City Planner John Eckhart told the Petoskey City Council on Jan. 6 that city staff and a volunteer zoning committee have begun a multi-article update to the city zoning code that the city has not comprehensively revised in decades.

Eckhart said the work responds to changes in the state enabling law and local planning trends: “The process of updating zone code is that it was 15 years old and zone code back in 1970, was actually developed under Public Act 207 of 1921,” he said, and noted the act was later rewritten under Public Act 110 of 2006. He told the council the update is intended to reorganize and modernize the code and to align it with the master plan.

Why it matters: Eckhart and other speakers said the rewrite is intended to make the ordinance easier for residents and applicants to use, to add standards that planning commissioners can apply consistently and to allow new development tools (such as cottage courts and updated planned-unit development procedures) while protecting neighborhood character.

Key changes described
- Administrative/site-plan review: The draft creates a site-plan standards section and a checklist so applicants and staff have a common set of requirements. It establishes an administrative review committee to handle smaller site plans (Eckhart said the committee would typically consider projects with building footprints under about 5,000 square feet) so minor projects can be decided more quickly and not wait 45–60 days for a full planning commission review.
- Planned developments and PD/PLD process: The draft separates the conceptual PD approval from the later detailed site-plan and construction drawing submittal. Eckhart said the committee wanted applicants to secure conceptual approval before investing in full construction documents.
- Overlay districts: The draft would add explicit overlays for floodplain, downtown design guidelines (the existing downtown design guidance would be incorporated), historic neighborhood protections tied to National Register districts, and a shoreline protection strip (Eckhart said the draft suggests a 35-foot setback from ordinary high-water marks in limited locations).
- Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA): The proposal reduces the ZBA from six members and one alternate to five members and two alternates, a change council members said is intended to ensure a full bench is available for hearings.
- New land-development options: Eckhart described updates to planned unit developments, condominium standards (Public Act 59 of 1978), and the addition of “cottage court” housing as an option for smaller clustered housing with common open space.

Council and procedural notes
Council members asked about timing, public outreach and the grant that supports the work. Eckhart said the city received a $50,000 grant supporting the redevelopment-ready process and that draft articles are being posted at petoskizoning.org. He asked the council to review draft articles as they are issued and suggested a three-week turnaround for council comments on each batch.

Next steps
Eckhart said the zoning committee and planning commission will continue reviewing articles and will hold community open houses focused on district maps and how zoning districts might be consolidated or changed; final adoption will follow the statutory hearing process. He estimated more articles would be returned to council over the next months and said the project website contains meeting materials and draft language.

Ending: Council members said they supported the approach of processing administrative items first and reserving more substantive district changes (articles 2 and 3) for later public discussion.