Planning Commission Meeting — 2025-07-31

Detailed briefing

Planning Commission — July 31, 2025 ATTENDEES: Bill Moulder, Barry Leard, Bob Buckner, Jeannie Benjamin, Vanessa Warren, Kenny Stewart, Tony Johnson and Jeff Everest. Mark Bedet was absent. • The commission held a special work session on zoning districts and dimensional standards. No minutes were approved because this was a special meeting, and no final zoning-code adoption vote occurred. Most decisions were described as consensus or figures “penciled in” for later review. • Residents submitted two sets of petitions opposing duplexes, triplexes or broader multifamily zoning in existing single-family areas. One speaker reported about 40 signatures from the Glen Drive area. Another reported petitions from about 47 property owners in the Southland Cranville, Ottawa and Cottage Lane areas. Those use questions were not resolved at this meeting. • The commission reached preliminary consensus on a 35-foot maximum building height in the Central Business District, with no limit based on the number of stories. Rooftop decks, access structures and railings would have to remain within 35 feet. Screened mechanical equipment could extend up to 42 inches above the limit. Members rejected a graduated downtown height system as too difficult to administer. • Members supported combining the current B1 and B2 business districts into a “downtown business” district and using “uptown business” for businesses above the bluff. The residential office services district would remain, with a tentative 25-foot accessory-building limit and story limits removed. • For the proposed combined R1B/R1C residential district, the commission debated minimum lot widths of 52, 60 and 65 feet. Members ultimately penciled in 60 feet pending the discussion of permitted uses. The same tentative width was applied to the R2 two-family district. The commission kept the R1A minimum width at 100 feet for now, subject to additional data. • The transitional residential district is expected to be eliminated. The tentative approach would zone its houses residential and treat part of the yacht club as a nonconforming residential use while retaining the portion already in the CBD. Members said the future zoning map will need close review. The agricultural-residential district will remain separate for now while uses are examined. Worth watching: 1. Whether duplexes will be allowed outside the existing R2 district. 2. Whether the penciled-in 60-foot residential lot width changes after the uses discussion. 3. How the final map treats the yacht club, Bay Street houses and other former transitional residential properties. Upcoming: Special zoning work session August 14; regular meeting August 21. September open houses and a possible September 18 recommendation to City Council were discussed as tentative. Why it matters: These draft standards will shape building size, lot use, redevelopment rights and neighborhood character across Harbor Springs.

No open public follow-ups are linked to this meeting yet.