HOWELL – Municipal officials have voted to prohibit the manufacturing of asphalt and concrete in Howell’s Special Economic Development (SED) zones. At the same time, they voted to make microbreweries a permitted use in several of the township’s zoning districts.
On July 18, Township Council members adopted ordinances that make microbreweries a permitted use in multiple zones. Council members adopted an ordinance removing and prohibiting the manufacturing of concrete and asphalt as a permitted use in the SED zones.
During a public hearing on the concrete and asphalt ordinance, several members of the public began to speak about an application they said was going to be heard by the Howell Planning Board. When they did so, council members told them that the public hearing being conducted on an ordinance was not the proper venue for comments about a matter before the Planning Board.
Deputy Mayor Robert Nicastro said the ordinance that was before the council was “strictly to remove any more asphalt and concrete businesses in the SED zones based on a recommendation following the Planning Board’s re-examination of the township’s master plan.”
Nicastro suggested that if residents have an issue with an application that is before the Planning Board, that they attend the meeting when that application is heard and voice their concerns at that time.
Councilwoman Pauline Smith said the SED zones have “screwed up life in Howell.”
“In the 1970s, someone who sat on the (previous) Township Committee decided they could squeeze more industrial and commercial (uses in) if they made a new zone,” Smith said.
“The original concept of the SED zone had approximately five uses and they did not allow for commercial, it did not allow for anything heavy, but as people came along, they changed it. The SED zone was intended for uses that could co-exist with residents and farms and it has not (done that). It has become a mess and I am sorry,” she said.
Mayor Theresa Berger, Councilwoman Evelyn O’Donnell, Councilman Bob Walsh, Smith and Nicastro voted to adopt the ordinance prohibiting the manufacturing of asphalt and concrete in the SED zones.
In other business, the council adopted ordinances that impacted various zones around the municipality.
• The council unanimously adopted an ordinance amending the Highway Development 1 zone to allow health care facilities, medical centers, health club facilities, fitness centers, indoor recreation, microbreweries and commercial schools as permitted uses. Automobile repair services will be a conditional use in the HD-1 zone.
• The council unanimously adopted an ordinance amending the Highway Development 2 zone to allow health care facilities, medical centers, health club facilities, fitness centers, indoor recreation, microbreweries, commercial schools, retail sales, retail services and restaurants with drive-up windows as permitted uses.
• The council unanimously adopted an ordinance amending the Highway Development 3 zone to allow health care facilities, medical centers, health club facilities, fitness centers, microbreweries, indoor recreation and commercial schools as permitted uses.
• The council unanimously adopted an ordinance amending the Neighborhood Commercial zone to allow microbreweries and commercial schools as permitted uses.
• The council unanimously adopted an ordinance amending the Highway Commercial zone to allow health care facilities, medical centers, health club facilities, fitness centers, indoor recreation, microbreweries and commercial schools as permitted uses.
• The council unanimously adopted an ordinance amending the Planned Mixed Use District zone to allow microbreweries and commercial schools as permitted uses.
