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Planning commission frames 2025 priorities: housing, riparian buffers, short‑term rentals and public communications
Summary
Planning staff and commissioners prioritized housing, a riparian buffer ordinance and short‑term rental rules for 2025, and agreed to develop a communications plan; staff will return drafts and scheduling options at upcoming study sessions.
The Traverse City Planning Commission spent the bulk of its Jan. 7 meeting on goals for 2025, focusing on housing policy and zoning changes, a riparian buffer ordinance, short‑term rental regulations, and a new communications approach to improve public outreach. Commissioners asked staff to prepare and return draft language or memo summaries at future study sessions.
Planning staff outlined an agenda of priorities aligned with the recently adopted master plan: expand housing opportunities (including consideration of triplex and quadplex allowances in R‑2 zones), complete a riparian buffer ordinance that staff said is “being worked on in the background,” and finalize short‑term rental (STR) regulations. Staff said some actions — notably financial incentive tools to support affordability — would require a clear directive from the City Commission before the planning staff invests significant time on land‑use implementation steps.
Commissioners asked staff to bring draft STR ordinance language and to reintroduce the prior triplex/quadplex proposals for review. Commissioners also discussed potential constraints such as the fire code requirement that buildings with three or more units may require a fire‑suppression system; staff said that technical code questions would need confirmation from relevant agencies.
The commission endorsed a communications goal to make planning work more accessible to the public: ideas included occasional public “office hours,” short informational videos or Q&A posts managed by the city communications manager, and periodic status updates on goals. Staff said the planning department will track goals using project software (Asana) and provide quarterly status updates.
Commissioners agreed to prioritize housing, riparian buffer work and STRs as initial items for follow‑up; staff will develop drafts or memos for the next study session and will notify commissioners when material is ready for review.
