Down Town & Two Story Buildings 9.08.24

One concerned voter writes:

‘Future Land Use’

In the 2012 Vision documents and research on the future land use, the documents @did NOT encourage changing height of the TIF /Downtown area, rather the respondents encouraged the uniqueness of intermixed residential with and among shops.

 

I believe that chasing grants has lost us the bigger picture; because what we have already IS enough. Our small city is what encourages return visitors to our downtowns and invites entrepreneurs to the area.

 

Entrepreneur investors don’t chase hand-outs! Entrepreneurs chase the unique, the desirable, once in a lifetime ‘best kept’ secrets. Once we become an over-visited, over-developed ‘any town’ USA, we taxpayers will be left with maintenance costs and little else to show for handing over our character buildings and green spaces to Redevelopment Ready Certification (RRC) annual demands.

 

We need to think ahead, discuss the “what if’s”. Is $25,000 or other Certification grants worth the cost of business and residential “by right” zoning installed across our 1.3 square mile little footprint ? Instead we should be planning ahead for preserving and protecting our areas future.

 

This “by right” zoning is what (Lio on City Council) and the past administration started while studying and implementing the RRC planning documents and has now allowed. Can we stop now with the RRC Certification ?

 

DOWNTOWN: Is this the downtown corridor we want?

 

Main St from Zorn Park to the Methodist Church; State St from Small Batch to the Marina; Third St from State St to the old board walk steps; Bay St from Zorn Park to Shay Museum? (approximately 8 city blocks) 3-story, property line to property line

 

These 8 blocks “by-right” development rights create a view shed – we should be up-in-arms about! A ‘roof top’ vista rather than a tree canopy from the boardwalk platform to the Petoskey State Park beach beyond, a waters edge view obscured well beyond the marina, and only roof tops as the ‘view shed’ to the base of the Catholic Church steeple.

 

Is this what Planning Commission and City Council intended? Let’s seek consensus – get the zoning right to VoteYES to repeal.