The Leland Township planning commission voted 4-1 to deny the application for a special land use permit to operate a Youth for Christ (YFC) club center in downtown Leland at a meeting held on April 15.
The decision comes after months of deliberation and analysis of the application’s findings and after the planning commission voted 4-1 in February to engage outside legal counsel to provide additional analysis.
The proposal of a YFC club being located in Leland has also been the center of heated discussion amongst community members since it was first proposed last year, with people on either side voicing their support and opposition via township correspondence and at township meetings.
The special use permit application, submitted by Apollos Properties, LLC., was to use a portion of the north side of the building for the YFC club center, located at 110 N. Lake Street. The YFC club center would have been utilized by the local YFC affiliate group, the Leland LightHouse. The north building, one of two commercial buildings on the property, falls in the C-1 village commercial district, a zone established for small scale businesses and retail establishments.
The planning commission utilized findings/analysis provided by attorney Thomas Grier, whose practice areas include municipal, land use, civil litigation, and real estate law, when making its decision.
Grier provided two thorough findings of fact and analysis reports for the commission — one report highlighted reasons to approve the application, and the second cited findings for denial.
Lee Cory, Leland Township Planning Commission chairperson, explained how the application has to meet all of the standards, however, she said it was determined that it did not meet a number of those standards, and thus provided a firm foundation to deny the application. She said they went through the normal procedure that they always go through when making their determination, which included working through the ordinance itself as well as the findings of fact and conclusions of law.
“In going through the set that laid the foundation for denial, it was clear that it did not meet the standards and the ordinance and so we had a clear pathway to make a motion to deny it… Even though right off the bat the application did not meet an overarching standard to begin with, we decided that it was best to go through every single one, which we did, and that took a good bit of time,” Cory said.
Cory said Grier went into great depth analyzing the law and the facts and applying the law to the facts for the commission.
“I think he did an excellent job of giving us a foundation on which to make the right decision… We wanted an indepth analysis,” she said.
Within Grier’s findings regarding denial of the application, the definition of clubs, which has been a topic of debate, under zoning in the commercial district is addressed, amongst a number of other issues.
Grier states that YFC’s proposed use “indisputably does not constitute ‘clubs and other establishments which provide food or drink for consumption by persons seated within a building’ defined as a SUP (special use permit) within the C-1 district under ZO Section 12.01 C. 3.” In addition, Grier’s report states that the proposed use “is not a club of any kind, but rather a place for religious assembly or church, which is not a use allowed by right or special use in the C-1 district.
“YFC’s application likewise fails to establish that the proposed use would have the other key characteristics of a ‘club,’ as that term is commonly understood. It does not describe a charter, bylaws, or other governing instrument; election of officers; collection of dues; regular meetings; membership; or a budget. From the application, it has no internal structure at all,” Grier states in the special use permit denial report.
The report goes on to state the type of club allowed in the C-1 village commercial district is not the type of club YFC proposes.
“What YFC claims it is proposing – a private club that is a non-profit organization for members with a shared interest – is allowed by right in C-2 but is not allowed in C-1. YFC relies on the general definition of clubs in Article 2 of the ordinance, but the 2009 amendment states that if there is any conflict between the general provisions of the ordinance and the specific terms of the 2009 amendment, the amendment controls,” part of the report states.
While the special land use permit application has since been denied, an appeal to that determination can now be made by Jim VanSteenhouse of Apollos Properties, Inc. if he so chooses to do so with the Leland Township Zoning Board of Appeals.
