Regular Meeting Minutes, February 20, 2025

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Planning Commission Meeting Minutes - Proposed The Planning Commission met for a Regular Committee Meeting, February 20, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall, 102 Butler St., Saugatuck, MI 49453. 1. Call to Order/Attendance: The meeting was called to order by Chair Manns at 6:30 p.m. Present: Commission members: Bagierek, Baldwin, Clark, Gaunt, LaChey, Manns, & Marineau. Absent: None. Others Present: Planning & Zoning Director Thompson, Deputy Clerk Williams. 2. Approval of Agenda: Motion by Lachey, second by Bagierek, to approve the agenda for February 20, 2024. Upon voice vote, motion carried unanimously. 3. Approval of Minutes: Motion Marineau, second by LaChey, to approve the amended minutes for the regular meeting January 16, 2024. The minutes were amended to include that Commissioner Baldwin was in attendance. Upon voice vote, motion carried unanimously. 4. Public Comment (Agenda Items Only): None. 5. Old Business: 1. 450 Spear St – Special Land Use request for rental of an Accessory Dwelling Unit. Motion by Clark, second by Bagierek, to postpone the application for 450 Spear Street until the March 20th, 2025, Planning Commission Meeting. This is due to ongoing discussions since November 2024, regarding an ADU Ordinance to be passed by Planning Commission to send to City Council for approval. City Council approved the ADU Ordinance at their last meeting and it will take effect on February 27th, 2025. Upon roll call vote, motion carried unanimously. The Public Hearing remains open. 2. 515 St. Joseph St – Special Land Use request for rental of an Accessory Dwelling Unit. Motion by Bagierek, second by Clark, to postpone the application for 515 St. Joseph Street until the March 20th, 2025, Planning Commission Meeting. This is due to ongoing discussions since November 2024, regarding an ADU Ordinance to be passed by Planning Commission to send

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to City Council for approval. City Council approved the ADU Ordinance at their last meeting and it will take effect on February 27th, 2025. Upon roll call vote, motion carried unanimously. The Public Hearing remains open. 3. 306 Mary St – Special Land Use request for rental of an Accessory Dwelling Unit. Motion by Marineau, second by LaChey, to postpone the application for 306 Mary Street until the March 20th, 2025, Planning Commission Meeting. This is due to ongoing discussions since November 2024, regarding an ADU Ordinance to be passed by Planning Commission to send to City Council for approval. City Council approved the ADU Ordinance at their last meeting and it will take effect on February 27th, 2025. Upon roll call vote, motion carried unanimously. The Public Hearing remains open. 4. Bed and Breakfast accessory structures in the R-4 City Center Transitional Residential District – Review of Draft Code Ordinance Amendment and continuation of Public Hearing for a proposed text amendment. Motion by LaChey, second by Gaunt, to recommend approval of an ordinance to amend Title XV, Chapter 154, of the Code of the City of Saugatuck to amend Section 154.005 to revise the definition of Bed and Breakfast Establishment; to amend Section 154.022(H)(7) to expand on the habitation options of accessory structures; to amend 154.022(R) to allow Bed and Breakfast establishments to host guests in Accessory Guest Buildings in the R-4 City Center Transitional Residential (CER) Zoning District if certain conditions are satisfied; to amend 154.025(B)(4) to allow Bed and Breakfast establishments as permitted uses when guest rooms are in the principal building; and to amend Section 154.025(C) to allow Bed and Breakfast establishments with Accessory Guest Buildings as Special Land Uses as presented to us with the change in the definition of Bed and Breakfast as proposed to change “from under certain circumstances” to “within certain districts”. Upon roll call vote, motion carried unanimously. The Public Hearing was closed at 7:18pm. 6. New Business: A. 991 Ridgeview Lane – Public Hearing for a Special Land Use request for rental of an accessory dwelling unit. Public Hearing A. Hearing was called to order by Chair Manns on 2/20/25 at 7:20pm. B. Summary by Zoning Director: Planning & Zoning Director Thompson said that the applicant has applied for special land use approval to rent an existing attached accessory dwelling unknit (ADU) in accordance with Section 154.026(C)(3) of the Zoning Ordinance. C. Presentation by the Applicant.

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D. Public comment regarding the application: 1. Supporting comments: None. 2. Opposing comments: None. 3. General comments: None. 4. Repeat comment opportunity (Supporting, Opposing, General): None. E. Public comment portion closed by Chair Manns at 7:25 pm. F. Commission deliberation: The commission deliberates and makes a motion to approve the application. G. Commission action: Motion by Marineau, second by Baldwin, to approve the special land use request to allow the rental of the attached ADU at 991 Ridgeview Lane based on compliance with the ADU requirements of Section 154.022(W), compliance with the ADU rental requirements of Section 154.092(J), satisfaction of site plan approval standards of Section 151.060, and the positive findings related to the special land use standards of approval in Section 154.080 that are documented in the staff memo dated February 14, 2025. Upon roll call vote, motion carried unanimously. 7. Communications: None. 8. Reports of Officers and Committees: A. Zoning Administrator Activity Report: Planning and Zoning Director Thompson reviewed his report, including open and closed cases. 9. Public Comments: None. 10. Commissioner Comments: • Baldwin – He hopes every meeting is as clean as this one. • LaChey - He thanked Planning & Zoning Director Thompson for including his Zoning Report. • Clark – He is happy to get the changes in for Bed & Breakfasts. He said that he thought they had good dialogue during the meeting but thought it was important when making changes to change them in the right direction. He thinks that they should get the chicken coop topic on the agenda so they can have the discussion. He is not convinced that there is 100% support on City Council as of yet but thinks it should be on the PC agenda. • Marineau – He would like two topics to be added to future agenda: Chicken coop ordinance in Saugatuck, taking a look back over the ADU and either defining what cooking means or taking it out of the ordinance.

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Gaunt – She agrees with Marineau in terms of both of his recommendations. She would also like to add the Tri-Community Master Plan on a future agenda for discussion. She also urged the commission to all start looking at the consistency among ordinances and districts. Bagierek – He agrees that the Chicken coop topic should be added to a future agenda. Manns – He acknowledged ongoing discussions about agenda priorities and the challenge of addressing all issues in a timely manner. He expressed satisfaction with the recommendation to city council regarding successor guest units, emphasizing their long-term benefits for the city. Additionally, they propose discussing potential regulations for keeping chickens in the city, suggesting a review of other city ordinances and council input before drafting any changes. Lastly, they highlight the importance of aligning city priorities with the council’s guidance, as recently presented and published.

11. Adjournment: Motion by Gaunt, second by Bagierek, to approve adjournment of the meeting. Upon voice vote, motion carried unanimously. Chair Manns adjourned the meeting at 7:36 pm. Respectfully Submitted, ________________________ Sara Williams, Deputy Clerk