The Putnam Township Board of Trustees has asked the Planning Commission to take a closer look at several issues in the Master Plan.

Some members of the Planning Commission and their advisory staff seemed taken by surprise and confused at the request that came from the Board’s February 21st meeting that the Commission re-open the Master Plan, Wednesday night. Putnam Township Planning Consultant Brian Borden said this caught him off guard, and that the Master Plan has been technically open since October when the Board of Trustees notified neighboring townships and entities of an intent to update. Trustee Norm Klein is the Board’s representative on the Planning Commission. He admitted that this was probably not the traditional way of doing things, but after the Commission recommended not opening the plan up last year, the Board felt that there was enough to justify taking a closer look.

Klein said the Board narrowed down areas of concern for the Planning Commission to consider. The Planning Commission was given 7 bullet points to consider by the Board. Some of them include creating a 2-acre residential district, adding more commercial-1 districting for a small business park, and tweaking the land around a gravel pit that could help with senior housing. Klein said the Board really just wants the Planning Commission to put some thought into these and send some recommendations back. Borden recommended to the Planning Commission that they familiarize themselves with the township board’s requests and schedule a special meeting designated specifically for Master Plan issues. That meeting will happen at 6pm, April 11th, before their regularly planned session. (MK)