By David Fleet
dfleet@mihomepaper.com
Atlas Twp. — On Wednesday night, the Atlas Township Planning Commission passed a motion to recommend to the township board of trustees to not approve a conditional rezoning request for property located at 11280 Hegel Road from Residential Agricultural to Special Housing District. Five of seven commissioners attended the meeting and they voted 5 – 0 to deny.
The applicant was seeking to use the property for multifamily/veterans’ transitional housing to be operated by My Brothers Keeper.
Dan Bernard, attorney for My Brothers Keeper stated that if the township board does not approve the request, he will take the request to the Court of Appeals for a final determination.
Approximately 110 people attended the public meeting at the Goodrich Middle School, 7580 Gale Road to observe and/or participate. During the hearing 32 people spoke to the planning commission, 24 speakers opposed the rezoning and eight supported the request.
J. Michael Rembor, PC Chairperson stated he was pleased to see the enormous citizen interest and participation in the future development of the township.
“Presenters were knowledgeable in the zoning issues and role of the master plan,” said Rembor.
“The common theme of opposition was the zoning was incompatible with surrounding properties, spot zoning, is a bad idea, proper infrastructure and support does not exist and the requested zoning allowed for possible additional incompatible development of the property in the future,” he said. “Those supporting the rezoning spoke to the current unmet needs of many veterans, not specifically to the rezoning.”
At 5:30 p.m., May 20, the township board of trustees will review and is expected to vote on the recommendation.
My Brothers Keeper intends to operate a 10 bedroom home for veterans discharged from medical facilities. They will provide supportive services and therapies for up to 180 days to prepare the resident to move to another setting. The current Residential Agriculture does not allow for 10 unrelated adults to reside in one dwelling.
Wednesday’s meeting followed March 13, planning commission public hearing and discussion where the rezoning request was tabled and moved the Goodrich Middle School due to the public interest.
The 5-2 vote by the planning commission to table the decision was due to new conditions relating to the property offered by the applicant on March 6. The conditions included, the veteran transitional housing shall be limited to 12 or less individuals; the property shall have 24/7 surveillance; on site staffing 24/7; food services and transportation available for residents; no individual with a criminal sexual conduct conviction will be allowed as a resident; all individuals that reside on the property are screened by the Veteran’s Administration and all individuals must meet DD-214, honorable or acceptable discharge.