3/27/13 - Howell City officials are in the midst of a multi-phase process to address violations occurring at an auto-salvage operation. At its meeting on Monday night, The Howell City Council approved rezoning a piece of property owned by Vern Brockway of Regal Recycling at the south end of Lucy Road, just north of I-96. The rezoning was initiated in response to the expansion of an auto-salvage operation on that portion of the property. City documents show staff has concerns about current operations on the site and whether it can be brought into compliance with ordinances. The rezoning request was said to be appropriate and a needed first step to address the expanded operations. Owner Vern Brockway needs to appear before the Planning Commission with a corrected site plan and special use request. The property was annexed into the City under a 425 agreement with Genoa Township. When that happened, the property automatically reverted to the lowest zoning of residential. City Manager Shea Charles tells WHMI the property had to be rezoned back to the previous industrial classification as a first step to the other business. Howell Township officials are dealing with a similar situation at Brockwayâs property in the area of M-59 and Tooley Road, where a number of unauthorized uses are said to be occurring. Meanwhile, the City previously sold a significant portion of a former landfill site to Brockwayâs Lucy Road Resources II company for future operations and is currently working on a development plan to get that space activated again. Charles says the Cityâs Brownfield Authority is meeting to start review reimbursement agreements. The former Lucy Road landfill site is contaminated the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has been involved in the process. A number of amendments have been brought before Council in relation to the purchase agreement for the site between the City of Howell and Lucy Road Resources II. (JM)
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