Traverse City planning commissioners approved a site plan for a proposed Costco store on South Airport Road and a special land use permit request from Munson Medical Center to build a 110-foot new family birth and children’s center Tuesday. But the commission delayed making a conditional rezoning decision on a proposed 60-foot mixed-use development from Thom Darga in the Warehouse District, and rejected a proposal to expand the number of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) allowed in the city from 10 to 20.

Costco’s site plan review was one of the last major hurdles the store faced to opening on Cherry Capital Airport property in 2017. The 156,170 square-foot retail development will also feature an attached tire center, eight-pump gas station and 753 parking spaces. Planning commissioners approved Costco’s site plan with several conditions, including updating the store’s stormwater control measures, fine-tuning bike and pedestrian infrastructure, downgrading Costco’s planned signage or requiring the store to obtain a zoning variance, and making traffic improvements to the South Airport Road corridor. Costco representatives indicated the store would not have any problems meeting the conditions. Because the type of development proposed by Costco is already allowed by right on airport property, the site plan only required approval from the planning commission and will not go to the city commission for further review.

City commissioners, however, will soon consider Munson’s special land use permit request to build a 110-foot new family birth and children’s center after planning commissioners approved the request Tuesday. The new building will stretch across Sixth Street between the main hospital wing and the Cowell Family Cancer Center. The expansion will allow Munson to modernize and consolidate its women’s and children’s services into one facility, and will include operating rooms expansion for surgical services and replacements for medical and surgical beds. Planning commissioners also supported Munson’s request to vacate and reroute part of Sixth Street to accommodate the project.

Also Tuesday, planning commissioners delayed voting on a conditional rezoning request from developer Thom Darga to rezone the former Fifth-Third Bank property in the Warehouse District from C-4a to C-4b. The move would allow Darga to build a 60-foot instead of 45-foot mixed-use development called Warehouse Flats on the site. Project plans call for a four-story building with retail/restaurant/office space on the ground floor and rental apartments ranging from 550 to 1,200 square feet on the top three floors.

Planning commissioners expressed support for the project’s overall concept, particularly the inclusion of what Darga described as workforce rental housing targeted at downtown workers. But they were torn over granting a zoning exception to the property, particularly after city staff noted other surrounding developments could make similar requests and that consistency was key to ensuring an equitable development environment downtown.

“There is the concern I do have of taking one parcel in this district and rezoning it,” explained City Planning Director Russ Soyring. “What is unique and special about this property that we wouldn’t want to consider for the rest of the Warehouse District? If the city did ultimately rezone it…it may beg for those other owners and those other properties then to say, ‘I would like to be treated the same way, and I would like to have the 60-foot limit as well.’” Soyring also said after reviewing the project plans, he believed the development could proceed and still be successful within the allowed 45 feet.

Commissioner Linda Koebert told Darga that maintaining “this 45 feet at the water’s edge is really important to me. I know that’s problematic for you. I would just hope that somehow this development could move forward…(maintaining) that 45 feet.” Chair John Serratelli agreed. “For me it’s tough because there are a lot of things about (the project) I like, I really do. But I just have difficulty getting past 60 feet.”

Commissioners voted to delay a decision until their November 1 meeting to allow more time for review and to give Darga an opportunity to make modifications to the proposed plans if he so chose before the board voted on it.

Finally, planning commissioners Tuesday rejected a proposal to expand the number of new accessory dwelling units allowed in the city each year from 10 to 20. City commissioners had asked the board to revisit the policy and consider expanding the program. Several planning commissioners agreed with city staff’s assessment that the ADU program was still in its “infancy” and needed more time for evaluation before it was further expanded. The planning commission is scheduled to revisit the issue again next spring.