Planning Commission
Commissioners
| Joseph S. Baumann Commissioner |
Greg J. DeJong Commissioner |
|
| Adam Kantrovich Public School Board or Administrative Employee of a School District |
Jim Miedema Financial/Sociological/Academic |
|
| Bill Miller Agriculture |
Roman Wilson Environmental |
|
| Doug Zylstra Business/Industrial/Tourism |
Responsibilites
A seven member County Planning Commission was created pursuant to MCL 125.101 et seq. (Act 282 of 1945 as amended) through an ordinance passed by the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners on August 8, 1989. That ordinance authorizes the Planning Commission to establish Rules and Bylaws to govern its operations. In addition to the ordinance, the Board also approved a list of duties for the Planning Commission that is outlined in a document entitled "Summary of Duties".
County Planning Commissions are directed by State Statute to establish county development plans that promote the health, safety, morals, order, convenience, prosperity, and general welfare of county residents. Further, County Planning Commissions are given the authority to conduct studies, investigations, and surveys related to the economic, social, environmental, and physical development of the County.
The Planning Commission is also responsible for fulfilling the obligations of three other statutory mandates: The first is to review applications by farmers to include or remove their Ottawa County farmland from the State of Michigan’s PA 116 Program (Act 116 of 1974 - Farmland and Open Space Preservation Act, as amended); The second is to review township zoning amendments (Act 110 of 2006 - Michigan Zoning Enabling Act and Act 168 of 1959 - Township Planning Act, as amended); And the third is to review and provide a statement whether township or municipal master plan’s are consistent with the county plan and any adjoining city, village, township, or regional master plans (Act 168 of 1959, Township Planning Act, as amended, and Act 285 of 1931, Municipal Planning Act, as amended).
