After a marathon five-hour meeting Monday, East Bay Township trustees delayed voting on a proposal from Rotary Camps and Services to open the 500-acre former Camp Greilick property for public recreation, camping, educational classes, and special events. However, trustees appear to only have a few remaining issues to work through – notably related to alcohol and amplified music – before approving the application for the site, now called the Greilick Outdoor Recreation and Education Center (GO-REC). Trustees could take up the proposal again as soon as their next regular meeting in October.

The board discussed a range of issues Monday – including event sizes, parking, outside watercraft, noise, and neighbor impacts – while reviewing Rotary’s GO-REC application for a planned unit development (PUD), or a zoning plan tailored to a specific property. Township planning commissioners voted 6-1 in March to recommend that trustees approve the PUD, which would allow Rotary to offer not only overnight camping – a use already approved for the property – but day uses as well, allowing the public to hike, bike, cross-country ski, snowshoe, kayak, and play disc golf without having to stay overnight. GO-REC staff also plan to offer classes – such as wilderness first aid – and partner with groups like Norte and the Vasa Ski Club for on-site programming. In addition, special events like weddings, conferences, and races would be allowed on the property.

As with the lengthy planning commission review this spring – and a township board public hearing in May – a significant portion of Monday’s discussion focused on special events at the property. Rotary’s application would allow up to 20 large-sized events to be held at GO-REC annually, defined as those with 100-420 guests (that capacity would be limited to 200 at Besser Lodge until the property’s septic system is upgraded). As part of those 20 events, up to 12 weddings could be held between May 1 and October 31. However, planning commissioners added a condition that large-scale events cannot take place on back-to-back weekends, with the goal of providing neighbors with a respite between major events in the summer.

In addition to 20 large-scale events, GO-REC could hold up to 30 mid-sized events annually (30-100 guests) and smaller classes and events (1-30 guests) daily. Any major races or transient events – those exceeding 420 guests – would only be allowed on a case-by-case basis with…