Brook Smith – Chairperson
Term expires December 31, 2023
bsmith@dextertownship.org*

Beth Filip – Vice-chairperson
Term expires December 31, 2025
bfilip@dextertownship.org*

Marty Straub – Ex-Officio (Planning Commission)
Term Expires December 31, 2024
mstraub@dextertownship.org

Donald Darnell – Alternate
Term expires December 31, 2025
ddarnell@dextertownship.org*

Peter Maier
Term expires December 31, 2023
pmaier@dextertownship.org

Kathryn Bradbury
Term expires December 31, 2025
kbradbury@dextertownship.org

Aaron Worsham – Alternate
Term expires December 31, 2026
aworsham@dextertownship.org

Janis Miller- Recording Secretary
recordingsecretary@dextertownship.org

*The Zoning Board of Appeals is a quasi-judicial body.  It is supposed to make its decisions based on the information presented and available at the public hearing to all members of the Zoning Board of Appeals and the public.

Communicating with Zoning Board of Appeals members outside of a public meeting concerning any petition is “ex-parte contact.”

Ex-parte contact with members of the Zoning Board of Appeals is prohibited in §4.25(F) of the Zoning Ordinance: “No person shall communicate directly with any member of the Zoning Board of Appeals before a hearing with the intent to influence the member’s action or decision. Written comments may be submitted to the Zoning Administrator for distribution to the Zoning Board of Appeals.”

Members of the public wishing to communicate with the Zoning Board of Appeals should attend a public meeting, send email to the Director of Planning and Zoning, or send a letter to the Township Hall.

The legal authority for the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) comes from the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act (P.A. 110 of 2006, as amended). The statutory responsibilities of the ZBA appear below in summary form. The ZBA:

• Adopts rules of procedure (bylaws) to govern its actions as an appeals board.
• Hears and acts upon all questions that may arise from the administration of the zoning ordinance, including text interpretation, and interpretation of the zoning map.
• Hears and acts upon appeals made from any administrative order, requirement, decision, or determination made by an administrative official or body charged with enforcement of the zoning ordinance.
• Hears and acts upon requests for variances, keeping in mind the spirit of the ordinance, public safety, and substantial justice.
• May hear appeals with regard to special land uses and planned unit developments, only if expressly authorized in the zoning ordinance.
• May impose reasonable conditions upon an affirmative decision.
• Must state the basis or grounds for its decision. It must identify the facts which support the conclusions reached on the cases before it and state them on the record of the proceedings.
• Conducts all meetings in public and makes a decision within a reasonable amount of time.