WHITEHALL — The Whitehall Township board unanimously approved a special use permit for the development of an auto body shop within the township during Monday's regular meeting. The approval came following unanimous approval from the planning commission.
Trustee Chuck Schmitigal raised concerns regarding the construction and appearance of the property, concerns which were answered by both trustee David Holly, serving on the planning commission, and the interested developer in attendance at the meeting.
Holly described that the shop will be constructed in two phases, with the main auto body shop first, described as “a very polished building,” and then a building at the back of the property to house vehicles as they are being worked on. The board was assured there will be a fence surrounding a portion of the property and that no vehicles would be left out overnight.
From Holly’s perspective, “It's a very nice looking project.”
The developer explained that the property would be similar in construction and design to the Gerber Collision properties seen recently on Apple Avenue in Muskegon, “Very modern, very secure…The intent is not to keep any cars outside, especially those that can’t be secured.”
The special use permit was approved unanimously across the township board, including a hesitant “yes” vote from Schmitigal. Later, during board comments, Schmitigal asked that, should the board see another special use permit such as this again, the board directly receive the requisite paperwork and plans from the planning commission.
The board announced the closure two weeks ago of Brownfield #1’s TIF (Tax Increment Financing) District after nearly 20 years. The property’s taxes will now be fully evaluated following the TIF closure, but the future of brownfield #1 is still up for discussion between board members and will be decided at a later date.
Muskegon County Commissioner Kim Cyr announced to the board county commissioners’ approval of the wording for the county parks and recreation commission’s upcoming millage proposal. The millage proposal is set at 0.5 mills and will be on the November ballot. As part of the request, municipalities would be able to receive a share of the funds, distributed based on their population.
Supervisor Dennis Kroll made clear his position on the millage, saying, “Whitehall Township would receive about $10,000. Well, half a mill out of this township generates around $40,000. Why do I want to encourage my people to spend $40,000 to get $10,000?...It’s basic math.”
The board voted to approve the purchase of a $1,500 laptop for election workers, only to be utilized for elections.
As explained by Kroll for the specificity of the device, “[The laptop] is not tied into the mainframe system, they have a standalone unity…After the election, the work that gets done on that computer for that election must be purged.”
The need for the laptop was made clear during the election earlier this August, when the township had to request to borrow one from Muskegon County.
Wendy DeCair has been approved by the township board to serve on Whitehall Township’s board of review, as nominated by Kroll. DeCair’s husband previously served as a planning commissioner.
