Development Rules Could Change For Eighth, Hall Streets

An effort by Traverse City property owners along Eighth and Hall streets to relax development rules for their properties could instead spur more restrictive zoning changes – though owners may get at least one win when it comes to proposed building heights and parking.

A proposed four-story, mixed-use development at the corner of Eighth Street and Boardman Avenue (pictured) called Commongrounds Cooperative is one of several project sites that have prompted city planning commissioners to review development rules for the city’s D (development) districts. Those districts include the Ironworks/Midtown area (D-1) along Eight Street, Lake Avenue, and Cass Street, the “Depot” section of Eighth Street on the road’s south side between Boardman Avenue and Railroad Avenue (D-2), and the so-called “Red Mill” area along Hall Street bordered by Front Street, Gillis Street, and Grandview Parkway (D-3).

On south Eighth Street, where Commonplace will be built, buildings can only be 45 feet tall unless they’re at least 100 feet from the road. Further back, they can go up to 60-75 feet, depending on if 25 percent of the building contains residential units and a special land use permit is obtained (and in the case of buildings over 60 feet tall, city voter approval is given). Developers are hoping to reduce that road distance requirement, allowing them to build taller closer to Eighth Street – potentially within 15 feet of the road. For Commonplace, that would allow the entire development to be built to 60 feet, instead of just the back half of the building, boosting the number of residential units from 16 to 23-26, project documents show.

Planning commissioners have wrestled with that and other potential rule changes for the Eighth and Hall corridors since early summer. After building heights proved to be a contentious discussion point, the board temporarily set that issue aside and approved a package of other rule changes earlier this month. Those changes, which now head to the city commission for approval, affect driveways, parking, and front yard and water setbacks for the districts. Chief among the changes is banning any new driveways from being built on Eighth Street between Woodmere Avenue and Union Street – unless properties have no other access through alleys or side streets.

“Controlling and restricting driveways is a critical step in making the development districts pedestrian-friendly, and essential if the Eighth Street concept with cycle tracks can be implemented with safety in mind,” City Planning Director Russ Soyring wrote in a memo to City Manager Marty Colburn this month. Soyring tells The Ticker eliminating multiple driveways along a busy road like Eighth Street will ensure “traffic will flow better with less conflict points” along the road.

Other changes headed for city commission approval include increasing front-yard setbacks from three feet to five feet – providing more space in front of buildings for things like wider public sidewalks, tree lawns, benches, bike racks, and drinking fountains – and requiring buildings to be 25 feet from the water. That requirement, which was supported by The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay, will particularly impact Commonplace, which is located directly next to the Boardman River and will lose some of its potential development space to the new setback requirement.

Soyring acknowledges that while planning staff and commissioners sought to balance “some wins and losses” for developers when it came to rule changes, the first package of amendments primarily restricts their rights, rather than expands them. There are a handful of benefits for property owners in the changes: A first-floor minimum height requirement was reduced from 15 feet to 14 feet to help reduce construction costs, while off-street parking requirements were eliminated for properties within 500 feet of a transit center (the entire Red Mill district is located next to BATA’s transit center).

But it was the ability to build taller closer to the road that primarily interested property owners when they first approached the city – and on that front, they may still emerge with a win. Planning commissioners agreed this week to schedule a public hearing for September 18 on changing the setback requirements for D districts, potentially allowing property owners to build up to 60-75 feet close to the road on Eighth Street. Those changes would also apply to the Red Mill district, though buildings could not be taller than 45 feet within 100 feet of Grandview Parkway – protecting views of the bay – and within 100 feet of Gillis Street, protecting the character of the surrounding residential neighborhood.

Some planning commissioners expressed concerns about changing the building height requirements and wanted to discuss fine-tuning the language – for instance, limiting the building height next to the road on Eighth Street to 60 feet, instead of the possible 75 – but agreed to a public hearing to get more input. Planning commissioner David Hassing said that generally speaking, changing the zoning rules for Eighth Street was “overdue" and called the proposed overhaul a “move in a positive direction.” Multiple property owners along the corridor agreed.

“Eighth Street has a wonderful opportunity to present a community purpose…something that serves the community and the residents in that area,” said Don Coe, a resident of Midtown. He continued that changing the zoning rules would allow property owners to add more mass to buildings in the corridor, increasing the number of mixed-use and residential units that can be built along Eighth Street.

“It has to be affordable," Coe said. "Affordable can only be achieved in these kinds of districts if there’s mass. You can’t have affordable – either commercial or residential properties – unless there's enough mass to pay for the high land costs in the downtown Traverse City."