COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The City of Coldwater Planning Commission spent nearly an hour Monday night discussing ideas with consultant Jill Bahm from Giffels Webster about what changes can be made to city landscaping ordinances.
Bahm was brought in last June in hopes she can help rectify numerous complaints about some of the ordinances and zoning policies that have developed in Coldwater over the years.
In one case, Mark and Kathy Barone from Dutcher Funeral Home expressed frustrations about a year ago about the addition of what they felt were an unreasonable amount of trees, bushes and islands as part of a parking lot expansion.
Bahm said they compared the current Coldwater ordinances with others in nearby communities.
She seemed to suggest Coldwater ordinances need to be tweaked because they are written in a different way and there is a vagueness that can be tightened up to make things clearer.
It was also suggested that the deadline for applicants to get a site plan submitted to the city for consideration by the Planning Commission be changed from two weeks to a month.
Bahm plans to have something prepared for the Planning Commission in January 2020.
In other business Monday night, the Planning Commission approved a site plan for the proposed Coldwater Board of Public Utilities electrical substation on Butters Avenue.
