City Planner and Zoning Administrator Dave Stensaas talks about the Land Development Code project and Community Master Plan amendment during an open forum at Lakeview Arena’s Citizens Forum Tuesday. (Journal photo by Jaymie Depew)

MARQUETTE — The Marquette Planning Commission hosted a public forum Tuesday to answer questions and address concerns regarding its Land Development Code project and Community Master Plan amendment that the local government body has been working on for over a year.

City Planner and Zoning Administrator Dave Stensaas gave a presentation which explained the LDC project and CMP amendment before opening it up to the audience of about 30 people for discussion.

City staff were commended by several local residents for the language in the documents, claiming them to be well written and easy to comprehend.

They were also thanked because the LDC project will allow residents to own chickens, rabbits and bees, if it’s approved by the Marquette City Commission.

“Some of the things that are really a departure from the status quo are the limited animal keeping,” Stensaas said. “Chickens, rabbits and bees would be allowed with a permit.”

The planning commission has heard from beekeeping experts as well as Marquette County Health Department representatives regarding the benefits and challenges of allowing residents to have such critters on their properties.

“Our county health department sent a letter saying there are some negatives with chickens,” Stensaas explained. “They could bring in predators or avian flu, but that situation is very rare and basically they said there’s more benefits than there are risks with chickens. A lot of communities have had a lot of luck with just allowing them. We’re in a situation where they’re here, people have them illegally.”

A zoning compliance permit would be needed to own the animals. For outdoor structures like a chicken coop, residents would have to meet standards that are written into the code. There’ll be a fee attached to the permit, but that number hasn’t been determined yet.

Marquette resident Charlie West asked if the LDC project addressed short-term rentals.

“There are no changes proposed in the LDC from what’s in the zoning ordinance right now,” Stensaas said. “The planning commission spent years working on the short-term rental codes that we have and those were revised for the city commission’s discretion in May 2018.”

Stensaas said there’s a cap on 250 short-term rental properties in the city.

“Once we hit 250 permits, there’s not going to be anymore allowed unless the commission decides to change the code,” he said.

Some of the other topics discussed include parking, setbacks and widths of properties in general residential districts, sign allowances, accessory dwelling units for family members and new district zones such as a riparian buffer zoning district that applies to areas where there are bodies of water and wetlands.

Since the LDC project is a complex document, at over 400 pages, Stensaas said he’s sure there’ll have to be some amendments.

“There’s no way with a code this complex we’re going to get everything right, and our consultant told everybody that up front,” he said. “They tell the same thing to every community because when you’re dealing with so much code content there’s going to be something that didn’t work right out of the gate.”

Aaron Andres, chairman of the planning commission, said it will make sure to fix any problems and will diligently seek public input throughout the process. He said it’s disheartening when the public doesn’t attend meetings.

An ad-hoc advisory committee was formed to oversee the LDC project, with the committee completing its designated period in August. The planning commission has conducted 30 work sessions on the project and is charged with recommending a final draft to the city commission, which is anticipated to vote on it in December if all goes well.

A 42-day public comment period is in place until Nov. 25. The planning commission’s next meeting is Nov. 13 and will be held in commission chambers at city hall.

To view the CMP amendment and LDC project, visit www.marquettemi.gov, or the Marquette Community Development Department Facebook page.

Jaymie Depew can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 206. Her email address is jdepew@miningjournal.net.