Copyright M Live Michigan
LEONI TWP., MI — Despite some resident opposition, a proposal to rezone a Leoni Township golf course surrounded by homes into a heavy industrial zone has moved forward. With a vote of 4-2, the Leoni Township Planning Commission approved rezoning the Pine Hollow Golf Club at its meeting the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 5, and the township board is to take up the issue next month. Interstate Capital Development LLC, a real-estate firm based in Birmingham, Michigan, is seeking the rezoning and the land for an unknown project by an unnamed publicly traded company. Board members Cody Lester, Connie Gibson, Mickey Balance and Judy Southworth approved the rezoning while board member Bob Pickett and Township Trustee Ron Kinch voted against it. “I’m struggling with this as a board member because in my brain I think this is a great thing for our township,” Kinch said. “I think that you could have growth and money coming in and all that stuff. But in my heart, I hate it. I don’t want it.” Board member William Miles abstained from voting due to a conflict of interest, stating he lives in the area affected by the rezoning. “As a property owner next to the golf course I’m abstaining, but I think the negatives to me outweigh the positives on this,” Miles said “I think there’s other locations in the township where this could work, but not here.” Located off Lahinch Road and north of I-94, the golf course is surrounded by multiple single-family homes and west of a densely populated manufactured home community. The approval came to the dismay of a crowd of township residents who packed into the township meeting hall to voice their concerns about the proposed rezoning. Their issues focused widely on safety, pollution, traffic and damage to the environment among other worries. “I live right next to the golf course entrance. I have a toddler. I have a baby on the way and we don’t know what’s going to go in there,” township resident Sara King said. “There is a difference between light industrial and heavy industrial. Light industrial would be a different story. But heavy industrial, you’re putting a lot of residents at risk in that area.” It is never easy to get an approval for a zoning change the way everyone wants it, Michael Samhat, president of Interstate Capital Development LLC, said. “I hear the passion of the people and I hear their concerns, but their imaginations are running wild. Our goal is to be a good resident here, a good landlord and to be a company that will bring what is most likely going to be a publicly traded company, a very large company, here.” Longtime township resident Ed Kerley objected to the rezoning, calling it spot zoning that is not allowed in the township master plan. “Pine Hollow is surrounded by homes, farms and families,” Kerley said. “This area has always been known for its peaceful and rural character. Converting it into heavy industrial zoning would bring increased traffic, noise, pollution and safety risks to residents, farmers for miles around.” Township resident Matt Russell said he fears the developer may decide after the project is complete to abandon the township, leaving residents with another vacant building no one wants. “It’s like what we saw when we approved marijuana businesses here,” he said. “How many empty buildings do we have because of that? A lot. This affects the whole township.” A planning commission operates as a committee of appointed individuals who make zoning and development recommendations to the elected township board. The township board is expected to make a decision on the rezoning at its Dec. 9 meeting.
