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CITY OF MUSKEGON
PLANNING COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING
DATE OF MEETING: Thursday, March 16, 2023 at 4 pm
PLACE OF MEETING: Commission Chambers, First Floor, Muskegon City Hall
AGENDA
I. Roll Call
II. Approval of minutes from the regular meeting of January 12, 2023.
III. Elections
IV. Old Business
V. Public Hearings
A. Hearing, Case 2023-04: Request for a special use permit to operate an automobile sales lot at 962
W Sherman, by Nicholas Perry. REMOVED AT APPLICANTS REQUEST
B. Hearing, Case 2023-05: Request to rezone a portion of the property at 560 Mart St from B-2,
Convenience & Comparison Business to WM-Waterfront Marine, by West MI Dock & Market.
C. Hearing, Case 2023-06: Request to rezone the property at 1163 Terrace St from R-3 Residence to
B-2, Convenience & Comparison Business, by Ryan Burns.
D. Hearing, Case 2023-07: Staff initiated request to amend the form-based code section of the zoning
ordinance to allow carriage houses with only a one-story minimum requirement and only a 20-foot
depth requirement.
E. Hearing, Case 2023-08: Staff initiated request to amend the B-2, B-4, I-1, I-2 and MC sections of
the zoning ordinance to allow marihuana processing facilities without extraction methods classified
as hazardous under the Michigan Building Code as a special use permitted.
VI. New Business
A. Planning Commission Annual Report for 2022.
VII. Other
A. Update on previous cases
VIII. Adjourn
AMERICAN DISABILITY ACT POLICY FOR ACCESS TO OPEN MEETINGS OF THE CITY OF MUSKEGON AND ANY OF ITS COMMITTEES
OR SUBCOMMITTEES
To give comment on a live-streamed meeting the city will provide a call-in telephone number to the public to be able to call and give comment. For a public
meeting that is not live-streamed, and which a citizen would like to watch and give comment, they must contact the City Clerk’s Office with at least a two-business
day notice. The participant will then receive a zoom link which will allow them to watch live and give comment. Contact information is below. For more details,
please visit: www.shorelinecity.com
The City of Muskegon will provide necessary reasonable auxiliary aids and services, such as signers for the hearing impaired and audio tapes of printed materials
being considered at the meeting, to individuals with disabilities who want to attend the meeting with twenty-four (24) hours’ notice to the City of Muskegon.
Individuals with disabilities requiring auxiliary aids or services should contact the City of Muskegon by writing or by calling the following:
Ann Marie Meisch, MMC. City Clerk. 933 Terrace St. Muskegon, MI 49440. (231)724-6705. [email protected]
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STAFF REPORT
March 16, 2023
Hearing, Case 2023-05: Request to rezone a portion of the property at 560 Mart St from B-2, Convenience &
Comparison Business to WM-Waterfront Marine, by West MI Dock & Market.
SUMMARY
1. A majority of the property is zoned WM, Waterfront Marine. The eastern portion of the property is
mostly zoned B-2, Convenience & Comparison Business. A small portion of the property (south of
Terrace Point Dr) is zoned Form Based Code, Mainstreet Waterfront (FBC, MSW).
2. The entire site measures 43 acres. The area requested for a rezoning is approximately six acres.
3. Although an exact use has not been identified at this time, the applicant knows that they would like to
utilize this portion of the land for waterfront marine activities.
4. Please see the enclosed copies of the B-2 and WM zoning ordinance excerpts. The uses allowed are
fairly similar, with WM allowing more intense marine related activities (engine and hull repair) while
B-2 allows more intense non-water related activities (auto repair, amusement facilities).
5. Notices were sent to everyone within 300 feet of this property. At the time of this writing, staff had
not received any comments from the public.
560 Mart St
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Zoning Map
Aerial Map
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STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends approval of the rezoning because the WM designation aligns better with waterfront
property and the current adjacent uses than B-2.
DELIBERATION
The following proposed motion is offered for consideration:
I move that the request to rezone a portion of the property at 560 Mart St from B-2, Convenience &
Comparison Business to WM-Waterfront Marine be recommended to the City Commission for approval.
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Hearing, Case 2023-06: Request to rezone the property at 1163 Terrace St from R-3 Residence to B-2,
Convenience & Comparison Business, by Ryan Burns.
SUMMARY
1. The property is zoned R-3, Single-Family High-Density Residential and has historically been used as
a church. It has been vacant for the past few years.
