Traverse City planning commission backs change to R‑2 zoning to allow up to four dwelling units per lot

Traverse City Planning Commission recommended the city commission amend the city code to allow up to four dwelling units per lot in the R‑2 (mixed density residential) district, a move the planning director said would increase permitted density without changing building scale or setbacks.

The commission voted to send the change to Chapter 13.34 and the related Chapter 13.68 size and area provisions to the city commission after a public hearing and more than two hours of discussion; the recommendation passed on a 7–1 roll call vote.

Planning Director Brian Winter said the amendment would raise the maximum number of dwelling units on an R‑2 lot from two to four while leaving height, setbacks, number of buildings and impervious surface limits unchanged. “This amendment proposes … increasing it in the R‑2 from 2 dwelling units to 4 dwelling units, which is what was originally proposed,” Winter said during his presentation, adding that many design controls and infrastructure requirements would still apply.

Why this matters: Commissioners and residents framed the question around how to add housing supply while protecting neighborhood character and managing infrastructure. The amendment would open possibilities such as triplexes, quadplexes, duplexes plus ADUs and similar configurations on lots…