News & Announcements

This letter was sent to the Mining Gazette in response to their recent article on sea planes and Charter Township of Portage, at the time of this post, it has not been published:

"Portage Township Supervisor Bruce Petersen will be out of town for several days and has asked me to clarify a few points in the recent Gazette article. First, Portage Township is currently not considering rezoning as the headline states. No request has been made. Second, you incorrectly quoted the township Zoning Ordinance. You can get the correct language from my attachment to last month's Township Board Meeting minutes or from the Zoning Ordinance which is available online. Third, Mr. Julien did not attend or speak at township Planning Commission meeting on 12/15. Fourth, we did not mail a rezoning request to the county – perhaps you could print the actual letter. Fifth, the Township Board will not be voting to “adopt/reject or amend” rezoning. The Board will vote on whether or not to accept our Planning Commission's recommendation to include seaplanes as a permitted use in B-2 Districts. Supervisor Petersen also requested I mention that the County Planning Commission does not have veto power over the township. Our procedure requires us to seek their input since the potential benefits and negatives of a seaplane business will impact more than just township residents.

                                                     Thank you for your time,

                                                               John Ollila"