Planning Commission recommends several staff-initiated rezonings to City Commission; one parcel deferred for further review

The Muskegon City Planning Commission on March 13 recommended that the City Commission approve multiple staff-initiated rezonings meant to bring scattered properties into form-based code districts consistent with the adopted master plan. The commission approved several separate motions addressing groups of parcels and altered one motion to exclude a Monroe Avenue parcel so staff can pursue a separate rezoning process.

Planning staff described the rezonings as an effort to resolve a long-standing mismatch between legacy zoning and current form-based code (FBC) designations. Staff said many buildings and lots were rendered legally nonconforming by older two-family or convenience/comparison business zoning; the proposed FBC designations — Main Street, Neighborhood Edge and Neighborhood Core — are intended to allow the mix of uses and building types present on those blocks while preserving appropriate massing and lot-size controls.

The commission…