The Canton Township Board of Trustees on Dec. 9 voted to deny a rezoning application for a 4.29‑acre parcel at 47453 Ford Road that would have changed the property from RR (Rural Residential) to C‑3 (Regional Commercial). The board approved Resolution No. 2025‑48 as presented by staff.

Clerk Seegrest read Planning Commission materials noting the commission’s unanimous recommendation to deny Planning Application 065‑RZ‑8783. Trustee Summer Foster, whose statement was read into the record, told the board the master plan update adopted in June 2025 reflected 30 months of public input and explicitly discouraged auto‑centric uses at the site — listing gas stations, drive‑through restaurants, auto repair and auto sales among prohibited uses for the neighborhood node. Foster’s statement cited a SEMCOG road‑safety audit that raised concerns about traffic volume, turning movements and congestion at nearby intersections.

Trustees across the dais echoed that a C‑3 rezoning would conflict with the township’s future land‑use designation of medium‑low density residential (approximately three units per acre) and the board’s condition tying neighborhood node implementation to completion of SEMCOG safety audit recommendations. Trustees emphasized the master plan’s goal of small‑scale, walkable neighborhood nodes and said a commercial rezoning likely would produce high‑intensity, auto‑oriented development rather than the neighborhood‑serving retail the plan envisions.

Director Norwood and community planner Patrick Sloan were present to answer questions; Norwood said the applicant did not appear poised to challenge the denial at the meeting. The board voted in favor of the motion to deny (clerical procedure: a vote of “aye” on the motion resulted in denial of the request). The motion passed and the denial was recorded as the board’s formal action.

Next steps: The board did not set a rehearing date; the applicant may pursue administrative or judicial remedies outside this meeting if they elect to do so.