2. The property measures just under an acre and the existing building measures 8,500 sf.
3. The applicant is seeking to reutilize the building for a commercial catering business (existing kitchen
in basement), offices and a rental hall. These uses are all very similar as to the uses of a church.
4. The B-2, Convenience and Comparison Business district allows these types of uses, while limiting
most uses that a heavily residential area may find intrusive. Please see the enclosed zoning ordinance
excerpt for B-2 districts.
5. There is room for about 65 parking spaces in the existing lot. Parking is also allowed on all three
streets the property borders.
6. Notices were sent to everyone within 300 feet of this property. At the time of this writing, staff had
not received any comments from the public.
1163 Terrace St
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Zoning Map
Aerial Map
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STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends approval of the rezoning because the B-2 district should be considered compatible with
the surrounding residential uses.
DELIBERATION
The following proposed motion is offered for consideration:
I move that the request to rezone the property at 1163 Terrace St from R-3 Residence to B-2, Convenience &
Comparison Business be recommended to the City Commission for approval.
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Hearing, Case 2023-07: Staff initiated request to amend the form-based code section of the zoning ordinance
to allow carriage houses with only a one-story minimum requirement and only a 20-foot depth requirement.
SUMMARY
1. A carriage house is an accessory structure that provides either a small residential unit or home office
space behind the principal structure.
2. Carriage houses are allowed in Form Based Code, Urban Residential zones, but they are required to
be at least two stories.
3. They are considered accessory structures and are only allowed on properties that have an existing
house. Properties are only allowed to have one accessory structure, so a detached garage and a
separate carriage house would not be allowed. You are allowed to have a carriage house unit above a
detached garage.
4. The proposed amendment would allow carriage houses that are only one story tall, but still allowing
for a two story maximum. It would essentially allow carriage houses without a garage beneath them.
It would not allow for a separate carriage house and a detached garage.
5. Most existing garages in the City are only one story tall. The amendment would allow the conversion
of these garages to carriage houses, as long as they meet all other zoning requirements.
6. The house and carriage house may not cover more than 50% of the property.
7. A carriage house may not have a larger footprint than the house.
8. The minimum size required for a carriage house is 375 sf.
9. The ordinance currently states that a carriage house cant exceed 36 feet in width and must be a
minimum of 30 feet deep. Staff is also proposing to amend the minimum depth requirement to 20
feet. The current depth requirement is too large for someone that wants a small sized carriage house.
Existing Conforming Carriage Houses
Existing Legally, Non-Conforming Carriage Houses
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Existing Ordinance
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Proposed Amendment
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Existing Ordinance
Proposed Amendment
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DELIBERATION
The following proposed motion is offered for consideration:
I move that the request to amend the form-based code section of the zoning ordinance to allow carriage
houses with only a one-story minimum requirement and only a 20-foot depth requirement be recommended
to the City Commission for approval.
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Hearing, Case 2023-08: Staff initiated request to amend the B-2, B-4, I-1, I-2 and MC sections of the zoning
ordinance to allow marihuana processing facilities without extraction methods classified as hazardous under
the Michigan Building Code as a special use permitted.
SUMMARY
1. All marihuana license types are allowed within the original marihuana facilities overlay district.
Other certain license types are allowed at extensions of the marihuana facilities overlay district,
located at various places throughout the City (See map).
2. At the beginning of the marihuana overlay district creation, prices of properties began to increase
exponentially. This led to many local residents being priced out of the industry.
3. In 2021, the City amended the zoning ordinance to allow certain low-intensity license types to locate
in B-2, B-4, MC, I-1 & I-2 districts with the issuance of a special use permit. These license types
include Class B Grows (500 plants), microbusinesses and designated consumption establishments.
This helped local residents obtain properties at more affordable prices.
4. Processing centers were not considered for the 2021 amendment because of concerns over the
dangers associated with the creation of concentrates. However, the State of Michigan now issues
different types of processing licenses, including those that do create concentrates with hazardous
extraction methods and those that do not. Those that do not may be doing nothing more than
repacking products or combining different aspects of the plant together.
DELIBERATION
The following proposed motion is offered for consideration:
I move that the request to amend the B-2, B-4, I-1, I-2 and MC sections of the zoning ordinance to allow
marihuana processing facilities without extraction methods classified as hazardous under the Michigan
Building Code as a special use permitted be recommended to the City Commission for approval.
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Marihuana Facilities Overlay District
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Zoning Map
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