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Hamilton Township’s planning commission may have quickly decided a date and time for their upcoming public hearing on the town’s comprehensive plan, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t still animated debate at their May 27 meeting.
The commission announced it would hold its first public hearing on the comprehensive plan at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 22 at Hamilton Town Hall so the public could give input on the plan.
Input was still going strong at their monthly meeting as some members of the commission still questioned some of the points in the comprehensive plan.
“The 10-percent rule really bothers,” said Jim Michelson, a member of the plan commission.
At the previous April meeting, members of the commission had come to an agreement on a particular sticking point, a 10-percent rule that allowed property owners to sell off 10 percent of their land for residential development.
After much discussion, the commission decided to add a 35-acre minimum to the plan. There was also a change in the number of years a person had to own the property from 20 years to 10.
Michelson explained that he believed that the 10-percent rule did not go along with what the residents of Hamilton Township wanted when they filled out surveys, indicating they wanted to maintain the agricultural nature of the area.
Fellow planning commission member Jon Labus countered that the matter of the 10-percent rule has been talked about extensively over the past few meetings and an agreement had seemed to be reached at the last meeting in April.
“You have to leave this for the (public) meeting,” Labus said. “We can keep arguing about this forever.”
Labus also said that the 10-percent rule was going to limit development, especially with the 10 years of ownership clause.
“Developers aren’t going to buy this stuff and wait around for 10 years, tying up their money,” Labus said.
At the end of the meeting, the 10-percent rule remained unchanged in the draft.
The plan commission plans to have copies of the comprehensive plan available for residents to look through.
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