Planning Commission Agenda, 2025-12-11

Submitted by whitemice on Mon, 12/08/2025 - 05:16

The municipal agenda for the Planning Commission meeting on 2025-12-11 is 👉here👈

540 Russwood Street NE

This is a returning agenda item from the 2025-09-25 Planning Commission meeting which was approved with conditions at that meeting.

The applicant has subsequently performed neighborhood engagement to discuss concerns about the traffic challenges created by our nation's auto-centric approach to everything, including the lunacy that is school pick-up and drop-off. Out of that engagement a series of plans have been developed to help ameliorate the symptoms of motorist pathology to the extent that is possible as it relates to this site and use.

MobileGR has also analyzed current traffic data and does not feel that the expansion of the school will make the situation any worse than it already is. The city will be improving signage around the site regarding parking zones.

1014 & 1024 Martin Luther King Jr. St. SE

Note: Martin Luther King Jr. St is the name of the street previously known as Franklin St. The City Commission changed the name of this street on October 12th, 2021. The change became effective on February 22nd, 2022.

This is an SLU (Special Land Use) request to operate a childcare and use center in a Traditional Business Area. Such a use requires special dispensation from the Planning Commission... a significant potential impact is the possibility of playground noise.

Aerial

 Zoning

A playground will be constructed to the south of the building; this playground will be enclosed by a 6ft tall aluminum fence.

Two existing curb cuts on MLK Jr St [previously Franklin St] will be removed to create three (3) on-street parking spaces.

The hours of operation of the childcare use will be Monday - Friday from 8:00am to 3:30pm, providing childcare for up to twenty (20) children of the ages from three (3) to five (5) years old. The childcare use which will occupy the western portion of the building is expected to employ five (5) on-site employees.

From 3:00pm to 7:00pm (Monday - Friday) the facility will operate as a youth [teen] community center which will employee three (3) on-site employees. The community center use will be located in the eastern portion of the building. Children attending the community center will walk or bike to and from the facility, or be dropped off by caregivers.

Site Plan

A 21ft wide drop-off and pick-up lane is located on the east side of the building.

A total of nine (9) on-site parking spaces will be provided for staff and other uses. Between the childcare and youth center uses the arbitrary requirements of the zoning ordinance are for thirteen (13) parking spaces. Eight (8) for the childcare use [1 parking space for every 8 students + 1 per employee : (20/8)+5 = 7.5 = 8] and five (5) for the youth center [1 parking space per 1,000sq/ft + 1 per classroom or office]. With only nine (9) parking spaces the proposed use has a deficit of four (4) parking spaces. So, of course, this necessitates yet another parking waiver. The Planning commission can reduce the required thirteen (13) spaces by half due to the proximity of public transportation - the Rapid's route #2 - as well as counting adjacent on-street parking towards the requirement. As half of thirteen (13) is seven (7) the site would be sufficient for the proposed use if the parking waiver is granted.

Aside: Previous analysis of planning commission agendas demonstrated that 2013 - 2024 (roughly ten years) all the hours spend documenting an discussing parking waivers resulted in -2,944 fewer parking spaces being required. That is an overall reduction of -6.5 parking spaces per square mile per year in those ten years. Assuming an footprint of 17ft x 13ft that is 1,437sq/ft less parking per square mile per year, or 14,365sq/ft less per square mile over ten years. That is a reduction of 0.05% in space committed to parking, over ten years. That merited all this hand-wringing? What are we doing?

1001 Fulton Street W

Aerial

 Zoning

The operator of the QIK N EZ 24-hour convenience store at this location has acquired an upgraded liquor license which permits the sale of distilled spirits in addition to their existing sales of beer and wine. Sale of distilled spirits requires Special Land Use (SLU).

The Grand Rapids Police Department and the Planning Department concur that the site meets all requirements, including those of the CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) standard.

A letter of no objections has been received from the Southwest Area Neighbors association [aka: John Ball Area Neighbors].

1150 Adams Street SE

The application is seeking an amendment to the previously approved Boston Square PRD (Planned Redevelopment District, a form of spot zoning). The PRD is comprised of 12 parcels and totals 7.11 acres. The primary purpose of the amendment is to move a proposed park space and adjust the plan to accommodate twenty two (22) town homes to be constructed in five (five) buildings oriented toward Adams St. The proposal also reduces the project's very generous parking component by sixteen (16) space from the previous 258 to 242.

Aerial

 Zoning
Site Plan
Elevation

The twenty two (22) townhomes will be Affordable for a household income of 80% the AMI (Area Median Income which is ~$85,000/yr. These twenty two (22) units are ~10% of the Boston Square project's proposed ~207 total units. Habitat Kent, who is developing the town home component, expects to break ground in 2027. Fifty seven (57) rental units - ~28% of the total units - are already under construction. The rental units, which are part of a mixed-use apartment building, are priced at varying levels of Affordability.

Component Description Status
HUB 07 Community Center, ~45,000sq/ft Complete
Kzoo Station Business Incubator Complete
? Retail Incubator Under Construction
? Apartments (Rental), 57 units Under Construction
? 22 Townhouses (For Sale) in five (5) buildings Proposed
? Park Proposed

The estimated cost of the town house development, by the non-profit Habitat Kent, is $11,000,000. This breaks down to $500,000 per 3 - 4 bedroom unit.

The reason for the changes to the PRD, the relocation of the park?

Narrative (PDF)

 Narrative (TXT)

The layout, however, has been reworked to better accommodate the significant grade change of the site, address safety concerns, as well as increase visibility and accessibility to the park. In meeting with City staff, it was recommended that townhomes at the corner of Adams and Fuller switch locations with the proposed park to assuage concerns of southbound Fuller traffic, north of the site, from potentially crashing into the townhomes. This space would instead be the location of the park, which would increase visibility and access to this recreational space, making it more readily available tothe greater community.

Eh? Traffic is too dangerous at the intersection in question for buildings, but put a park there for the community - people - to use? That along side Affordable housing constructed at very significantly higher costs than comparable for-profit market-rate development? After years of tedious process. I have no doubt that the end product of the Boston Square development will be ... fine; yet this project is contending to be an exemplar of all the absurdities that are American Urban Planning. Could we perhaps address the fact that high speed traffic on Fuller Ave is inappropriate in an urban neighborhood? No, we will invite children to play there, after six (6) - now seven (7) - Planning Commission appearances spanning five (5) years. Some days it feels like we have made progress, and some days it feels like nothing has changed.

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