Friendship Township Planning Commission
Minutes, November 28, 2005 7:00 PM

Donahey T Franklin J Gelb Kurburski D Simon F Troup B Trufant
Present x x x x x x
Absent x



I. Call to order at 7:00 p.m.
II. Public present: Dan Seaman, Kurt Anderson
III. Minutes of 9/26/05 were approved as written (Kurburski, Trufant)
IV. New Business
A. Kurt Anderson—early, informal discussion of possible greenhouse business. Address is 4407 State Road and is between Wressel and LaCount. Eleven acres zoned FF-2. Frontage 672 feet. Current building size: private 20x30, retail 32x40 + greenhouse. Discussion took place. Noted it is not in a business district. Needs to follow rules for a domestic farm. Not appropriate for it to be like Landscape Depot. More information needed from EC Planning office. Would like to continue to work with the potential applicant.
B. Discussion of Mooradian Water Tank Easement “proposal”—Motion made by Trufant, second by Kurburski. Passed unanimously. Recommend that legal counsel review Mooradian proposal with the following questions in mind:
1. Who maintains the water tanks our ordinance requires and to what level?
2. Who inspects these tanks, how often, and who pays for this?
Also a need to look at the current Twp. ordinance in light of these questions and determination as to whether that ordinance needs changes/additions made.
The FTPC feels that the bulk of the expense/responsibility for these fire safety watertanks should be borne by the developer or subsequent association.
V. Old Business
A. Informational survey—draft ready to send to Twp. board. A couple of details will be looked into. Donahey will get the number of twps that have own zoning in the state. Gelb will look for picture for front (the one on the Master Plan).
B. FR zone—clarification was asked of EC Planning Office by Simon. They indicated that when it goes into effect it WILL cover all the land currently held by the State. That it is not an opt-in choice for the person(s) who buys the land. The hearing on this will be in January at ECPC meeting.
VI. Other Matters
A. Master Plan—we looked at all the items that had received more than one vote. Two were decided on as our current focus: Finish plan for Stutsmanville; Twp. zoning. On the horizon: identify large contiguous tracts and look at ways of preserving them (TDR/PDR, etc.)
B. Donahey proposal for case review procedures—tabled
C. Thank you to Wilbur Kurburski for his many years of working for the RR-2 to FF-2 change that is in its final stages of approval.
D. True North Golf Club seems in disarray. Shouldn’t the county be enforcing the requirements for the Special Use Permit and taking some action on this?
VII. Adjourn at 9:20 p.m. (Kurburski, Troup) Next regular meeting: Jan 2 if there is a case to review. (Note change in date from Dec. 26) The next meeting after that is Jan. 23.

Cynthia Donahey