Traverse City Record-Eagle

Elmwood Township

February 10, 2008

Wolverine substation passes another hurdle

BY MELISSA DOMSIC

GREILICKVILLE -- A proposed electrical substation passed another green light from Elmwood Township officials.

The Zoning Board of Appeals last week reiterated the township's decision that Wolverine Power Cooperative's massive $4 million high-voltage substation is an essential service exempt from zoning.

A day before that ruling, planning commissioners supported ordinance changes to prevent any future large substations from gaining township approval without first seeking public input.

Some township residents are fighting Wolverine's plans to build a substation near the corner of Bugai Road and M-72, a project they contend doesn't belong there. Wolverine asserts the facility is necessary to provide reliable power to the region.

A new zoning ordinance is in the works that includes provisions for site plan review of "essential service structures, equipment, or accessories."

It may take a while before it's approved, so planning commissioners on Feb. 5 unanimously supported an amendment to the current ordinance that requires review of certain essential service facilities.

"I'm of the firm belief that we are all in need of power, and reliable power," said Jeff Aprill, planning commission chairman. "To me, that's not the question here. The question is whether the public should have had input on (Wolverine's plans), and they did not, and I feel that's very unfair to the general public."

The township attorney will review ordinance language before sending it to the Leelanau County planning commission for recommendations and Elmwood Township board for approval.

Wolverine's substation will not be affected by the proposed zoning changes, since it already received the go-ahead under current rules that exempt essential services from zoning.

Power lines for Cherryland Electric Cooperative, Traverse City Light & Power and Consumers Energy will be connected to the station.

"By having all these parties involved in this substation, one of the goals was not only joint planning, but to eliminate the construction of additional transmission facilities," said Craig Borr, Wolverine's executive vice president.

Dependable power is a necessity to Glenn LaCross, who farms throughout Leelanau County and owns a fruit processing company in Suttons Bay and other businesses in the Traverse City area.

He remembers four serious outages last year that ended up in costly losses to his businesses.

"It's a fact of life that we have to look at substations," he said. "We have to sacrifice something for good, strong power."

But Mason Argue said he stands to go bankrupt if the substation is built next to a subdivision he's developing, since potential homeowners will be turned off by the large, high-voltage facility.

Argue filed the appeal that the township rejected on Wednesday, and he said he plans to take the case to court.

"The board didn't give us a fair shake," he said, adding he thought officials rushed through their decision.

Argue also questioned the size of the substation, which is substantially larger than the one Wolverine unsuccessfully proposed in Garfield Township last year.

Text Only