Planning Agenda: 2023-10-12
The Planning Commission's agenda for 2023-10-12 is 👉here👈.
840 Benson Ave NE
The building at 840 Benson is a designed-for-use residential group facility. Recently it was a residential group facility operated as an adult foster care facility for 16 residents. The building has 8 large bedrooms each with its own bathroom and closet. There is a two bedroom apartment on the ground floor for a live in manager. The property is entirely surrounding by either multi-unit residential or IT (Industrial-Transportation) uses. The new operator is 70x7 Life Recovery which is a Christian non-profit which helps previously incarcerated men reestablish themselves. 70x7 intends to use the designed-for-use residential group facility as a residential group facility for up to 16 clients with a full-time live-in site manager.
The planners categorize this use as a "Residential Rehabilitation Facility" which requires Special Land Use (SLU) in single-family (LDR: low-density residential) districts. The site is also fails to meet the parking requirements of the use (0.5 parking spaces per bed + 1) which is 9, only having 8 off-street spaces. On-street parking is permitted on Benson Ave. The Planing Commission, in the Special Land Use, can waive up to 50% of the parking requirement.
The city's Zoning Ordinance also requires that such facilities be located 1,500ft or more from another such use; no other such use exists within that radius.
Letters of support have been received from Cherry Health, the Kent County Sheriff's Office, and the Highland Park Neighborhood Association.
Related
- Nonprofit plans housing for returning citizens in Grand Rapids’ Highland Park neighborhood, Crains, 2023-10-04
2200 (aka 2078) E Beltline Ave NE
This enormous parcel is a type of Special District (SD) called a Planned Redevelopment District (PRD), so the zoning of the site is referred to as SD-PRD. An SD-PRD is a custom zoning proposed by an investor for a large parcel or group of parcels, adopted by the city, and then enforced by the city in perpetuity. The process and definition of the SD-PRD can be found here. In short, SD-PRD is either, as defined:
In this case the original PRD/"spot zoning", which was adopted in 2014, requires Special Land Use (SLU) for the proposed use: a veterinary clinic.
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The proposed use is a VCA Animal Hospital which will operated from 7:30am to 6:00pm and is expected to see 40 - 80 customers per day. There will be no animal boarding.
SLU requests in PRD zones are distinct in one very particular way: there is very rarely public outreach or engagement. On the other hand, this is a building in the middle of a parking lake; it is not walk-able, not sustainable, pollutes the surrounding environment, and creates a heat island. There isn't much to say about this kind of sprawl other than we should stop creating more of it. This is already here, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, it might as well generate some tax revenue to help offset the negative externalities it creates.
340 State St SE
The proposed use as a theater - an "assembly use" in zoning speak - requires Special Land Use (SLU) in the Traditional CIty Center (TCC) zone district. A parking waiver is also required. The 84 seat expected capacity requires 21 parking spaces (0.25 parking spaces per seat). The site provides zero parking spaces. The parking requirement can be reduced by 50% as the site is located within 100ft of a transit stop - in this case Rapid routes #2 and #4 - leaving a requirement of 11 spaces. To satisfy the 11 spaces still required the Planning Commission must determine that "adequate" parking is provided by surrounding area: up to ~6 spaces may be counted from on street parking [50% of the remaining requirement], and the other 5 - 6 spaces counted from adjacent off-street parking facilities such as the parking lot at 40 Jefferson Ave SE.
As the site is located with the Heritage Hill Historic District any changes to the design of the building or signs are subject to the review of the Historic Preservation Commission.
Proposed hours of operation: Thursday - Sunday 7pm - 10:15pm, Wednesday - Saturday 6:30pm - 9:30pm. Closed on Monday and Tuesdays.
Related
- Dog Story Theater prepares for second act at new downtown location, Crains, 2023-10-03
724 Wealthy St SE
This request is . . . come on, you can probably guess! It is a request for a parking waiver. The Zivio, a currently operational bar & restaurant, is asking to eliminate two on-site parking spaces in order to expand outdoor seating and establish an outdoor bar. The restaurant was approved in 2016 to construct a 24-seat outdoor seating area at the rear of building. Prior to 2016 the site had zero on-site parking spaces and four were added with the construction of the outdoor patio. The proposed expansion would eliminate two of those four spaces. Within Traditional Business Area (TBA) zones 1 parking space is required for every 3 potential occupants and 0.25 spaces for each outdoor seat. The building also has two residential apartments in the second floor adding a requirement for 2.5 additional spaces. All that totals to ~33 parking spaces, leaving the site ~31 spaces deficient. As with 340 State St SE the Planning Commission can choose to satisfy the requirement by halving the total due to the existence of public transit, and then counting nearby on-street and off-street parking.
The hours of operation for the indoor and outdoor space are Sunday - Thursday 10am - 9:30pm, Friday- Saturday 10am - 10:30pm. No outdoor live entertainment is permitted.
949 Cherry St SE / 955 Cherry St SE
This is an application to establish a wine bar in an existing structure within the business district (TN/TBA) at Center Of The Universe (intersection of Cherry, Lake, & Diamond). The waiver is required for [of course] parking 🙄, as well as alcohol sales and outdoor seating. The interior occupancy will be 44, and the patio occupancy 10.
The site currently has 1 off-street parking space which the business intends to convert to the patio area - resulting in zero off-street parking spaces. The City's Zoning Ordinance requires 18 parking spaces; 1 parking space for every 3 occupants and 0.25 spaces for every outdoor seat. Thus a waiver of 100% of the parking requirement [18 spaces] is required. This for a business which serves alcohol in the highest density residential neighborhood in the city?
Aside: Yes, feel free to ask: who the *$%&@ makes that stuff up? And you are correct; these type of requirements are pulled from thin air, based on and apropos of nothing.
The site is located within the walk-shed of Rapid routes #4 & #6.
The current zoning of this site is business district, but the tangled mat of adjacent zones, well ...
A letter of support has been received from the East Hills Business Association.
Proposed hours of operation: Sunday 8am - 11pm, Monday 7am - 3:30pm, Tuesday: 7am - 3:30pm, Wednesday: 7am - 3:30pm, Thursday: 7am- 11pm, Friday: 7am - midnight, Saturday: 8am - Midnight.