The Empire Township Board is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the proposed new township Zoning Ordinance following a review by county officials.

At its meeting Tuesday night, clerk Christine Neiswonger said board members will read through the document carefully since they have concerns about some of the proposed changes.

In a phone report from Neiswonger yesterday morning, she said there are three areas of concern by board members: the non-conforming use section; increasing the buildable lot size in the Agricultural district from two acres to five acres; and the proposed Commercial District along M-72.

The township Planning Commission has been working on replacing the existing Zoning Ordinance with a new one since it completed the update of the township Master Plan in 2006. Neiswonger said board members want to read through the latest version of the proposed new document before making any recommendations.

“They have heard a lot of concerns from township residents and want to check it out themselves,” she said.

In other business, the board:

• Unanimously approved sending a letter to the county Board of Commissioners supporting Glen Arbor Township’s request to split federal Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) with townships in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore on a 75-25 basis, with the township receiving 75 percent of the funds and the county keeping 25 percent.

• Received an update about the ongoing discussions with Glen Arbor Township on a possible merger of the two townships’ fire departments. Neiswonger said the board received some rough drawings on a possible addition to the Empire Fire Hall for living quarters. No new information was provided and Neiswonger said the board members want to have more solid financial information before taking the entire issue to a public hearing. “We want to have all the information in place and get the public’s input before making any final decision,” she said.