Board adopts special-event permitting reforms and demand-based parking ordinance

The Central Township Board voted to adopt two ordinances at its evening meeting: draft Ordinance 266, which updates the township’s special-event permitting process and adds enforcement provisions, and draft Ordinance 267, which permits demand-based reductions in nonresidential parking requirements when supported by a qualified study.

Chair Jacob Bridal opened the hearings for both ordinances and noted the township planning commission and Monroe County review were completed prior to the board action. On Ordinance 266 (special-event permits), discussion focused on the 30-day submission window and whether permits submitted within a shorter timeframe should be denied as a matter of course. "If someone submits within 28 days and we're all able to review, we can still approve it," the solicitor said, and other board members agreed the language should allow case-by-case discretion while giving the township teeth to pursue fines when appropriate.

Ordinance 267 (demand-based parking) drew support from supervisors who said it gives the board discretion to accept qualified parking-demand studies and to place conditions on approvals rather than forcing applicants to seek variances. A board member emphasized that county guidance preserves handicapped-parking requirements; the planning commission had recommended approval and noted groundwater-recharge and other site impacts as considerations.

Motions were made to adopt both ordinances. The board carried each motion by voice vote; individual roll-call tallies were not recorded in the minutes. The ordinances take effect under the township’s standard adoption procedures. The board also noted the ordinances were published in the township’s legal notice prior to hearings.