One local township is looking to potentially eradicate an ordinance based around shared driveways.

The Putnam Township Planning Commission discussed the necessity of such an ordinance during their regular meeting Wednesday evening. As it currently stands, the maximum length of a shared driveway is set to be 600 feet with no more than 3 parcels having access to it. Any more and it becomes a private road with a different set of regulations. Chairman Jeff Lomber said there have been some requests to the zoning department which has brought on the need to review the ordinance. He said that owners wishing to divide a parcel may run into problems if the frontage space on one of the new lots exceeds 600ft.

Trustee Norm Klein sits on the commission and wondered what brought on 600 feet as being the magic number in the ordinance and what sense did it make. He used, as an example, if two people with 50 acre lots want to share a driveway, why should the township care? Lomber agreed, saying that somebody put that number there for a reason, but nobody seems to know why. The township planner suggested that they get in contact with the fire marshal to make sure they are not overstepping some fire code or other related issue. (MK)