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Volume 3, Issue 42 March 13, 2026
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Village of Shelby discusses ordinance changes By Sharon Hallack The Oceana Echo Community Correspondent
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SHELBY - The Shelby Village Council addressed a lengthy agenda at a nearly three-hour meeting Monday night. While there were regular reports to share and new resolutions to consider, two items consumed the better part of the evening. A zoning variance request and a number of suggested ordinance revisions. With the first, the council voted to suspend their regular council meeting shortly after 6 p.m. and to convene as the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA), with the express purpose of considering a variance application from Terry Simon, the owner of two adjoining parcels at 583 and 569 S. State St. on the south end of the village (InLoop LLC). Simon would like to remodel the 583 S. State St. structure (formerly used as a storage building with no utilities) into a single-family residence to include four bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths, with live/work capabilities; in addition, convert the 569 S. State St. structure (formerly used as a small warehouse/office space) into a garage to support that use, the memo to council read. “The Zoning Board of Appeals - performed by the village council - may grant a variance when an applicant demonstrates a practical difficulty in meeting the strict requirements of the ordinance. A variance may only be approved when the spirit and intent of the ordinance are upheld, public safety is proceeded, and substantial justice is served,” the memo continued. The request would be for remodeling of the current buildings only, no other changes to property lines or infrastructure are being requested. “I’ve owned the building for 13 years and have loved working here and with the village,” Simon told council. “I’m willing to do what is needed and what the council thinks is best. I can put as much or as little into it as necessary to make it a liveable home. I can sell it commercially too. I’m going to take my direction from you.” He said for $140,000 he could make the storage building into a very functional house, or for $200,000 plus, he could make it a very nice house. “Either way it will need a new roof,” he added. “I’m basically trying to recoup my costs.” When asked about the size of the yard on the parcels, Simon explained that because of previous drainage issues (that have since been rectified), he installed “rain gardens” around both buildings. He personally likes the natural look of wildflowers and the rain gardens, but realizes that not everyone does, and perhaps different landscaping could be added later. During ZBA deliberation, Village Administrator Phil Morse reviewed the location of neighboring businesses and residences adjoining the parcels, as well as the permitted and special uses within a C-2 zoning district. Prior to approval or deni-
al of the request, the council needed to determine if specific standards were met, including: can the property owner demonstrate that said property cannot be reasonably used under current zoning; what unique characteristics or conditions create hardship for use; how do these differ from neighboring properties; can property owner prove hardship was not created by their own actions; how will proposed use ensure character of surrounding area is maintained; and what supporting documents or studies are provided to back up the request. At the vote, all council members, Steve Crothers, Samantha Gottschalk, Crystal Heykoop, Mike Termer, Curt Trott, Dan Zaverl and Village President John Sutton, voted to approve the request. There being no other business to come before the ZBA, the meeting was closed and the village council meeting was reconvened. With regard to the proposed ordinance revisions, Morse prefaced the discussion, saying that by law the village is only required to put revisions on the agenda, review and vote on them as a council, then give a 15-day notice in a local newspaper of when changes will take effect. “Not that I want a pat on the back, but I think we (went) above and beyond what the law requires by doing a Facebook post as well as a news post on our website, so people are aware. I think it is the right thing to do. The community may have good feedback we haven’t thought of or didn’t catch,” said Morse. Morse also read two letters the village had received from concerned citizens, Damien Omness and Corbett Dodge, who shared their comments related to some of the proposed revisions. Considering the reaction Morse and others have seen on social media since, he said it is obvious the community has feedback and questions. There were eight ordinances discussed Monday, but no formal voting occurred. Proposed revisions will be up for final discussion and a vote at the council’s March 23 regular council meeting. The ordinance revisions up for discussion included: Right-of-Way (Chapter 430-4), Junk Vehicles (Chapter 250), Animals (Chapter 100-12) Confinement of animals; number of dogs and cats which may be kept; and Chapter 100-15 Livestock and poultry), Smoking (Chapter 170-2 Unlawful acts in public parks), Sidewalk Operations (Chapter 1122 Operation on certain sidewalks; duty to yield to pedestrians), Burning (Chapter 403-1 Recreational burning), Casual Sale (Chapter 366-6) and Refuse Containers (Chapter 355). Suggested revisions to Junk Vehicles, Smoking, Sidewalk Operations, Burning and Casual Sale ordinances were minimal, discussion was limited, and council, for the most part, seemed in agreement with them. The remaining three ordinance revisions were discussed at greater length, with Sutton allowing several comments from the public. The proposed revisions for village right-of-way (ROW) include a list of excavations and obstructions that are not allowed to be placed by a landowner within the village ROW. Morse gave the example of an incident within the recent past where the village needed to repair someone’s sprinkler system due to damage done by a village-hired contractor, “We’re not trying to be power hungry, but we may need to service what is underground. It is the village('s) responsibility to restore the ROW, and the more people are allowed to put there, the more the village is
Village of Shelby continued on page 3
Shelby's SRO serves up pizza to the 2nd grade winners of his attendance challenge On Thursday, March 5, Oceana County Sheriff Office (OCSO) Deputy Tim Simon, the School Resource Officer for Shelby Public Schools, served pizza to Shelby Elementary School second grade students. This pizza party was a reward for the students responding to his attendance challenge, and the second graders had the best attendance in the whole school during the month of February. Deputy Simon has attended some absenteeism training sessions and learned strategies to improve attendance. Trying to decrease truancy in a positive way, Deputy Simon asked the question, "What can we do to get butts in seats?" Deputy Simon was working on a truancy report when he came up with this idea. “Incentives drive kids, much like what he had seen in the high school with Ride with Pride.” Deputy Simon presented his idea to both elementary and middle school principals. Deputy Simon worked with Shelby Elementary School Principal Jordan Chacon and Shelby Middle School Principal Geoff Kies to make this happen. “Shelby Elementary School’s second grade classes (Ms. Hoemke, Mrs. Schamber, and Mrs. Scouten) had the highest
Deputy Tim Simon, SRO attendance rate in the elementary building, with a combined 97% positive attendance rate for February,” Shelby Public Schools Superintendent Mark Olmstead stated. “SRO Tim Simon’s attendance incentive resulted in more students regularly attending school and increased parent communication with the school when students were absent.” The entire elementary school has seen a 9% increase in attendance since January. The Shelby-Benona Fire Department partnered with OCSO and served ice cream from Country Dairy to the students. Deputy Simon said that Little Caesars helped out by giving OCSO a discount on the 20 pizzas he purchased. Once the staff at the sheriff's office learned that Deputy Simon was funding this out of his own pocket, many pitched in to raise some funds to help him out. Deputy Simon is doing the same challenge and reward at the middle school next month.
• Photos courtesy of OCSO