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HARBOR SPRINGS

We Love Harbor Springs

6 hours ago

COMMENTS: The Core Question You're Raising - What is it hurting?

You're identifying something planners call "facade compliance" — where a building meets the letter of the design standards on the street-facing elevation, but hollows out the ground floor activation behind it. Harbor Springs' Downtown Overlay addresses aesthetics well but may not be strong enough on use requirements. Either way, the result on the street is the same — garage doors instead of active storefronts on Gardner and Third Streets.

Listed as 32.8" average building height — under the 35' maximum but the decorative cornice is excluded from that measurement, and no mention of what is on the rooftop.

Mixed-use buildings with ground-floor uses that aren't truly active retail — like indoor garages, storage units, or parking of collectables — are fought over in virtually every small historic downtown in America. Communities from Maine to Oregon are grappling with exactly this tension.

Developers maximize profit by using ground floor square footage for high-margin, low-maintenance uses (garages, storage)

Zoning codes often permit it if the building checks the technical boxes (setbacks, height, lot coverage)

CBD zoning typically requires retail frontage on the main street but doesn't always mandate what happens behind it

Upper-floor condos are lucrative; ground-floor retail is risky and harder to lease in small towns

How Communities can understand it or regulate It -

Strengthen the Downtown Overlay language to require ACTIVE ground-floor uses (retail, restaurant, office, gallery) for the full depth of the first floor — not just the street-facing facade

Both Traverse City and Petoskey have stronger "active use. "Active use" never came up by the Planning Consultant during the meetings.

Prohibit garages, furniture and collectable storage as permitted ground-floor uses in the CBD - allowing the visual draw of active businesses to lead visitors around corners to see whats on the other side.

Require minimum transparency/activation standards so blank walls and garage doors don't dominate our street frontage

Adopt form-based codes which regulate what a building looks like and how it functions at street level, not just its dimensions

Public comment at Planning Commission — exactly what you're doing by asking the community to attend the meetings. 289 Main Street, between the stunning Lyric theater and the Church.

Running Water (Dr. Pierces former office building will be either deconstructed or demolished to make room for the new construction.

What You Should Ask at the Planning Commission

Is this the model we want to set for future CBD development?

Are the 6 garage units deeded to specific condo units or to be sold separately?

Opening on two streets, the garage doors In a historic walkable downtown are particularly damaging to the pedestrian experience. We want Harbor Springs' entire economic identity built on its walkable historic downtown.

Ground floor retail/restaurant generates 3-5x more economic activity per square foot than storage or parking.

This building is primarily residential with a retail veneer — is that really what CBD zoning is meant to encourage?

What is the long-term use restriction on those garage spaces?
Can they be converted to storage or other uses later without additional approval?

If a condo sells, does the garage transfer with it or can it be sold independently? ... See MoreSee Less

We Love Harbor Springs

8 hours ago

Beckett & Raeder initial review & report on the building at 289 East Main Street - There is no mention of rooftop accoutrements, specific activity of offices and residential units on second and third floor - their #14, 24 and 30 of particular note. What Planning Consultant brought this into this town? Cars are what this beast of a building accommodates?

The Applicant is seeking site plan approval to build a three-story mixed-use building at 289 East Main Street. The first floor will accommodate two retail spaces with frontage on Main Street with 987 square feet and 942 square feet, respectively. The balance of the first floor will be utilized for six (6) indoor garage units. Four (4) garages will be accessible off Gardner Street, and two (2) off of Third Street. The second and third floors will accommodate three (3) condominiums. Without the car storage or furniture storage or collectable storage or? this building could be two stories. Is this what we want to stand ?

This letter to CC today:

Date: May 20, 2026 at 2:44:25 PM GMT+2
To: Tom Graham <tom@grahamre.com>, jeannehscc@gmail.com, Jamie Melke <Jamielynnmelke@gmail.com>, Kathy Motschall <kathy.motschall@yahoo.com>, Reeve HS Council <wendy@reeve4hscouncil.com>
Subject: Are we ‘locked-in’ to heights in Ord. 442?

Members of City Council,

The discussion around the vote taken in January refers to not being ‘locked in’ to heights for the next 50 years. This photo of a potential building project is the result of Ord 442 guidelines and is on the agenda for Thursday’s 5:30pm Planning Commission meeting. It appears that height, volume and density have been utilized to it’s fullest.

I am unable to find reference to community support for this type of growth, density or design pictured and proposed from neither the surveys taken in 2020-2021 nor the Master Plan goals ratified by resolution in 2022 from these surveys, yet the Zoning Code Ord. 442 seems to allow this type of build regardless of not being ‘locked in’ or not.

The Michigan Planning and Michigan Zoning Enabling Acts require that the Zoning Code reflects the type of planning goals our Master Plan outlines and is a reflection of community surveys and public input. Upon review of the Master Plan it appears this is not the case.

Did City Council approve a Zoning Code that is not aligned with our Master Plan?

Is this the type of downtown that the City Council envisioned when Ord 442 was ratified?

Kind regards,
Ashley O’Reilly, resident Harbor Springs

For more information on this application pls go to the Planning Commissioners meeting packet on the City of Harbor Springs website. Thank you. ... See MoreSee Less