PORTAGE TOWNSHIP — Portage Township residents are protesting a rezoning and township interpretation of its zoning ordinance that would allow a seaplane operation near the Nara Nature Park, though one potential project appears to have stalled.

The group of nearby residents say the planning commission inaccurately lumped in seaplanes with aircraft such as helicopters. Furthermore, the location that had been proposed by a seaplane operation would be disruptive to both animals and wildlife, they said.

The site at the former location of the Onagaming Yacht Club is zoned B-2 (general business).

The township planning commission decided the B-2 zoning at the site was compatible with seaplanes. Currently, the township’s zoning ordinance allows rotocraft within B-2. However, some residents argue seaplanes should not be lumped in with rotocraft. While there was no definition for rotocraft provided in the zoning ordinance, resident Clayton Adams pointed to a definition of rotor craft including rotary-wing aircraft such as helicopters. differentiating them from fixed-wing aircraft such as seaplanes.

Resident Clayton Adams also cited FAA guidance for creating seaplane bases. It says they should be considered an airport, which it defines as “an area of land or water for landing and takeoff of aircraft including buildings and facilities.” Airports are only allowed within the township’s M-1 (manufacturing district).

“The considerable noise from seaplanes would significantly depreciate the quality of life of the nearby residents by disturbing the peace, and as a result would depreciate property values of residential property in the nearby area,” Adams said in a letter to the township.

At the Jan. 17 township board meeting, Zoning Administrator Jon Ollila said he and Trustee Bill Bingham had met last summer to iron out inconsistencies in the zoning language. Different zones delegated authority on approval to different groups.

After discussion with the Michigan Townships Association, Ollila and Bingham came up with a uniform statement added to every business class in the zoning ordinance: “Any other business or establishment determined by the Planning Commission may have the same general character as the preceding permitted uses.”

At Ollila’s request, the Planning Commission considered whether seaplanes fell within the same business class; the Planning Commission determined that it did.

“No permission to operate has yet been given,” Ollila said at January’s board meeting. “All that they did was narrowly decide that seaplanes and rotocraft are in the same business class. And the next step would be for that decision and that change to go to the county for review.”

As of now, the request is a moot point, said Jon Julien, who had spoken on Isle Royale Seaplanes owner Jon Rector’s behalf at a December Planning Commission meeting. The seaplane operation flies to Isle Royale National Park daily between May and September.

“There isn’t even a request,” he said.

Julien said the non-profit that purchased the property, Portage Point Houghton, had no interest in establishing a seaplane operation there. The LLC, which was established in December, lists as its contact CT Corporation System, based in Plymouth, Michigan.

Rector declined to comment.

Rector had sought to relocate his seaplane operation from Ripley to Portage Township. A previous attempt to rezone property within Houghton for seaplane use was voted down by the Houghton City Council last year, following similar concerns over noise.

Additionally, Portage Township residents worried about a potential project mentioned the site’s proximity to an active breeding bald eagle’s nest near the Onigaming. They also worried the potential for a rezoning request for an acre of greenspace next to the Onigaming, which is currently zoned R-2 (medium residential).

Resident Susan Schwenk said she often visited to take photographs of the eagles.

“It is a very, very poor use of this pristine land next to a nature park … Business growth and development is a desirable economic goal for any township, county or city,” she said. “However, this growth should not come to the economic loss or significant nuisance to our local citizens.”

Before the change in the township’s ordinance can take effect, it must first go to the county planning commission. The township posted a notice on its website Thursday saying it had mailed the rezoning request to the county’s planning commission. The county could either comment on the potential desirability of a future seaplane operation at the Onagaming Yacht Club site, or choose not to comment, the township said on its website. The planning commission’s recommendation and the county’s input will then go to the township board, which will schedule a “well-posted” public hearing on whether to adopt, reject or amend the rezoning, the township said.