Townhouse project proposed by Grand Rapids firm

A Grand Rapids developer is possibly interested in constructing townhouses on lots in the southwest section of Rogers City. The property, which is called the Klann-Flemming subdivision, is located east of the Presque Isle Apartments on Wenonah Drive and west of Hoeft and Seventh streets. Jim Fleis appeared at Monday?s Rogers City Planning Commission meeting to request a zoning change on behalf of his brother Edward Fleis of Florida, who is president of Dorvin Properties LLC of Grand Rapids. Jim Fleis said he had owned the land for about a decade, before selling it to his brother?s company earlier in the year. The zoning change requested was from single family residential, or R-3, to two-family residential, or R-T. Fleis said the property needed to be ?zoned correctly? before his brother was willing to move forward with the project.

FOLLOWING A PUBLIC hearing, the commission unanimously approved the request and will forward their recommendation to the city council. According to city manager Mark Slown, the property has the potential for 80 to 100 units on the 12 to 14 acres of land. Jim Fleis said the townhouses would be one, two, or three bedroom townhouses with garages, but ?everything has to fall into place.?

The primary access road to the property would be from Wenonah Drive. There are two platted roads on the parcels, which are not developed. Chairman Del Conley said there was ?lots of discussion? during the meeting, with eight to 10 people from the audience interested in the agenda item. All the property owners within 300 feet of the potential development were mailed a notice by the city. Jim Fleis said his brother ?ran into a lot of nice people when he visited Rogers City? and that it would be a nice place to invest in. The recommendation now will go before city council December 18 for their approval. In the next step, if council approves the zoning change, Dorvin Properties would need to bring back a site plan for approval.

IN OTHER business:

? Gary Rickard, who proposed construction of a 120-site RV park in the Rogers City Air Industrial park, asked the commission to consider a new permitted use for the I-1 Light Industrial District, but instead will have to obtain a special use permit with added restrictions. There is not an area zoned in Rogers City that permits an RV park, said Conley. Some South Sixth Street residents, near the city-owned land Rickard proposes developing, are opposed to the project. Slown said the special use permit will be one method of protecting neighboring residents. A special use permit for this project, for example, would require Rickard to plant more trees to provide a buffer between his business and the neighboring residents of South Sixth Street, as well as South Seventh Street. The vote was unanimous by commission members following a public hearing. The commission established a three-member team to research the RV park restrictions. The duties were given to commission members Deb Greene and Owen Lamb, along with Slown.

? The commission will request $5,000 from the city council to reach four goals in 2007. The goals include the hiring of professional planner Fran Brink of Wade-Trim and Associates as a consultant. S

he will offer her advice and written opinions on the various issues. The cost of that would be about $1,600. The most expensive of the goals would be for on-site training for commission members. The price tag on the training is $2,400. The other two goals were to improve communication by getting information to the public regarding zoning ordinances, while the final goal was for the development of a new ordinance to regulate projects downtown. A new ordinance would include a better definition of what a ?Nautical Theme? would be for a business in Rogers City. Slown said the the current definition is not very clear.

? Discussion regarding the city?s fence ordinance was tabled.

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