In Brief: City Distributes Transportation Plan for Review, Honors Memory of Longtime Watchdog, Supports Medical Marijuana and Personal Property Tax Resolutions

The Royal Oak City Commission took more than two hours to work through a long agenda at Monday night’s regular meeting. Here were the highlights:

Mayor Jim Ellison and other city leaders remembered longtime Royal Oak watchdog Wally Whipple, who died Sunday.

The City Commission approved distribution of the , prepared by the Active Transportation, to be reviewed by neighboring communities for comment.

Commissioners passed a resolution in support of four bills that have been introduced in the Michigan House of Representatives that address medical marijuana.

Commission OKs Rezoning of 1200 Knowles: The City Commission approved the first reading of a request to rezone 1200 Knowles. (Mayor Jim Ellison recused himself from the discussion because the petitioner, , is his employer.)

Richard Atto, vice president of Atto Construction, assured commissioners and residents that the Royal Oak Recycling would work with neighbors to address their concerns, which include storing materials in areas designated for parking and controlling noise—neighbors worried the company’s use of balers, a piece of machinery used to compress materials into compact bales, would be too loud.

Personal Property Tax Resolution: Commissioners passed a resolution to urge Gov. Rick Snyder and the State Legislature to not reduce personal property tax revenue to local governments. In public comment, State Rep. Jim Townsend said citizens, businesses and schools economic success is dependent on the tax, which adds $1.4 million dollars to the General Fund.

The resolution was requested by Commissioner Patricia Capello who said whenever the state comes up for a replacement for taxes it “stays at the state level. It never finds its way here to the local level.”

Other Agenda Items: The city also approved lot splits for 4204 Springer and 336 Woodside, and a license agreement for an transformer. Commissioner Chuck Semchena made a motion to postpone discussion to amend the Emagine parking agreement and it was carried.