The beauty of Brookfield’s proposed zoning resolution, as Brookfield Zoning Commission Chairman Todd Fencyk sees it, is that it’s lenient.
It doesn’t address the height of grass, putting up a shed in the back yard or the condition of a porch. That’s the purview of the township’s Exterior Property Maintenance Code.
The zoning ordinance would regulate whether a home, a business or an industry could be built on a piece of property. It also would define the size of lots required for building, as well as regulate signs used on a property.
However, the difference is not so clear cut to many people, commission member Tori Lucy said at the commission’s June 12 meeting, the last one prior to a 7 p.m. June 19 public hearing.
“Everybody is really confusing the property maintenance code for zoning,” she said.
People don’t know Brookfield has a property maintenance code or, if they know about it, don’t understand its enforcement, she said.
“It doesn’t help our situation if people don’t trust the property maintenance,” said commission member Chuck Fizet.
It also doesn’t help that some communities mingle zoning and property maintenance. Fizet said he has learned that Vienna has zoning, but doesn’t have a property maintenance code, and the zoning ordinance includes property maintenance issues.
That’s why it’s important that people understand what is in the proposed Brookfield zoning resolution, and that it’s limited in scope, Fencyk said.
“I’ve seen comments where people don’t want this to be another Canfield,” he said. “We’re not going to be another Canfield.”
The commission has tried to separate zoning and property maintenance in Facebook posts at the page Brookfield Township Zoning Committee 2018.
But with only 100 likes, spreading the word through Facebook has been slow going.
“We need to take it to the next step,” said commission member Shannon Hanley.
Taking the next step includes getting information into people’s hands through door-to-door campaigning, mailings and making fliers available at public places.
That’s going to require money, something the commission has collected little of.
“We have to really hit the donations,” Fencyk said.
After the upcoming public hearing, the committee next meets at 7 p.m. July 10. Meetings are held in the township administration building, 6844 Strimbu Drive.
Photo shows members of the Brookfield Township Zoning Commission, from left, Noelle Honel, Todd Fencyk, Shannon Hanley, Tori Lucy and Chuck Fizet.