HOUGHTON -- A Meeting of the City of Houghton Planning Commission will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, by remote participation in accordance with Public Act 254 of 2020. The meeting will include a Public Hearing on Proposed Zoning Ordinance 2020-314.
The original proposed Ordinance 314 included rezoning from single-family residential (R-1) to community business (B-2) -- of an area under the Torch Lake Superfund former Michigan Smelter site bordering on the Portage Canal and Canal Road in Houghton. Because of community objections, a wetland and area near Cole's Creek was removed from the proposed rezoning and the Public Hearing was re-scheduled from Jan. 13 to Jan. 26. However, residents still have objections to the rezoning since proposed development could occur on a Superfund site. More than 500 local residents have signed a petition against this rezoning proposal.*
Proposed Ordinance 314 would permit the construction of a major 5-storey hotel, restaurants, taverns, and bars. The extensive excavation necessary for this type of large-scale construction could expose slag tailings from the Michigan Smelter capped at the site by the EPA Torch Lake Superfund. The Michigan Smelter was the largest copper smelter in Michigan producing over 300,000 pounds of copper per day.
UPDATE: Keweenaw Now received this statement today, Jan. 26, from Nabil Fayoumi, EPA Region 5 remedial project manager in the Superfund and Emergency Management Division: "The EPA is not an interested party at tonight’s City of Houghton public hearing as re-zoning is a local matter and EPA has placed no restrictions on changing the zoning of the affected parcels. There are restrictions in place to protect the Torch Lake remedy, which consists of soil cover and institutional controls in the forms of covenants, and any development of those properties would have to maintain the integrity of the remedy."*
In a Rezoning Standards Worksheet recently submitted to the Planning Commission, a group of residents opposed to the rezoning state, "Entire area is a deleted Torch Lk Superfund location (Michigan Smelter, OU3) with a soil+vegetation cap ... The buried mine waste contains hazardous chemicals, some carcinogenic. Also, the entire area is in a 100-yr flood plain."
Proposed Zoning Ordinance 315, to re-zone another parcel on Canal Road, near the UPPCO building, from R-1 to B-2 for the Isle Royale Seaplane Service is related to the proposed Ordinance 314. While 315 is not officially included under this Public Hearing, the Seaplane Service site could be rezoned to B-2 along with the area included under 314, since the two ordinances were proposed together. Opponents to the rezoning have noted that the correct zoning for the Seaplane Service should be I-1, Industrial.
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* Editor's Notes:
See Keweenaw Now's Dec. 16, 2020, article, "Residents concerned over City of Houghton proposed re-zoning along Canal Road; wetland, Cole's Creek to remain protected in R-1 zoning."
See also: "EPA Requesting Property Owners to Add Deed Restrictions."
Click here for the petition, "Stop Houghton City Ordinance 2020 - 314 and 315."
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