St. James conditional rezoning review for art-gallery use, 2024–2025

Event

Dates

2024-03-19 – 2025-05-14

Kind

Legal proceeding

Where

Township of Saint James

Eras

Modern era

Concepts

governance

Within

Township of Saint James

Summary

Between March 2024 and May 2025, the St. James Township Planning Commission and Board considered two successive rezoning applications for the same parcel (PIN 013-223-001-90, later cited as 15-013-223-001-90), owned by Rene Adrian Rogers and Larry Rogers, and eventually approved a conditional rezoning from R-1 residential to Harbor, limited to use as an art gallery. The Commission approved a first, non-conditional version of the rezoning in March 2024 as Permit S-1928, but the Charlevoix County Planning Commission declined to support it in May 2024 and recommended a conditional rezoning instead; the Township Board sent the matter back to the Commission that June. The applicants refiled as Permit S-1928A, a conditional rezoning, which drew both opposition and support at an August 2024 public hearing over concerns about neighborhood traffic. The Commission approved the conditional rezoning, removed one of its two conditions in October, and the Township Board gave final approval on 14 May 2025.

History

At a public hearing and special meeting on 19 March 2024, the Planning Commission opened a public hearing on Permit S-1928, a straight (non-conditional) rezoning of the parcel from R-1 to Harbor. No one spoke at the hearing; a letter from Denise and Tom Richards opposing the rezoning was read into the record. Commissioners discussed the application and reported no issue with it. The Commission voted unanimously by roll call to approve the rezoning and sent it to the Charlevoix County Planning Commission for review, as required for a zoning-map amendment.

In its review of the application, the Charlevoix County Planning Commission voted on 9 May 2024 that it “cannot support” rezoning the parcel from R-1 to Harbor outright, reasoning that a straight Harbor designation would permit many land uses the township might not want at the site, a difference the county’s own staff report found had not been discussed in the township’s public-hearing minutes. The county recommended the township instead consider a conditional rezoning to Harbor, or a zoning-ordinance text amendment allowing the sale of goods as a home-based business within the R-1 district. The St. James Planning Commission discussed the county’s response on 4 June 2024, removed the item from a pending zoning-map-change list without further action, and on 19 June 2024 the Township Board voted unanimously to return the county’s denial to the Planning Commission “for consideration of the rezoning options suggested by the county.”

The applicants refiled the request as Permit S-1928A, a conditional rezoning, filed 8 July 2024. At the Planning Commission’s public hearing on 13 August 2024, opponents and supporters of the rezoning spoke on the record. Adjacent landowners Michael Braden and Sharley Hower submitted written opposition citing added traffic and congestion. Speaking in person, Tom James and Frank D’Andria opposed the rezone, both citing existing traffic on Lake Drive, with D’Andria also citing vandalism in the residential neighborhood. Heather Robinson spoke in favor, saying artists needed support, and Dana D’Andria called the proposal “an elegant solution” that did not open the neighborhood to broader Harbor district activity, crediting the plan’s proposed walking path from the road to the gallery. Larry Rogers said the gallery would operate summers only and did not consider traffic an issue; Rene Adrian Rogers told the Commission she had contacted the county Health Department, which she said did not require a public restroom.

After the hearing closed, the Commission’s recording secretary reported that the township’s Mechanical and Plumbing Inspector, Ryan Woods, had advised that an ADA-compliant restroom was required under the building code for a mercantile use open to the public. The Rogerses said a restroom already existed in their pole barn and would be made compliant. Commissioner Taylor-Blitz raised concerns about Harbor zoning encroaching into a residential district and possible spot zoning. The Commission then voted 4–1 (Taylor-Blitz dissenting) to approve the rezoning conditioned on the ADA restroom and on the property reverting to R-1 if it left the applicants’ ownership.

On 1 October 2024, after Rene Adrian-Rogers wrote to the Commission questioning the restroom requirement, the recording secretary clarified that the condition had been based on building size rather than the split between public and private interior space; a commissioner noted the Commission lacked jurisdiction over ADA determinations and that the condition should be withdrawn if the building inspector had waived it. The Commission voted 4–1 (the same commissioner dissenting) to remove the restroom condition, leaving the ownership-reversion condition in place. A township zoning-map update dated 1 November 2024 marked the parcel R-1 with a new Harbor designation and a conditional-rezone marker, and the Commission transmitted the matter to the Charlevoix County Planning Department on 2 December 2024 for further review. The County Planning Commission reviewed the request on 6 February 2025 and forwarded its staff report back to the township without a separate county approval; a 25 February letter from the County Planning Director noted staff’s understanding that the parcel remained zoned R-1 pending township action. The St. James Township Board gave unanimous final approval to the rezoning on 14 May 2025 and directed that notice be posted in the Petoskey News-Review.

Evidence and limits

These records establish the March 2024 non-conditional rezoning hearing and approval, the county’s May 2024 review declining to support it, the Planning Commission’s and Board’s June 2024 handling of that response, the Planning Commission’s August 2024 hearing testimony and conditional approval of the refiled application, the October condition amendment, the county transmittal and review, and the May 2025 Board approval motion. The permit-filing date for S-1928A (8 July 2024) comes from the February 2025 county packet, which reproduces the township’s application materials; no separate filing record for the original S-1928 application was found in the sources read for this article. The held record does not supply an ordinance number or text, the posted notice, an effective date, confirmation that the restroom or reversion condition was fulfilled, or the parcel’s current zoning status.

Added 2 August 2026. Recent changes