A lack of consistent standards when reviewing projects in Peninsula Township – along with unclear communication and staff turnover and shortages in the planning and zoning departments – have generated complaints over the years among developers looking to build on Old Mission, some of which have ended in lawsuits. Township officials – working off a 2018 consultant’s report that confirmed the need to address those issues – are now considering restructuring the planning and zoning departments and streamlining project applications ahead of a planned hire of a new township planner.

Township trustees met August 3 and will meet again today (Monday) to discuss the possibility of combining Peninsula Township’s planning and zoning departments. The key roles of township planner and zoning administrator/director have evolved since the 1980s, with Peninsula Township originally sharing a planner with other local townships before eventually hiring a full-time planner and then gradually introducing a zoning administrator and increasing that position from part to full-time. Those roles are two separate full-time positions today, though the planner role is empty following the recent retirement of Randy Mielnik, who held the position since 2018.

A hiring process to find a new township planner has yielded two finalists: Peninsula Township’s current zoning director Christina Deeren and Eric Wedesky, a professional planner who has worked for organizations in Miami, Toronto, and the Eastern Upper Peninsula. Following July 29 interviews with the two candidates – as well a third finalist eliminated from consideration – trustees temporarily put the brakes on the process, realizing they wanted to first identify the ideal structure of the departments before making a hiring decision.

Trustees acknowledged challenges that have faced planning and zoning in recent years, which were outlined in a 2018 Networks Northwest report. The consulting group found that Peninsula Township’s zoning ordinance “does not have well-defined processes and consistent standards for development reviews,” and that a “lack of charted processes used by township staff lends to incomplete applications and haphazard follow-through of projects.” The township lacks “clear project tracking and an easily accessible filing system” and is hindered by an “unclear priority of planning projects,” resulting in staff duplicating efforts and developers struggling to get clear answers on the status of their applications.

“Consistent leadership and coordination of planning and zoning operations is absent,” Networks Northwest found. Those challenges have led to litigation, the report notes; recent lawsuits include those filed by the developers of 81 on East Bay and the Wineries of Old Mission Peninsula. Networks Northwest made several recommendations to address the issues, including using clear checklists that both staff and developers can reference for planning and zoning applications, implementing a centralized filing system for all applications and permits, maintaining up-to-date township strategic and capital improvement plans, and regularly surveying township residents to determine community priorities. The report also calls for adding an administrative staff person and for township trustees to consider combining the roles of planner and zoning administrator.

If the roles are kept separate, “defining the mission and purpose of each department is important to understand the role of each department and their associated interaction," Networks Northwest wrote.

Jennifer Hodges of Gourdie-Fraser, which provides engineering and project support to the township, told trustees last week that township staff often work in silos, making communication challenging on projects. “The shortfall I’ve seen that’s been happening…when a project comes in is we each have our piece, but we’re not putting it together as a whole and collaborating,” she said. “It’s frustrating for the township, it’s frustrating for the developers. So you guys have a great opportunity for all of us to collaborate as one unit and be on the same page.”

Township Supervisor Rob Manigold said that when developers get frustrated by the hurdles in the special use permit process – typically required for commercial developments or more intensive or unique residential projects – they instead default to “use-by-right” projects so they can move ahead, resulting in more “cookie cutter” projects on Old Mission. He suggested the township have more eyes on initial project applications so potential problems are flagged upfront. Manigold cited as an example the planned redevelopment of the Seven Hills commercial complex, where developers worked with township staff for several months on plans that included a small motel even though the parcel wasn’t large enough under the zoning ordinance for such a use. “There’s a lot of time wasted on something that can’t occur,” Manigold said.

Township trustees seemed to reach consensus last week on several possible steps forward, including using clear project checklists and hiring an administrative staff person who can relieve the planning and/or zoning director from administrative tasks. “I’m concerned about the lost productivity by having people who are, by their job descriptions, supposed to be big thinkers, and they end up spending so much of their day with minutiae,” said Trustee David Sanger.

In their meeting today, trustees could also potentially vote on merging zoning and planning, or else creating clear job descriptions and responsibilities for each director position. The board will then reach out to the planner candidates to schedule final interviews, with Sanger noting it would be “important for applicants to know which direction we’re going” with the position before agreeing to take on the role.