NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that at its regular meeting on May 21, 2024, at the Township Hall located at 6483 Waldon Center Drive, Clarkston, Michigan 48346 Township, Michigan, the Charter Township of Independence Board of Trustees approved the second reading and adoption of Amendments to the Township’s Zoning Ordinance Chapter 50.

A true copy of the Ordinance is on file and available for viewing between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday at the Independence Township’s Clerk’s Office, 6483 Waldon Center Drive, Clarkston, Michigan 48346 and available on the Township’s website at www.indtwp.com.

ORDINANCE NO. 2024-50-001

ORDINANCEAMENDINGZONING ORDINANCE

(Text Amendments to Zoning Ordinance)

AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE INDEPENDENCE CHARTER TOWNSHIP CODE OF ORDINANCES, CHAPTER 50, “ZONING ORDINANCE,” BY AMENDING CHAPTER 50, SECTION 5.11 “MAINTENANCE OF ANIMALS” AND SECTION 2.02 “DEFINITIONS” OF THE ZONING ORDINANCE TO REGULATE THE KEEPING OF CHICKENS.

THE CHARTER TOWNSHIP OF INDEPENDENCE ORDAINS:

Section1.ORDINANCEAMENDMENT.

Chapter 50, “Zoning Ordinance,” Chapter 50, Section 5.11 “Maintenance of Animals” and Section 2.02 “Definitions” of the Zoning Ordinance to regulate the Keeping of Chickens shall read as follows:

Section 2.02 Definitions

Animal. A non-human zoological species, classified for purposes of this Ordinance as follows:

1. Class I animal. Class I animals are domesticated household pets weighing less than one hundred and fifty (150) pounds.
2. Class II animal. Class II animals are animals which are normally part of the livestock maintained on a farm, including: a. Bovine and like animals, such as the cow; b. Equine and like animals, such as the horse; c. Swine and like animals, such as the pig and hog; d. Ovine and like animals, such as the sheep and goat; and e. Other animals weighing in excess of seventy-five (75) pounds, and not otherwise specifically classified herein.
3. Class III animal. Class III animals are rabbits (which are not maintained or kept as domesticated household pets); animals considered as poultry, except for chickens, and other animals weighing less than seventy-five (75) pounds not specifically classified herein.
4. Wild animal. An animal that is not customarily domesticated and customarily devoted to the service of mankind in the Township. The characterization of an animal as being wild shall not be altered by virtue of the fact that one or several generations of the animal in question have been maintained in captivity.

Section 5.11 Maintenance Of Animals

The regulations of this section applies to all properties where animals are kept, with the exception of bona fide farm operations protected under the Right to Farm Act, P.A. 93 of 1981 and the keeping of chickens regulated by Chapter 8, Article IV – Keeping of Chickens. The maintenance of animals is subject to the following provisions:

1. Class I animals may be maintained in any zoning classification district subject to the performance standards in Section 11.02.
2. Class II animals may be maintained in the following zoning classification districts; R-1A, R-1B, R-1C, and R-1R subject to the performance standards in Section 11.02; provided, however, that class II animals shall not be permitted on a premises having less than three (3) acres; one (1) class II animal shall be permitted on a premises having three (3) acres or more; and one (1) additional class II animal shall be permitted per each full acre on a premises in excess of three (3) acres.
3. Class III animals may be maintained in the following zoning classification districts: R-1A, R-1B, R-1C, and R-1R subject to the performance standards in Section 11.02; provided, however, that class III animals shall not be permitted on a premises having less than three (3) acres, and one (1) additional class III animal shall be permitted per each one-tenth (1/10) acre on a premises in excess of three (3) acres.
4. In addition to, and notwithstanding subsections A. through C. of this section, the following regulations shall be applicable to the maintenance of animals:
   1. There shall be adequate fencing, or other restraining device, for the purpose of maintaining animals within the restricted areas provided for in this section.
   2. The refuse and wastes resulting from the maintenance of animals shall be controlled upon the premises, and shall be cared for or disposed of within a reasonable time so as to minimize hazards of health and offensive effects upon neighboring people and uses.
   3. All feed and other substances and materials on the premises for the maintenance of animals shall be stored in appropriate enclosed receptacles and structures, excepting such storage as may otherwise be accomplished without adversely affecting the neighbors of the premises or the public health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the Township.
   4. Structures shall be provided to house, confine, and shelter animals, and the size of all accessory buildings and structures situated on a premises shall not exceed a total of one hundred fifty (150) square feet for each complete acre of land area; provided that no single building or structure shall exceed the size of two thousand (2,000) square feet. The following minimum sized structures shall be provided for each animal:
      1. For class II animals:

(1) Bovine and like animals, fifty (50) square feet;

(2) Equine and like animals, fifty (50) square feet;

(3) Swine and like animals, twenty (20) square feet;

(4) Ovine and line animals, eight (8) square feet; and

(5) Other Class II animals shall be provided with a minimum of fifty (50) square feet of structure per animal.

