Port Sheldon Township
Official Statement – Clearing Up Confusion
Regarding: January 8th, Master Plan – Consumers Sub-Area Public Engagement meeting
We want to clear up any confusion related to the recent Master Plan Public Engagement meeting for the Consumers Energy Sub-area
For those in attendance at the meeting, there was a lengthy presentation that explained the purpose of the evening was essentially a visioning exercise to provide an opportunity for residents to give feedback on three (3) different types of growth scenarios for 20-40 years out, including minimal, moderate and maximum development, for the Consumers sub-area ONLY.
Summary (TL;DR version):
These visioning scenarios are NOT proposals to be acted upon, but another step in the Master Plan public engagement process, gathering public feedback on what might be preferable for future development on the Consumers Energy parcels ONLY, and that is, IF those parcels become available for redevelopment in the distant future.
The Township Master Plan is NOT making any sweeping changes that would disrupt the rural character of the township. To the contrary, the Master plan seeks to preserve the large lot residential, agricultural heritage, and recreational opportunities we all enjoy.
Expanded explanation of the Master Plan Process:
- The Master plan is a publicly informed document which relies heavily on public input. (surveys, open house, visioning exercises, stakeholder roundtables, etc.)
- The Master Plan is a tool used for guiding future land use decisions presented for consideration to the planning commission. (special land uses, zoning requests, etc.)
- The Master plan process has been underway for over a year, and is NOT a reaction to the closure of the plant, nor any urgency to recoup any potential loss in tax revenue.
- The Master plan process is required by state statute to be reviewed every 5 years, and this cycle happens to intersect with the announced closure of the power plant. This overlap warranted a longer-range look at the Consumers parcels, in the event any of these properties become available for different uses.
- At the present time, Consumers has not indicated that they are selling, or disposing of any land, in fact they have just released a press notice that they are re-investing in their property with the installation of a fly ash reclamation operation, and potential battery storage, this would be in the areas that are already zoned and used for industrial activities.
- The portion of Consumer’s Tax Revenue does not go to “zero” when the plant closes.
- Tax deficit projected for the township (IF it went to zero, which it is not) is approximately $54,000 dollars, which can be easily managed via our balanced budget, surplus, and projected normal growth in residential revenue.
- Once the consultant gathers the public input, and a Master Plan draft is delivered to the Planning Commission, there is still a 63-day comment period, before anything would move toward adoption.
- Nothing has changed in regard to current zoning lot sizes in the Township dating back to 1957.
- While a large portion of the township are zoned Agricultural (AG-1) with a 2 Acre parcel size, there are areas situated throughout the township that have been platted as R-1 dating back to the 1900’s (with a .46 acre min. lot size, or smaller)
- The zoning districts map can be found here > Zoning Map
- Any future development with higher densities would require the existence of public utilities (water & sewer), so most, if not all of the visioning scenarios would require extensive infrastructure upgrades to be realized.
If you have questions, please reach out to the township officials and staff.
