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PriMar Proposal Panned by Benton Twp

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The Marzke brothers and colleagues from PriMar Petroleum left the Benton Charter Township Board meeting a bit shell-shocked at how quickly the fate of their proposed gas station, car wash and convenience store at the corner of M-63 and Enterprise Way was decided tonight.

While Craig, Kurt and Chris Marzke knew that the deck was stacked against them, they were prepared to talk about additional amenities, a professional traffic study, and even the potential creation of a pocket park between their proposed project and the Benton Township Fire Station next door. However, after a brief introductory statement by Craig Marzke referencing the traffic study by Wightman & Associates, the company’s track record across the region, and the low crime rate experienced by the company’s properties as compared to other service station/convenience stores, the board of trustees cited the results of their own Benton Township Planning Commission which voted to deny the project’s necessary rezoning and a similar move by the Berrien County Planning Commission, the first Trustee to speak on the matter was Carolyn Phillips who made a motion to also deny the request, followed by a second from Township Supervisor Kevin White and a roll call vote that produced a unanimous vote of denial.

Craig Marzke was “shocked, surprised and disappointed,” that there was literally no further discussion or opportunity to share materials that the PriMar team had brought with them to the meeting. The Benton Township Planning Commission held a public hearing on October 21st and subsequently voted to recommend that the Township Trustees deny the rezoning request. That was validated as well by the Berrien County Planning Commission who voted on November 8th to make the same recommendation for denial.

During the public comment section near the end of the meeting a Rocky Gap resident went to the microphone and thanked the trustees for upholding the vote of the Planning Commission. He also voiced sympathy for PriMar recognizing their financial investment in the property, but re-asserting that the residents had spoken, as had township officials that it is first and foremost a residential neighborhood and one that a service station does not belong in. He also voiced appreciation that the dialogue was “thankfully not as acrimonious as the previous one,” and added, “the township’s master plan notwithstanding, this is residential, and that’s the way want it to remain.” His comments draw applause from a light audience on hand and the meeting was adjourned a few moments later.

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Following the meeting Craig Marzke told me, “I guess I’m a little surprised. The property is zoned D-2 commercial. We’re right next to the M-63 highway. The houses are back far enough there is no noise or any obstruction with any blighting or anything like that. Our project fits the need. There’s a need for a convenience store out there. I know we can do our project tastefully, and be a great asset to the community. I truly think that some of the neighbors back there would be our best customers.”

Asked about Plan B, Marzke said, “I don’t know what’s next. We’re going to have to go back and see…back to the drawing board. There are dozens of things that we could do there that would conform to D-2 zoning.”

The denial stung Marzke who told me, “We’ve been ‘good Samaritans’ all along with this. We obtained the property in a swap with land that my grandfather had. He bought it back in the 40s along the Paw Paw River right along the 18th hole of the Harbor Shores Golf Course. We did the land swap, figuring M-63 would be a lot better to build a station…or maybe the 19th hole of the golf course might have been better…I don’t know. We’ll have to see. Take it back to the drawing board and see what our next step is going to be, whether that’s in selling it, or building something else that conforms with it (the D-2 zoning).

Stay tuned.

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