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Committee advances rezoning request for 5807 Toledo to match existing 10‑unit building
Summary
Century Partners asked the council committee to rezone 5807 Toledo from R2 to R3 to align zoning with a pre‑1940, 10‑unit building. Planning staff recommended approval; the committee voted to send the item to formal session with a recommendation to approve.
The Detroit City Council Committee of the Whole on Feb. 13 advanced a rezoning request for 5807 Toledo in Southwest Detroit, sending the measure to the formal session with a recommendation to approve.
Century Partners requested that the parcel at 5807 Toledo be rezoned from R2 (two‑family residential) to R3 (low‑density residential). The owner and project representative, Paul Jones of Century Partners, told the committee the 10‑unit building was constructed in 1923 and predates the city’s 1940 zoning code, creating a legal nonconforming use that now complicates refinancing and insurance claims.
Planning staff told the committee the proposal is consistent with the Future Land Use Map designation of low–to–medium residential and recommended approval under the city’s zoning criteria. PDD staff said the surrounding blocks are zoned R2 and developed mostly with single‑family homes or vacant lots. The petition included direct outreach to nearby residents and a letter of support from the nonprofit Congress of Communities.
Century Partners said it has owned the building since January 2020 and has invested about $160,000 in renovations, including kitchen and balcony repairs. The presenter reported nine of the 10 units are currently occupied. PDD staff, when asked about the building’s age, said it was built in 1923.
Public comment during the rezoning hearing included objections that were focused on broader concerns about city development and process; one caller, Reuben James Crowley Jr., called the hearings “sham hearings” but did not provide specific evidence tied to the rezoning application itself.
Committee members asked about accessibility and tenant impacts. Presenters said the building’s layout — five units on the first floor and five on the second — does not currently provide ADA access to individual units, but the owner said accessibility retrofits could be considered in the future.
Action and next steps: a motion to send the item (line item 5) to the formal session with a recommendation to approve passed by voice without recorded roll call. The committee did not record individual votes; the chair declared, “Seeing no objections, that action shall be taken.” The formal hearing will be scheduled in committee.
