By Shelby Stewart-Soldan
Staff Writer
Ortonville — During the Monday night meeting the village council voted 4-1 to allow the planning commission to review the approval process regarding temporary uses and definitions to ensure that the section of the code of ordinances is clarified.
In the meeting packet, the village manager provided a letter about the auxiliary building at 465 South St. The issue came before the planning commission, and was passed onto the village council for review. Prior to placement of the temporary building, the owner spoke with the building official, and they were notified of the village’s process and building codes, as well as the process for operating food businesses in Oakland County.
Per building code, the auxiliary building is a temporary structure, and is regulated as such for village purposes. However, the owner started operating a food business out of it once the structure was in place, and the Oakland County Health Department has different standards for food service businesses, which lead to the county stopping operation.
“The tenants there were notified that the village process is what it is and the health department has a different set of standards,” said Village Manager Ryan Madis. “They were likely to run afoul with one or the other, and that is the case. Our rules were followed as a temporary structure. “For a temporary building, our definition says it can be moved in a reasonable amount of time with a flat-bed truck. The health department definition of temporary is like a food truck that you can move right now. It’s a different definition for different uses. To be a temporary out-building or accessory building that you can use for that, it has to meet their standards.”
Following this, the village council and planning commission want to look at reviewing the approval process for auxiliary/accessory buildings.
“The village council empowered the planning commission to ensure that the review process for temporary structures is part of their ongoing efforts to finalize the zoning ordinance updates,” said Madis. “With an emphasis on better delineating the discretion of the administrative review process, and establishing processes that align with the best practices of other municipalities in Michigan, the planning commission will work with its zoning ordinance experts from Carlisle Wortman to ensure a process that makes it easy for all users to understand the village’s process for approvals.”
The issue will be brought back to the planning commission for suggestions of process or ordinance changes, which will still require final approval from the village council.