Atlas Twp.-The minimum lot size in parts of the township may soon change from three to five acres.
Rick Misek, vice-president of the township planning commission, said in a purpose statement read at last month’s meeting of the planning commission, the change to a larger minimum lot size had been part of the township’s master plan since 1991.
Existing lots of less than five acres would be grandfathered in as ? legally existing non-conforming.? The change would not affect property along the M-15 corridor.
‘The plan was, and remains, the culmination of an exhaustive research into the vision of its citizens for this community,? said Misek. ‘The recommendation of this plan for future land use of approximately 65 percent of the land mass of the township was, and is, for a Rural Estate District with a minimum lot size of five acres.?
Misek said the goal of the recommendation was to minimize uses of parcels which are incompatible with farming, as well as to ‘prevent the proliferation of residential subdivisions and suburban sprawl.?
Additionally, by raising the minimum size of lots in the rural estate zone, Misek said he hopes to lessen the traffic burden put on already difficult-to- maintain roads, made worse when more families than planned for make a daily commute.
‘There’s not enough funding to maintain the level of existing roads,? said Misek.
By changing the minimum lot size, Misek predicts a decrease of 67 percent in generated traffic, citing information that a single lot in the township generates about 15 trips down the road per day.
And while Misek said he has met with little resistance in the process, he acknowledged the measure would decrease the amount of money large land owners and developers could make from selling off land in three acre chunks. By upping the minimum acreage, an owner selling 15 acres can divide the property into three parcels rather than five parcels.
Misek also argued that by selling lots in three acre parcels, people were utilizing wetlands and other natural features in unfavorable ways because they don’t always have enough property to expand in the way they would like.
‘The result is we’re losing valuable natural features in a way that is totally out of your control,? said Misek.
While Misek said he has heard arguments that the five acre minimum would force out families looking to move to the township but unable to afford so much land, he argues the average lot size in the township in 2005 was already 5.4 acres, even while the minimum is three acres.
?…With our roads in jeopardy, no public sewer or water system funded or planned in this area, the future of this community’s life-style and the future of the Great Lakes watershed in mind,? said Misek, ‘Your planning commission proposes to at last put the people’s plan for this part of the township into the legal requirement for future development.?
The next public hearing on the proposed rezoning will take place at 7 p.m. on Oct. 18 at Atlas Township Hall, 7386 S. Gale Road in Goodrich. If the committee decides to recommend in favor of the rezoning, the matter will go before the township board in November.