By Shelby Stewart
Staff Writer
Brandon Twp.- On Monday, the township board of trustees approved for second reading amendments to the townships accessory building ordinance with a 4-3 vote. Trustees Bob Marshall, Dana DePalma, and clerk Roselyn Blair voted against it.
Previously, members of the board took issue with the state regulating accessory buildings in reference to the Generally Accepted Agriculture and Management Practices. The revisions of the ordinance eliminate mention of that and only refer to accessory buildings where GAAMP standards are not applicable.
“The discussions from the past, there was some references to the GAAMP standards and how the state regulates those types of things,” said former township building director Bill Dinnan. “The current ordinance has been revised to eliminate that standard out of the ordinance, but still take the farm building and basically move that away from the authority of the director of planning and building.”
The first reading of the ordinance was passed, though the second reading was postponed in March for revisions.
“This was never intended for farm animals, either,” said supervisor Jayson Rumball. “It was only for accessory structures and that kind of got lost in translation at the last meeting.”
The ordinance revisions state that accessory buildings cannot be in any residential front yard except on parcels fronting a lake, river, stream or creek. That ordinance does not apply to parcels regulated by GAAMP standards and the state of Michigan.