No discussion accompanied the Independence Township Board’s approval of a self-initiated rezoning for almost 70 acres at the northwest corner of Waldon and Sashabaw roads near the I-75 intersection.
According to Township Supervisor Dave Wagner, the agenda item was ‘pretty cut and dry? with all six of the trustees in attendance voting aye for the second reading.
‘There just wasn’t much to it,? said Wagner.
The rezoning changes the parcel from single family residential (R1-A) to local commercial, planned shopping center, office service one, office service two and multiple family (C-1, C-2, OS-1, OS-2 and R-2). According to Township Planner Dick Carlisle, the new zoning provides a transition from the residential housing already established in the area to the commercial zoning along the Sashabaw Corridor.
The township’s initiated rezoning was considered simultaneously with a proposal from Orco Investments for the same parcel.
Orco asked for a rezoning that would change the single family residential (R1-A) to approximately 18 acres of planned shopping center (C2) and 50 acres of highway.
The township board voted unanimously on July 5 to deny the proposal’s first readying.
According to Township Clerk Shelagh VanderVeen, officials heard back from Orco on Aug. 17 when a Freedom of Information Act was submitted requesting a copy of the Aug. 15 minutes, a copy of the resolution of the township board from Aug. 15 and a copy of a memo from Township Building Department David Belcher on the matter.
VanderVeen said Orco will receive the minutes as soon as they are approved by the board and the memo by Belcher. However, she is unaware of any township resolutions from the Aug. 15 meeting.
‘I’m not sure what they want there, so we’ll clarify,? said VanderVeen.
Orco representative Robert Jacobs, Esq. stated after the July 5 meeting that the company will proceed through the township’s Zoning Board of Appeals, but court action is a ‘distinct possibility.?