Revisions to an ordinance to permit campgrounds in Lyon Township are still a work in progress.

The municipality’s Zoning Ordinance currently includes campground standards, but does not actually permit them. The township received a request last fall that sought to amend the ordinance so campgrounds would be added under Special Land Uses in Residential-Agricultural Districts, along with variances to the current standards.

The request came from Wildlife LLC, who purchased property north of Haas Lake Park and was reportedly contemplating seeking approval for a campground on the parcel. The request for the proposed text amendment failed once before, but was reconsidered by the Lyon Township Planning Commission Monday. At the meeting, officials reiterated the sole purpose of the discussion was to amend the ordinance, staying clear of Wildlife’s rumored plans for the property.

Revisions to the proposal from Chris Doozan of McKenna Associates were discussed, but not all sat well with some commissioners. Vice Chairman Carl Towne felt one of the suggested revisions regarding setbacks had been changed so it was specific to Wildlife’s property and that it was wrong to do so. Bob Langan, who spoke on behalf of Wildlife, said that if that was the case, Wildlife had no part in it. Langan told the Commission, “In no uncertain terms, not one member of my client or our engineering consultant or myself, has had any communication with Mr. Doozan after the initial request was made for the text amendment language. So whatever Chris Doozan did, he did so without our input whatsoever.”

However prior to commissioners' discussion, Langan said, “We certainly are hopeful that this text amendment be approved, which would allow us to bring forth an application pursuant to a site plan but truly this is not regarding that. So really, in no way are we trying to get you to even tacitly approve an application for this property that I think everybody’s aware of.”

Ultimately, commissioners felt they needed more clarity and decided to send the revisions back to McKenna Associates to understand why Doozan had made the changes, and to incorporate some of their own modifications into a final version. The Planning Commission intends to review that version at their January 22nd meeting. If approved, it would be sent to the Board of Trustees with a recommendation for adoption. (DK)