SHELBY - Monday, March 23, with six of seven council members present, the Village of Shelby gave approval to five out of eight ordinance amendments, village planning commission annual reports and the village’s 2025 Master Plan.
Prior to final consideration of the eight ordinance amendments discussed at length at their March 9 meeting, Village Administrator Phil Morse addressed the council and the four people in the audience, saying he sensed the council had differing opinions when it came to what he would call aesthetics, or widely accepted good neighborliness, but they seemed more unified when discussing amendments related to resident safety.
“Many neighbors will follow good neighbor practices, but there will always be some who will not. It could be more that they are unaware, not necessarily inconsiderate. I would advise against asking village staff to do something without us being able to enforce it. What is enforceable and unenforceable can muddy the waters. Enforcement will need to be handled diplomatically. We can’t play favorites. We’ll have to look at the totality of the circumstances,” Morse explained.
“It does feel like we’re piling on with these eight. But the idea is we’re trying to make this a once-a-year activity to save the village a little money between contacting the lawyer and publicizing notices. Also, when we prepared for our one-time recodification, we realized we missed some things,” Morse added. “In the past six months nothing else has come up related to ordinance amendments, so I don’t see this (many amendments) being an every-year thing.”
Council member Mike Termer asked if he might respond and said, “It sounds like you’re selling these amendments…It’s not your role to sell them. We can’t create a law for one extreme. Instead of being a good neighbor, it’s almost turning people against each other…You might have the best intentions, but you aren’t always going to be here, yet you’ve created a law…that doesn’t cultivate a warm, welcoming community. I believe it is the role of the Ordinance Committee to say, 'What are we doing?' Do we need to update our ordinances and fix them?”
At first, the council was unsure how to proceed, given Ordinance Committee chair Crystal Heykoop was absent. However, Termer reminded the group that not having a full council in the past has not stopped them from voting on items before, so they proceeded.
After brief discussions, no motion was provided, so no action was taken with regard to the Residential Waste or Junk Vehicles ordinance amendments. Councilor Steve Crothers motioned to approve, with a second by Curt Trott, to approve the Casual Sale amendment. At the vote, council members Crothers, Trott and Village President John Sutton voted in favor of the amendment, while council members Termer, Dan Zaverl and Samantha Gottschalk voted against it, thus the motion failed.
The other five ordinance amendments passed. Under the village’s Right-of-Way ordinance, council had suggested at their last meeting and voted Monday to remove the wording "Temporary Structures” and “Any item deemed hazardous by the village.” According to the village attorney, the list that was discussed at the last council meeting, “...is advisory, not prescriptive. That is, the list adds clear examples, but is not exhaustive.”
The Animals ordinance was approved with the suggested amendments from the last meeting still holding. “The updates significantly strengthen our local regulations related to dangerous animals and stray animals, improving our ability to enforce these provisions in court…The revised chapter now establishes a clear maximum of four cats per household, where previously no such limit existed,” Morse’s notes on the ordinance stated.
The ordinance also includes the wording, “Up to 15 female poultry may be kept for every acre of a tax parcel. Up to one rooster may be kept for every acre of tax parcel.”
With all council members voting in favor, the ordinance for Disorderly Conduct will now include wording that no smoking be allowed in any public park.
Before approval of the Sidewalk Operations ordinance amendments - because there are several parks in the village and the amendment was meant to address bikes and scooters in the newly renovated Getty Park - Termer suggested the words “Getty Park” be named in the amendment.
Lastly, the council considered amendments to the village’s Burning Ordinance. As discussed earlier, the amendments are aimed at addressing open burning within the village. The ordinance passed five to one, with council member Crothers casting the dissenting vote. Prior to the vote, Crothers said he’s had a larger than the 24-inch recommended firepit behind his house for 36 years and gave the impression he was not in favor of voting for the smaller size.
Morse told council during their final discussion that of any ordinance amendments brought forward thus far, this was the one he would most advocate for. Morse said people are already burning waste in their yards, and Police Chief Dean Roesler said now that it is spring, this is something his department will be addressing regularly.
Following the amendment discussion and voting, Termer expressed his thanks for all of the work Morse had put into the ordinance amendments and what he does every day for the village. Termer wished to apologize if anything he said earlier had offended Morse, as that was not his intent. Morse responded that he was not offended by Termer’s comments, but was appreciative of his support.
In other business, the village gave their approval to the Planning Commission’s annual reports for both calendar years of 2024 and 2025.
In 2024, the Planning Commission board consisted of Chairman Ross Field, Gottschalk, Tim Horton, Paul Inglis and Sutton. The village continued implementation of their 2020 Master Plan, including a comprehensive zoning ordinance audit, evaluation, update and rewrite, as well as a comprehensive audit, evaluation, update and adding of General Law Ordinances. In addition, the commission worked with the village on implementing a downtown facade improvement program using ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds. No zoning amendments were made or various requests reviewed in 2024, however, the commission did review two project developments, one at Blue Photon in the Industrial Park and a pole barn construction on Piper Drive. The commission was also able to participate in a joint training session, facilitated by the Michigan Municipal League, with the village council and Shelby Township planning commission and board entitled "Overview of Basic Government."
In 2025, Planning Commission members remained the same. Working with the village’s 2020 Master Plan, the commission continued ongoing work with neighboring and regional governments. As they look to the future, they will be working on updating the village’s five-year Parks & Recreation Plan, as well as strategies related to Trail Town Engagement, Complete Streets, Green Infrastructure and community education, outreach and communication. For training, the commission took the time to view a recording about the Match on Main Street program that is accessible to Redevelopment Ready Certified communities, of which Shelby is one. In 2025, no individual zoning ordinance amendments, land division or development reviews needed to be considered, however, they did hear a presentation from a possible developer interested in 100 acres east of 72nd Avenue. They did review and approve a resident’s variance request to build a wheelchair ramp, which would not have been allowed under the present ordinance.
An update to the 2020 master plan was undertaken by the commission in January 2025. A community-wide survey identified key areas of need, significantly housing (quality and availability), business opportunities, improved streets, code enforcement and sidewalk conditions. The updated plan was released in October 2025 for public review.
With the planning commission’s final approval of the village’s 2025 Master Plan on March 17, 2026, the plan was presented to village council Monday, March 23 and approved by all present council members. “This important document will serve as a guiding document for future land use and development decisions within the village…and provide direction to the planning commission when considering zoning matters and establish a long-term vision for the community’s growth and development,” Morse’s memo to council stated.
Now that the plan has been approved, it will be distributed to adjacent local governments, the county and other required entities per state law.
With the 2024 and 2025 annual reports complete, the commission is moving forward and has already met with the village’s planning group, McKenna, to begin outlining the process for a future Zoning Ordinance update. The planning commission, which is scheduled to meet quarterly, will meet again in June.
Finally, Morse presented a Path Permit Agreement (PPA) the village and Shelby Public Schools are working on to be submitted to MDOT as part of their conditional commitment to the village’s Safe Routes to School project. Different from a legal easement, a PPA avoids creating a permanent property interest, reduces legal costs, and offers more efficiency and streamlining of the process. No action was required by the council Monday, but Morse only wanted to keep them up-to-date on the progress thus far and give them a chance to ask questions and give feedback before formal approval.
