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David Nicholas: A longtime resident of Banks Township in northwest Michigan's Antrim County is seeking approval to build a 183-acre gravel mine on his property. In 2024, after applications were denied, Marv Rubingh was elected to the Banks Township Board, resuming his quest for approval.
Now the question to repeal all zoning laws is on the agenda for a public hearing this Thursday. I had a chance to talk with Austin Rowlader. He has been covering the story for the Northern Michigan Journalism Collaborative.
Austin Rowlader: The public has questions, and this is kind of where the zoning laws come in. The way that the public conducts the discourse on whether or not they want to have a gravel mine is through the planning and zoning process. And so, when that didn't work, when Marv Rubingh didn't get the answer that he wanted about his gravel mine, he decided to join the local government and remove all of the restrictions on zoning laws in hopes that his mine can go through.
DN: Is this a question then if the zoning is lifted, he could still fail in an attempt to do this because of the lack of the proper permits, because of the lack of the full and complete impact studies, so it would seem? Would his next move potentially then be to take this to the courts? Has there been any projection as to where this could go? If it's approved or if it continues to be rejected, does he have recourse to take this to the courts?
AR: Marv has not mentioned taking anything to the courts, and I haven't heard that as part of the game plan heading down the road. That being said, EGLE (Michigan's Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy) and the Michigan State Legislature has been bandying back and forth the idea of having state or county regulations that address mining, but at the current moment, they rely heavily on township and county zoning ordinances. Antrim County doesn't have zoning laws. And so it's basically up to the township to block this.
At this point, the township will be deciding whether or not there's going to be zoning and then therefore that will be deciding whether or not there's going to be a mine. Without those township zoning laws, it's highly unlikely that any legislative body would be able to stop the mine from happening.
DN: Does he have support elsewhere on either the board or other business interests in the area that support what he is proposing?
AR: There is a network of support for gravel mining in Banks Township. There's also a lot of people that believe personal property rights and freedom are violated by township zoning laws, and they think that having no zoning laws makes them more free. And so, most of his constituents that are on his side are coming from those angles, but the interesting thing in the local debate about the issue is where the mining stands.
Right now, there are residents that are coming to every single meeting and speaking up about the zoning laws, how they want to keep the zoning laws, and what's been forgotten is the gravel mine. I went to a public hearing last month and 47 people stood up and spoke at the meeting and only 13 of them mentioned the gravel mine.
And so, by shifting the focus from “do we want this gravel mine in our township” to “do we want zoning laws as a whole,” Marv Rubingh has been able to provide enough smoke in the room to allow people to come to terms with the gravel mine in ways that aren't directly affecting the gravel mine. They're realizing that with all zoning laws on the chopping blocks, the gravel mine has become kind of like a back of the house issue.
DN: Austin Rowlader is a reporter with the Northern Michigan Journalism Collaborative. Austin, thank you very much for your reporting on this and taking the time to detail it for us, and we will be watching for those next steps and potential final steps to settle the issue. Thanks again for joining us.
AR: Thanks for having me.
DN: And again, the hearing is scheduled for this Thursday, March the 5th. It begins at 6 p.m. at the Ellsworth Community School Gym. The doors open at 5:30.
