PLANNING COMMISSION Minutes May 7, 2009 DRAFT City Commission Chambers 2nd Floor, City Hall 241 W. South Street, Kalamazoo, MI 49007 Members Present: Terry Kuseske, Chair; Sonja Dean, Vice Chair; Casey Fawley; Mark Fricke; James Kneen; Merilee Mishall; Bertha Stewart; Linda Wienir Members Excused: Reed Youngs City Staff: Keith Hernandez; Deputy Director/City Planner; Robert Bauckham, Assistant City Planner; John Kneas, Assistant City Attorney; Amy Thomas, Recording Secretary Guests: Barb Miller, City Commission Liaison A. CALL TO ORDER Commissioner Kuseske called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. B. ROLL CALL Planner Hernandez completed roll call and determined that the aforementioned members were present. C. AGENDA (May 7, 2009) There were no changes to the agenda. Commissioner Kneen, supported by Commissioner Mishall, moved approval of the May 7, 2009 Planning Commission Agenda as submitted. With a voice vote, the motion carried unanimously. D. MINUTES (April 2, 2009) There were no changes to the minutes. Commissioner Kneen, supported by Commissioner Dean, moved approval of the April 2, 2009 Planning Commission Minutes as submitted. With a voice vote, the motion carried unanimously. Planning Commission Minutes May 7, 2009 Page 2 of 17 E. COMMUNICATIONS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS Planner Hernandez advised that city staff received three letters pertaining to two of the public hearings on the May 7th Planning Commission agenda. Further details of the letters will be provided during the public hearings. F. PUBLIC HEARINGS 1. P.C. #2008.17: Consideration of a request from Downtown Kalamazoo, Inc. (DKI) to recommend to the City Commission to approve the 2009 Downtown Kalamazoo Comprehensive Plan. Ken Nacci, Downtown Kalamazoo, Inc. (DKI), was present to discuss the Downtown Comprehensive Plan. He introduced the Board of Directors and committee members from DKI who were in attendance at the meeting. Mr. Nacci advised that this is the third presentation of the Downtown Comprehensive Plan in front of the Planning Commission. The Plan was released for public comment for over 40 days. Very few comments were received so there have been few changes since the last presentation. Mr. Deisler commented that hundreds of people have contributed many ideas to the plan. The key recommendations in the Downtown Comprehensive Plan are as follows: Residential 1. Target 500 new residential units in the downtown area over the next 10 years. 2. Strengthen the downtown surrounding neighborhoods and work with the neighborhoods to become integrated into the downtown community. 3. Support and enhance more senior housing and assisted care living in the downtown area. Retail 1. Promote the existing, strong, locally-owned businesses in the downtown area. 2. Establish a retail incubator program primarily for start-up businesses to help support and grow new retail businesses in the downtown area. 3. Improve access to retail businesses in the downtown area. 4. Convert one-way streets in the downtown area to two-way streets. Students 1. Improve connections to downtown for students. 2. Improve pedestrian and vehicular connections. 3. Encourage improvements to the pedestrian walkways. Planning Commission Minutes May 7, 2009 Page 3 of 17 4. Assist in development of new, student-oriented businesses. 5. Dedicated student connector trolley providing a link to the downtown, Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo College campuses. Transportation 1. Implement the conversion to two-way streets in the downtown area. Kalamazoo Avenue, Michigan Avenue, South Street, and Lovell Street are the major streets targeted for two-way conversion. 2. Improvements to Michigan Avenue streetscape from Michi-Kal to Kalamazoo Avenue. 3. Encourage initiatives for alternative modes of transportation in the downtown area (more trailways, more non-motorized venues for people to come downtown along the major corridors.) Parking 1. Implement a new five-year parking plan. 2. Beginning in 2010, improvements to the maintenance, security, safety, and technology of the parking system. Pedestrian Environment 1. Become a green and sustainable downtown. 2. Promote safe, walkable streets and trailways. Jobs 1. Build on the Kalamazoo Promise by promoting internships in the downtown area. 2. Encourage businesses in the downtown to hire interns from the Kalamazoo Public Schools, Kalamazoo College and Western Michigan University. 3. Target 50 new jobs annually in the downtown area. 4. Encourage growth of the bio-medical/life science district in the downtown area, which includes Bronson Hospital, MPI, and Pfizer. The land use plan will serve as a guide to help direct some of the key redevelopment projects that are targeted in the plan. Opportunities 1. Address homeless issues. 2. Make downtown more attractive to families and children and develop initiatives that support these projects. 3. Promote sustainability programs and green initiatives. Planning Commission Minutes May 7, 2009 Page 4 of 17 4. Develop policies to address the growing senior population. Seven Key Projects in the downtown area have been identified as follows: 1. Redevelop buildings in the 100 block of East Michigan. 