The latest Kalamazoo Planning Commission meeting agenda is posted
online (for January 7, 2021). Two new items are included under Public Hearings:
1. Request for a Special Use Permit to construct a new fraternity house at 1701, 1709, and 1711 Fraternity Village Drive.
It seems silly that a Special Use Permit would be necessary on a street that is home to 13 other existing fraternities / sororities, but I guess it is not included in the list of approved uses for Residential Multi-Family (RM15). It is largely a procedural thing I suppose. The recommendation is to approve the special use. According to the application, the three parcels would be combined to form one 1.83 acre parcel for the construction of a 7-unit (4 bedrooms ea.) facility with shared common spaces. All three parcels were former sites of apartment buildings that were demolished in 2012.
2. Eastside Neighborhood Rezoning Requests
This is in line with the ongoing zoning studies that have been happening in support of the greater Imagine Kalamazoo 2025 Master Plan. Current parcels that are zoned as Community Commercial (CC), Manufacturing (M1), Residential Single Family (RS5), Residential Multiple Family (RM15), Residential Duplex (RD19), or Commercial Office (CO) would be rezoned as Live Work 1 (LW1), Live Work 2 (LW2), Residential Single Family (RS5), or Residential Duplex (RD19). The recommendation is to recommend approval of the rezoning to the City Commission.
I posted the proposed zoning map here previously. But I have not seen these images included in the packet that were a part of the visioning process - it is great to see this level of thought already. With the help of local architecture studio InForm, a new, multi-phased neighborhood center called Eastside Square has been conceived -
Eastside Square Project(approximate location) -
1601 East Main -
1616 East Main -
