BANKS TOWNSHIP — Inside a packed gymnasium in Antrim County, the Banks Township Board of Trustees voted 3-2 to keep its zoning laws in place.
An effort to repeal the township’s zoning laws was spearheaded by township Trustee Marv Rubingh, who has sought approval for a gravel mine on his property since 2017, a project the zoning laws wouldn’t allow.
After the board voted to keep the zoning laws on the books, Rubingh again asked the board to rework mining regulations in the township to accommodate his mine.
“There is no reason this gravel (mining ordinance) can’t be done in six months,” he said. “We have a Planning Commission chair that wrote a draft ordinance that can be tweaked in six months.”
Boos erupted in the crowd when he suggested the board look into changing mining regulations in his favor.
“I think I’m done,” he laughed, almost giving up the microphone. But then he continued: “If that takes an amendment (to the zoning ordinance), it can include gravel.”
Asked if his efforts present a conflict of interest, he responded: “We all live in the community. Everything we do affects our property and our lives … just because I made an application some years ago does not make it a conflict of interest.”
His most recent application was submitted in 2023 and denied because it didn’t contain a hydrogeological assessment. He was voted onto the board in 2024.
The Banks Township Planning Commission will now review his request to loosen mining regulations. His proposed 183-acre gravel mine could be worth over $2 million per year and permitted to operate for 180 years — until 2205.
Township Clerk Julie Chellis was the swing vote when she voted in September to begin the process of repealing township zoning. But in a change of course, she voted Thursday to keep the existing zoning laws in place.
She has not commented publicly on what led to her decision.
Residents throughout the process have largely spoken in favor of keeping the zoning laws in place.
Opponents to removing the zoning in Banks Township organized a grassroots effort to keep the rules in place. Banks Citizens United for Zoning has been filming the township’s meetings and posting them online since Rubingh took office.
They were prepared to file a petition to put the zoning rules on the ballot if the board repealed them.
“The public took an interest and showed up,” said Julie Waterman, one of the organizers.
Waterman noted that, in rural areas, many people aren’t aware of how their local government works and don’t understand the ways to get involved.
“The first step is education so people can come to these meetings and voice their opinions,” she said. “That’s what’s lacking in our communities.”
This reporting is made possible by the Northern Michigan Journalism Collaborative, led by Bridge Michigan and Interlochen Public Radio, and funded by Press Forward Northern Michigan.