2. Two-way street conversion. 3. Develop the proposed downtown arena and/or downtown neighborhood development in the northwest quadrant of downtown. 4. Promote a Lovell Street/Rose Street redevelopment on the former Public Safety site for a potential mixed-use development. 5. Transform the Haymarket parking lot into a mixed-use development with mixed-use, residential and retail components. 6. Support the City of Kalamazoo’s Riverfront Redevelopment Plan. 7. Support efforts to develop the bio-medical, medical, life science and research district in the downtown area. The Downtown Comprehensive Plan is available on line at www.central-city.net. The Plan is approximately 150 pages and can be provided on disk for individuals who request it. Mr. Deisler thanked everyone for their input on the plan over the past 14 months. The Downtown Comprehensive Plan will be integrated into the Master Plan for the City of Kalamazoo. Commissioner Kneen inquired as to how many residential units are in the downtown area. Mr. Deisler advised that there are about 300 residential units in downtown Kalamazoo. Commissioner Kneen inquired as to where the 500 new units would be located. Mr. Deisler advised that there is space in some of the upper floors of existing commercial structures. Most of the proposed units will be new construction on some of the vacant lots. For instance, the parcel on the corner of Rose and Lovell is a potential site for new residential development. Public Hearing Deb Killarney, 230 N. Kalamazoo Mall, advised that she is a resident of downtown Kalamazoo. She moved to Kalamazoo from the San Francisco area 5 ½ years ago and has been very happy living in Kalamazoo. She referred to the welcome home celebration for Matt Giraud that she just attended, as an example of the personal thought and community spirit that she has experienced in Kalamazoo. The process of putting together the downtown plan was also very personal for her. She attended some of the public meetings to voice her opinions and to hear what other people had to say about the plan. The end product is a great idea for downtown Kalamazoo because the city has a plan for the future. Commissioner Kneen, supported by Commissioner Fricke, moved to close the public hearing regarding P.C. #2008.17. With a voice vote, the motion carried unanimously. Planning Commission Minutes May 7, 2009 Page 5 of 17 Commissioner Wienir, supported by Commissioner Kneen, moved to recommend to the City Commission approval of P.C. #2008.17, the request from Downtown Kalamazoo, Inc. (DKI) regarding the 2009 Downtown Comprehensive Plan. With a roll call vote, the motion carried unanimously. Commissioner Kuseske thanked the organizations involved with the development of the Downtown Comprehensive Plan. He commented that the plan is an important step in the review of the city’s Master Plan. 2. P.C. #2009.04: Consideration of a request from the Presbyterian Villages of Michigan for a contract rezoning of 214 and 230 S. Sage Street from Zone CO (Commercial, Office District) to Zone RM-24 (Residential, Multi-Dwelling District). Planner Bauckham gave the staff report, which is incorporated in these minutes by reference hereto. The subject property is located in the Westwood Neighborhood in the City of Kalamazoo. The proposed contract rezoning would place certain conditions on the rezoning and on the development of the site that must be adhered to by the applicant. The applicant would like to construct a new, independent living apartment complex on the property for senior citizens. The parcel is wooded and undeveloped, and is surrounded by offices, single-family residential homes and apartment complexes. The current zoning of the property would allow the complex to be built on the site. However, it would have to be part of a mixed-use project, which would have to include office or commercial uses on the first floor and apartments on the upper floors. The applicant would like to utilize the development for apartments only. Zone RM-24 would allow for only apartment uses in the building. In 2006, this property was rezoned to the current zone with the idea of constructing an office complex on the site. That project did not occur. At that time, the adjacent neighbors expressed support for the office development with limited night time uses. However, they were not supportive of a student apartment complex in this location. The multiple-family zoning districts in the city do not regulate the ages of the tenants. Therefore, a student apartment complex could be built in the proposed zone (RM-24). To address the concerns of the neighbors, the applicant is proposing the contract rezoning request with two conditions as follows: 1. All tenants of the planned apartments would be required to be 55 years of age or older. 2. A 50-foot-wide natural buffer strip would be maintained along the entire north side of the site to provide screening for the single- family homes to the north.