At April Meeting City Commission Affirms Ordinance Compliance and submits Charter Change Ballot Wording.

For one woman, a resident of almost 30 years, it was a day of discovery. She visited the City Web site which may or not been a first."I might have gone there to look something up but I can't remember," she decided. She found the icon for "Code of Ordinances" on the City' Home page, Left hand side of the page just below the word "Explore " and clicked on it.

That produced the following screen. On the left is the City Charter and the a listing of the various topics that the Charter consists of.  On the right is a the City's Code of Ordinances, often called just "codes" or just ordinances.  The date they were passed and a short description is also provided. Scrolling down you can review recent ordinances passed by this administration and more distant ones. The ordinances are  sometimes called muni-codes. Municode  is a  business  that provides charters and  ordinance for many communities.

 There are three search engines on the top of the page. The woman probably chose the "first one", the one on the upper right and  entered the word "noise" which produced the following

Clicking on that produced a surprisingly readable  two page explanation of  the ordinance and it's exceptions like the sirens on emergency vehicles. She read it, and copied it.  Then sent an e-mail to Commissioner Zambricki and Mayor McClure. That was not new. "They know me,' she admitted grimly.

Finding their email was little harder than finding the ordinance. You have to click on the About Bloomfield Hills icon on top of the page. then click on Government and the Mayor/City Commission on the drop down menus.





Then after  hemming and hawing and careful consideration she decided she would go the meeting and speak. While she had been to a Zoning Board  meeting and  spoken on a topic she never attended or spoke at City Commission meeting.

Curiously enough the first item on the agendas concerned 21 E  Long  Lake a building  right next to City Hall. It seems a  tenant had place a sign on the roof which violated a couple of ordinances.  Only the name of the Building owner may be posted on a building (The Wrigley Building is OK  but not the Wrigley Juicy Fruit Gum Building which also advertises a product) and roof signs are not permitted.
The City's  consultants were absent from the meeting and unable to be a assistance in the matter. After some initial hemming and hawing and brief consideration of  tabling the matter until the consultants were available, clear thinking won the day. The sign was in violation and needed to be removed from the roof immediately or sooner. Since part of the problem stemmed from of all things a misprint in muni codes "on line" which the printed version at City Hall did not have the City would waive fees related to that error. One commissioner thought the City should pay the cost  of the sign but that generosity was declined. Upon removable of the sign the business owner who was quite cooperative would work with the the City and it's building department to determine a suitable location meeting the City's ordinances.

The the next item on the agenda was the Country Club which through the City Manager requested an exception  to the noise ordinance which bans loud music with outdoor speakers or outdoor gatherings after 11pm. The thirty   year resident who had done her home work was ready to say her piece and some commissioners said they felt  outdoors  11pm was late enough. A similar request by the Hunt Club was met by moving the party and  speakers indoors after 11pm.  The lady was eloquent with the particulars pertaining to ordinance  and how unpleasant exceptions can be for nearby residents. Another resident  stated that acoustics were terrible. The Country sits on top a hill on Long Lake Road.  Geographically the Club  comprises almost a third of the City's northwest quadrant. The Sound travels over the flatland of the golf course into adjacent neighborhoods on streets aptly named East and West Valley.  The Club also abuts the Pine Ridge sub division by Lahser High School which is even  lower than the Valley/ Rathmor area. Prior to post World War II development the whole area (with the exception of the Country Club which dates back to 1910) was farm land. In fact City Platte maps still refer to Rathmor-Valley road  areas as Donnely Farms.

In the end the commission voted unanimously to deny the exception. The Country Club may host the party as late as it wants but indoors after 11pm which creates a win-win situation for both Club and Community.

The City Commission also unanimously approved the wording of the November Ballot on changes in the City's charter. This item did not seem to require a lenghthy discussion. We will discuss it in a future post..