In an email addressed to Zoning Administrator Doug Kuhlman, Nottawa Properties, LLC and Nottawa Gas Company announced Wednesday it is withdrawing its request for a conditional rezoning of a parcel of land along Highway M-60 in Park Township. The company had previously considered relocating its bulk propane distribution center to the site, and requested the rezoning of the parcel to make the move possible.
Nearby neighbors in opposition of the proposed rezoning cited increased traffic on M-60 and other nearby roads, aesthetic issues such as signage, lighting, odor, and noise, what they felt is a precedent that could impact the area’s long-term character through further industrial development, and the risk of a fire or explosion.
The email from Nottawa Gas to Kuhlman reads as follows:
Dear Mr. Kuhlman:
I am writing to inform Park Township that Nottawa Properties, LLC and Nottawa Gas Co. are withdrawing their request for a conditional rezoning of Parcel 75-013-035-018-00. We sincerely appreciate the time and effort you, the members of the Planning Commission, and other township officials have spent on the request to rezone and the professional way all township officials have handled the matter.
The decision to withdraw the rezoning request was not an easy one, but the owners of Nottawa Properties, LLC and Nottawa Gas Co. feel it is the right decision based on all circumstances. The owners of Nottawa Properties, LLC and Nottawa Gas Co. will not comment further regarding this decision or the reasons for the decision.
Again, everyone at Nottawa Properties, LLC and Nottawa Gas Co. appreciates the time spent by township officials on this matter and their professionalism.
As previously reported by Watershed Voice‘s Dave Vago, the parcel of land in question is located on the east-southeast side of highway M-60 across from Wilson Boulevard, partway between North Fisher Lake Road and Heimbach Road. The property has been for sale for several years by the heirs of its former owners, one of whom is an employee of the Nottawa Gas Company, a bulk propane distributor currently located on combined Highways M-66 and M-86 between Nottawa and Colon.
The gas company’s current facility is on leased land, and the landowner there would like to use that property for something else. Consequently, Nottawa Gas is looking for a new location, and wanted to buy the M-60 parcel in order to construct a series of above-ground tanks for its propane sales and distribution operation, and a collection of buildings for its office and retail store operation.
The proposed property stretches from Highway M-60 several hundred feet back to Darr Road. It occupies two parts of the county’s current zoning map in such a way that it has a “bifurcated” or two-part zoning designation. The western portion of the property is in an “RR” or Rural Residential zoning district, while the eastern portion is in an “AR” or Agricultural-Residential district. Neither of those district’s zoning designations permit the gas company to build its proposed facilities.
Therefore, if the property sale and construction were to have moved forward, the property would have needed to be rezoned.
Alek Haak-Frost is executive editor of Watershed Voice.
