draft will consider location, setbacks, appearance and other restrictions but the precise text and timeline for the draft were not specified in the minutes.