1. Class III animals shall be provided with a structure having a minimum size of four (4) square feet per animal; provided that in the event that animal stalls, cages, etc., are constructed on more than one (1) floor, level, or layer, square footage shall be computed by counting the area on each floor, level, or layer separately.
2. Class II and class III animals shall be restricted to areas on the premises upon which they are being maintained no less than seventy-five (75) feet from the nearest residential lot line, other than R-1R, or any neighboring dwelling unit in any zoning classification district, said restricted area to include areas in which animals are fenced or otherwise restrained, and structures required to house, care for and maintain animals.
3. On any premises upon which animals are situated or maintained in the Township, garbage, refuse, offal, and the like shall not be brought upon the premises and fed to animals; said action is hereby deemed to be a nuisance.
4. A nuisance shall not be created by the maintenance of animals in the Township, and upon the inspection by the Building Official, or other Township official duly designated and authorized by the Township Board, concerning a premises on which animals are kept and upon ten (10) days’ written notice given by said official to the person maintaining animals on said premises, stating in said notice that it appears that a nuisance does in fact exist on said premises, and specifically describing said nuisance, due notice being given to individuals residing within three hundred (300) feet of the said premises, and other interested parties known to the Township, the Board of Appeals shall conduct a hearing and make a determination as to whether the conditions on the premises in question constitute a nuisance; the person or persons maintaining the animals on said premises, or their legal representatives, shall be permitted to present evidence and argument. Upon a determination by the Board of Appeals that a nuisance exists, the Board of Appeals shall, in writing, apprise the person maintaining the animals on said premises as to how the nuisance shall be abated, and provide a reasonable time therefore. The Board of Appeals shall order the animals upon the premises removed only in the event that the maintenance of said animals creates an imminent danger to the public health, safety, and welfare, and provided that such a removal order shall be limited to a minimum number of animals and minimum time period necessary to abate said danger.
5. Except as authorized in an approved wildlife reserve or zoological garden, wild animals shall not be permitted to be maintained in the Township, temporarily or permanently.

Section2.REPEALER.

All ordinances, parts of ordinances, or sections of the Charter Township of Independence Code of Ordinances in conflict with this Ordinance are repealed only to the extent necessary to give this Ordinance full force and effect.

Section3.SEVERABILITY.

If any section, clause, or provision of this Ordinance shall be declared to be unconstitutional, void, illegal or ineffective by any Court of competent jurisdiction, such section, clause, or provision declared to be unconstitutional, void, or illegal shall thereby cease to be a part of this Ordinance, but the remainder of this Ordinance shall stand and be in full force and effect.

Section4.SAVINGS.

All proceedings pending and all rights and liabilities existing, acquired, or incurred at the time this Ordinance takes effect, are saved, and may be consummated according to the law in force when they were commenced.

Section5.EFFECTIVEDATE.

The provisions of this Ordinance shall become effective eight (8) days from the date of publication, unless a notice of intent to file a petition requesting submission of this Ordinance to a vote of the Township electors is filed within seven (7) days of publication. If the notice of intent is filed within seven (7) days of publication, the Ordinance shall take effect thirty-one (31) days from the date of publication, unless a petition determined to be adequate by the Township Clerk is filed within thirty (30) days of publication, in which event the Ordinance shall be submitted to a vote of the Township electors, and if approved, the effective date of the Ordinance will be the date that voter approval is determined. A petition requesting submission of this Ordinance to a vote of the Township electors shall be deemed adequate by the Township Clerk if it is signed by a number of registered electors residing in the portion of the Township outside the limits of cities and villages equal to not less than fifteen percent (15%) of the total vote cast for all candidates for governor at the last preceding general election at which a governor was elected.

Section6.ENACTMENT.

This Ordinance is declared to have been enacted by the Township Board of Trustees of the Charter Township of Independence at a meeting called and held on the twenty-first day of May, 2024, and ordered to be given publication in the manner prescribed by law.

Ayes: Aliaga, Neubeck, Brown, Nallamothu, Ritchie

Nays: Moraco

Abstentions: None

Absent: Tedder

CHARTER TOWNSHIP OF INDEPENDENCE

By: Cari J. Neubeck, Clerk

Introduced: October 24, 2023

Published: November 15, 2023-Clarkston News

Adopted: May 21, 2024

Published: June 5, 2024

Effective: June 13, 2024