Jackson, Mich. (WKHM) — The Leoni Township Planning Commission held a meeting on Wednesday evening that was standing room only before the meeting even began for a public hearing on the potential rezoning of the Pine Hollow Golf Course to heavy industrial land.
All of the residents who spoke at the meeting did so in opposition to the plan. They cited concerns including spot zoning, the pushback this plan has received from the Jackson County and Region 2 Planning Commissions, air and noise pollution, health risks, and how large trucks involved with heavy industrial work would damage local roads.
Michael Samhat, President of Interstate Capital Development, the company looking to buy the land from the township if the rezoning is approved, also spoke at the meeting.
Samhat said that they would follow all state regulations, and that “the imagination kind of runs wild” for concerned residents with heavy industrial projects.
One of the residents, Ed Kerley, told WKHM that he is worried about what could be put into the location if it is sold as heavy industrial land.
Leoni Board Trustee Ron Kinch, who also sits on the Planning Commission, said that the plan would benefit 13,000 residents, but would do so at the cost of a couple to a few hundred.
Kerley says the negative impact would go beyond that number of people within the township.
Kinch would ultimately vote in the minority against recommending the plan to the Leoni Township Board of Trustees, saying that the board also needs to focus on the concerns of those outside of the Michigan Center area on this matter.
The majority of the Planning Commission did vote to recommend the plan, which is expected to be put in front of the Leoni Township Board of Trustees on December 9 according to Trustee Kinch.
Kerley hopes that the vocal opposition against the plan remains strong at township meetings.
The Board of Trustees have a Work Session at 8:00 a.m. on November 10 and a full meeting on November 12 at 6:00 p.m.
