Kalamazoo staff outline new three-stage development process, promise faster, clearer reviews

Kalamazoo City staff presented a package of changes to the local development review process at the Committee of the Whole meeting on Feb. 17, 2025, telling commissioners the updates are intended to make reviews clearer and quicker for applicants while preserving required code checks.

City staff said the update creates three defined stages — predevelopment, site plan review, and permitting/occupancy — each with identified staff leads, an intake form and a new checklist meeting meant to reduce confusion about ordinance requirements.

Jamie McCarthy, sustainable development coordinator for the Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED) department, opened the presentation and described the scope: “This is really, a comprehensive process,” McCarthy said, adding the changes clarify who applicants should contact at each stage and walk applicants toward a certificate of occupancy.

PJ Thuringer, economic development supervisor, listed recurring problems the changes address: projects often “start with one staff for one question [and] go to another staff for a different question,” he said, and those inefficient channels can delay timelines. To reduce that friction, the city has designated a…