WATERFORD — The Village of Waterford Board has unanimously voted to eliminate parcel size requirements for properties within 1.5 miles of the village.
It's a decision being celebrated by the village, the Town of Waterford, and town residents who say the old rule blocked them from making decisions about their land.
The rule, known as extraterritorial plat approval jurisdiction, is established under state law and gives the village final say over how parcels of land within that boundary are divided. Before Monday's vote, those parcels were required to be 20 acres or larger to be subdivided, according to Village of Waterford ordinance.
Town of Waterford resident Joe Raguse said the change will directly affect his family, which has owned its land for more than 100 years.
It originally belonged to his great grandparents.
"We've been here for over a century and want to stay here," Raguse said.
Raguse has a home on the family property, as does his mother. But when his brother wanted to split off a portion of the land to build a house, the family ran into the ordinance.
"He was going to split off five acres and build a house there, and that's when we learned about the ordinance," Raguse said.
Raguse said they were surprised to learn about the rule dictating how their land could be parceled.
"We couldn't even just for a family member split off land to have them build on our own property," he explained.
With the ordinance now amended, Raguse said he is optimistic about his ability to make decisions for the land and his family in the future.
"Ideally, I'd like to have my kids build here if they want to live next to me when they're older," Raguse said.
Village of Waterford President Adam Jaskie said the rule went into effect in May 2024 and acknowledged the circumstances that led to it.
"It was an ordinance kind of based on reactionary, retaliatory, punitive behavior to our neighbors in the Town of Waterford who attempted to incorporate into the Village of Tichigan," Jaskie said.
Jaskie said reflecting on the rule's impact made the case for change clear.
"It really just hits you that a few individuals have the power over those people and their property — and generational property that been in those families for hundreds of years potentially," Jaskie said.
Village leaders say they hope the amendment will help repair the relationship between the village and the neighboring Town of Waterford.
Town of Waterford Supervisor Dale Gauerke said Wednesday the vote is a "wonderful move."
"Any step to bring the town and village closer together is welcome from my perspective," Gauerke said.
Both Jaskie and Gauerke are hopeful that the amended ordinance creates an opportunity for the village and town to move toward a boundary agreement.
For the Raguse family, the vote marked a turning point.
"They listened to us and came up with a plan," Raguse said.
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