Animal display clears planning commission hurdle
A recommendation to approve an amendment to the zoning ordinance, allowing restaurant owner Norm Arlt to display moose, deer and elk at his business, was forwarded to members of the Rogers City Council by the Planning Commission. A special meeting was scheduled Monday evening to receive public input and possibly formulate a recommendation.
The recommendation to approve Arlt?s request was accepted on a 7-1 vote. Commission member Chuck Vogelheim provided the only ?no? vote to the proposal. Owen Lamb was the only commission member not in attendance. Arlt would like to display the animals in a fenced-in area at the Water?s Edge Restaurant, but they would not be available to be petted by the public.
THE LAKEFRONT restaurant is located near the city?s paved trail and Arlt, who has been pushing for the plan for a couple of years, is hoping the idea will attract people to his business and the community. Set to the backdrop of another major business closure, with the owners of Rogers City IGA announcing they would be going out of business, planning commission members may have been swayed by the fact that local businesses may need an edge. Chairman Del Conley said he was influenced by a list of 46 people who signed a petition, taken through the community by motel owner Jim Dempsey. Many of the signees were Rogers City business owners.
?With our somewhat negative business economy, if this can help, fine,? said Conley, whose comments at recent meetings suggested he might vote against the proposal. ?I would say this (petition) affected my voting.?
DEMPSEY SAID, AS he did at the August planning commission meeting, he believes Arlt?s proposal is a ?terrific idea.? Dempsey said there was a time when the Water?s Edge almost closed. ?I don?t know if you think Rogers City can afford that type of black eye, I don?t think so. We already have a store here closing,? Dempsey said, referring to Rogers City IGA. ?He wants to try something.? Most of the people Dempsey talked to said they would like to see Arlt given the opportunity try the display.
Making comments during the public hearing was Lori Budnick of Rogers City, who said she?s in favor of changes in the community that support economic development, but the animal enclosure would bring no gain. ?With the Rogers City IGA closing, we should be more worried about where those individuals are going to obtain employment,? Budnick said.
BUDNICK HAS BEEN to the deer display in Harbor Springs and said it?s a great opportunity for people who don?t have a chance to see wildlife up close. ?However, that enclosure did not lure me to Harbor Springs.? Budnick was the only citizen to appear at the meeting to voice her opposition, but there were two letters against it as well. Ann H. Moe stated that ?wild animals belong in the wild,? while Sally Okerstom said ?the only thing it will attract are fleas, ticks, flies, stray dogs,? and mean kids with sling shots.? Barney Tomas of Rogers City believes it?s a ?great idea, and I think it would be a great attraction.? ?There?s a zoo in the city of Traverse City. I see no elements of danger. He takes good care of his animals,? said Tomas during the 20-minute hearing.
MAYOR BEACH HALL said he has talked with a lot of people about the issue. ?Most of them are not here tonight, in fact none of them are. ?Most of them are saying something along the lin
?As such, if the ordinance is amended, anyone, including Mr. Arlt, would have to meet the conditions of the ordinance…the process outlined in the amendment is a special approval use, and any conditions can also be placed on that.?
Such conditions could include the removal of fencing within a reasonable amount of time, if the display doesn?t work out. Council would need two readings of the amendment before the display could proceed. The animal display is expected to be on the agenda for the next Rogers City Council meeting, October 6.