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The Huron County Planning Commission's meeting on Wednesday was full with guests expressing opposition to a zoning change for the Lakeshore Pines Mobile Home Park. The change of a parcel from residential to general business could accommodate potential expansion of the park.

Guests brought in blown-up photos of mobile homes in bad shape to the meeting. Blight was one of the speakers' complaints, along with additional traffic, people cutting through their property to get to the beach, and doing current work without proper permits.

Guests brought in blown-up photos of mobile homes in bad shape to the meeting. Blight was one of the speakers' complaints, along with additional traffic, people cutting through their property to get to the beach, and doing current work without proper permits.

A decision to change zoning of some land next to a mobile home park will have to wait after neighbors spoke in opposition to the project.

The Huron County Planning Commission heard a proposal from Lakeshore Pines Mobile Home Park, located in Hume Township, to rezone a 4.5-acre parcel of land the park is located next to from residential to general business. That parcel and the one currently occupied by the mobile home park would be combined into one parcel, which could accommodate potential expansion of the park.

Jeff Smith, the county’s building and zoning director, said that while a general business classification does not specifically list mobile home parks as a use, the county’s zoning ordinance says you can do anything in a multi-residential district in a business district.

“You can have residential use on a business district parcel, even though people may realize they are adjacent to a business,” Smith said.

Brandon Moore, one of the Lakeshore Pines owners who spoke via Zoom, said he and his group took over ownership of the mobile home park less than two months ago and are working on mitigating trees, fixing broken windows, and making the property safer. He said the reason for wanting to combine the land parcels into one has to do with DTE and Hume Township wanting him to fix electrical lines.

“This park was built in 1970, so some of the infrastructure needs to be replaced,” Moore said, also stating he is working with the Huron County Health Department for septic tank work.

Only two of the mobile homes on the current property are unoccupied, and Moore said most of the occupants are retired car factory engineers who like living there because of the small, unique homes, and they take pride in their ownership.

“We’re trying to create a community that’s welcoming,” Moore said. “We haven’t had time to put the paint on and make the necessary upgrades.”

Smith did acknowledge that while the county health department is responsible for overseeing septic tanks, the state department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs is responsible for issuing licenses to mobile home parks, so any expansion of the park would have to have state approval.

Around 40 guests appeared at the meeting Wednesday night either in person or over Zoom, with all the people speaking during the public comment portion voicing their opposition to the project. Most of them either live near the mobile home park or own summer homes near the area, with some guests travelling for two hours to be in attendance.

The most common reasons for the guests' opposition include not needing to expand the park when there is still land available, the park being a blight to the area, the park attracting people who will cross landowners' property to go to private beaches, the possibility expansion will bring more traffic to an area that gets crowded and dangerous over the summer, and that the park’s owners are doing work there without going through the proper channels.

Some guests brought in poster-size photos of some of the trailers in the park that are covered in tarps and have broken windows.

“The Economic Development Corporation says its mission is to increase the quality of life for residents,” said Laura Kelly, a resident of Shore Drive, across the street from the mobile home. “We are your residents. Adding additional traffic does not increase it. It’s a recipe for disaster.”

Jim Roland, who also lives across the street from the park, brought up how back in 2014, the Huron County Road Commission mandated that mobile homes be removed from county parks and wonders they the county seems to be promoting more. He also brought up the chaos that comes from it where landowners have to pick up litter on Monday mornings and that people cut through their properties to get to the beach.

Jim O’Leary, Roland’s neighbor, said he has watched the park and nearby motel dilapidate for 20 years after he would stay at the motel and rent rooms for his construction company employees.

“Shame on us, we should have acted sooner, but shame on the county and township.” O’Leary said, also calling the mobile home park’s site plans a joke. “People shouldn’t be living in conditions like this. We shouldn’t have to look at it.”

Representatives from the Huron County Nature Center were also in attendance, as the parcel of land in question is located next to its property. One of them, Kathy Kent, asked if the property owner has done any wetland delineation for this project, since when the center carried out delineation work for constructing boardwalks, the entire process lasted three years.

The building and zoning department received 10 emails and phone calls he received from people also voicing their opposition to the project. One email, from Erik Tamlyn of the Huron County Road Commission, said that an access and driveway permit may be needed from the Michigan Department of Transportation and the road commission would be willing to help with that.

The planners unanimously voted to postpone making a decision on this until their next meeting, which would give them time to go through all the public comment given and ask Moore more questions about the project. The next meeting will take place at 7 p.m. on May 4.

Robert Creenan has been a news reporter for the Huron Daily Tribune since April 2019.   Prior to arriving at the Tribune, Robert was a news reporter with the Cortland Standard in Cortland, New York.    He has a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism with a creative writing minor from Canisius College in Buffalo, New York.   He is a fan of soccer, Buffalo sports, bike riding, and esports.