Planning Commission

The City's Planning Commission is responsible for the planning functions of the City, as covered in the relevant sections of the State of Michigan's Planning Enabling Act and Zoning Enabling Act, as well as the City's General Ordinances.

Commissioners use the City's Zoning Ordinance and Master Plan to assist them with their duties.

Anyone who would like to request site plan approval, special use approval, subdivision approval, rezoning a property, zoning ordinance amendment, etc. - as specified in the City's General Ordinances and Zoning Ordinance - should fill out a Planning Commission/ ZBA Application and submit it to the Office of the Zoning Administrator via City Building Inspector Ed Carpenter.  Please direct all questions and concerns regarding zoning to Mr. Carpenter.

The Planning Commission holds regular meetings on the first Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM Eastern Time in the Community Room at City Hall, 224 W. Buffalo St., New Buffalo, MI 49117. 

All meetings are open to the public and are accessible.  Persons requiring auxiliary aides and services or other accommodations should contact the City Clerk's office at 269-469-1500.

The Planning Commission has nine members; their names with term ending dates are to the right.

Clerical responsibilities for the Planning Commission are preformed by their secretary, City Clerk's Assistant Kim Schmitz.  Please direct any questions regarding clerical matters to her with the contact information to the left.

The powers and duties of the Planning Commission are explained in City Ordinances, Chapter 2 "Administration", Article II "Planning Commission", including:

It shall be the function and duty of the Planning Commission to make and adopt a master plan for the physical development of the City, including any areas outside its boundaries which, in the Commission's judgment, bear relation to the planning of the City.

The Planning Commission shall have such powers and duties as are set forth in the provisions of Act 285 of the Public Acts of 1931, as amended (Michigan Statutes Annotated, section 5.2991, et seq.) as well as such additional powers and duties as may be conferred or imposed upon it from time to time by the laws of the state, including, but not by way of limitation:

A.        Preparation of a zoning plan for the control of the height, area, bulk, location, and use of buildings and premises.

B.         Preparation of comprehensive surveys and studies of present conditions and future growth of the City.

C.        Formal adoption of the master plan, in whole or in part.

D.        Recommendation for approval of streets, parks, other public ways, grounds, open spaces, and public buildings or structures.

E.         Recommending programs for public structures and improvements and for the financing thereof.

F.         Publication and distribution of copies of the plan and any reports of such Commission.

G.        Approval of plats and subdivisions prior to the filing or recording and adoption of regulations governing the subdivision of land within the jurisdiction of such Commission.

H.        In general, such powers as may be necessary to enable the Planning Commission to fulfill its function.

I.          After adoption of the master plan, certification of plats as set forth in Act 222, Public Acts of 1943, as amended (Michigan Statutes Annotated, Section 5.3007 (1) et seq.).