Planning Commission Approves Immaculate Plans; Delays Darga Development Again

Traverse City planning commissioners Tuesday approved a special land use permit and site plans for a new Immaculate Conception Elementary school, but delayed for a second time a decision on a conditional rezoning request from developer Thom Darga to build a 60-foot mixed-use development in the Warehouse District.

Grand Traverse Area Catholic Schools is planning to break ground on a new $12 million, two-story school in spring 2017 to replace the existing Immaculate Conception school. The new facility is expected to welcome students in the 2018-19 school year. The project will require vacating portions of Second and Vine streets. While schools are a permitted use under the zoning ordinance for the district, they require a special land use permit. Planning commissioners approved the SLUP and project plans Tuesday, forwarding the request on for final approval from the city commission.

But planning commissioners couldn’t reach a decision Tuesday on a conditional rezoning request from Darga that would allow the developer to build up to 60 feet high instead of the 45 feet currently allowed on the former Fifth-Third Bank property on Garland and Union streets. Darga hopes to build a development called Warehouse Flats on the site, with plans calling 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.

As was the case at an October 4 meeting, planning commissioners expressed conceptual support for Darga’s plans but were torn over changing the zoning rules for one particular property in the district. “I’m having a really difficult time with this, though I think 45 feet is wrong (for the height maximum for that area),” said Commissioner Linda Koebert. “I would really like to expedite the changing of the zoning, rather than doing each one of these piecemeal.”

Other commissioners wanted to see agreement terms tightened to ensure the development’s units were actually utilized as market-rate apartments as promised, as well as to negotiate project aspects such as building aesthetics and parking. “There is the concern of what we do with the exit of your parking deck into a public parking lot,” said Commissioner Gary Howe. "You have a monolithic, 600-foot-long, one continuous building. And we do have the value of our current zoning, and we do have reasoning behind it."

After lengthy discussion, planning commissioners voted on a motion to forward the proposal to the city commission with an attached recommendation to reject the rezoning request. The motion failed 3-5. The board then took a second vote on forwarding the proposal to the city commission with an attached recommendation to approve the rezoning request. That motion also failed 3-5. With both motions defeated, commissioners appeared at a loss as to how to proceed. The board sought the advice of City Attorney Lauren Trible-Laucht as to whether the planning commission could make a motion simply for the city commission to consider the proposal without attaching a specific recommendation from the planning commission. Trible-Laucht deferred on ruling on the issue until she could more closely analyze the city’s zoning requirements for planning commission review.

Without an outright rejection or approval of the rezoning request, the proposal was effectively tabled. The commission's inaction leaves Darga free to bring the development back for consideration again at a future meeting. Darga told the board Tuesday he was willing to go back and work with city staff to try and address some of the concerns raised, with the goal of making the project “more palatable” to planning commissioners in the future.