Planning commission approves rezoning for 340 North Main Street to Core Residential

The Clawson Planning Commission voted 6–1 on Oct. 14 to rezone 340 North Main Street from a split designation of O‑1 office and R‑2 single‑family to CR (Core Residential).

Planning staff said the roughly 1.5‑acre property is designated CR on the recently adopted master plan and that the applicant revised the rezoning application to meet CR dimensional standards after a prior tie vote and a review by counsel. Joe Tangieri, planning staff, told the commission the property’s mixed zoning and narrow, deep lot make cohesive development difficult but that “we do find that it is [consistent with the master plan] because it’s the core residential district is analogous to the core residential future land use category.”

The applicant’s consultant, Andy Millaa, said the hearing concerned rezoning only and not site plan issues such as setbacks or final building form. “Weare here tonight simply to ask and request that you approve the rezoning consistent with what youalready approved in the master plan,” Millaa said. Millaa and developer Michael Randazzo were present and said they would comply with the CR ordinance standards at the later site‑plan stage.

Several commissioners raised concerns about density, height and how the CR standards interact with RM‑1 and RM‑2 density metrics. Commissioner Redmond pressed for explicit ordinance language tying density and permitted building types to the CR designation; Tangieri said staff would draft clarifying language for a future meeting. Commissioners also debated whether attached housing allowed under CR is functionally equivalent to multifamily apartments; Tangieri and others said the ordinance distinguishes attached housing (townhouses/row houses) from stacked multifamily units.

Pastor Mikhail of the Middle Eastern Bible Fellowship, a neighbor, spoke in favor of the developer’s conduct during construction and said he had not experienced problems with contractors using church parking.

The motion to approve the rezoning passed on roll call 6–1 (Lalonde: yes; Noushay: yes; Redmond: no; Solomon: yes; Tinland: yes; Carpenter: yes; Pisera: yes). The motion was made by Mister Noushay and seconded by Mister Carpenter, according to the meeting record. Commissioners directed that any future site plan for the property must conform to CR dimensional standards and noted that site‑plan review will address height, setbacks and lot coverage.

The commission said the approval does not exempt the applicant from later review: if the applicant seeks to exceed CR standards at site plan, those elements must be reviewed and approved at the later stage. Tangieri and the applicant said revisions submitted prior to tonight’s hearing removed numeric references that had previously been out of compliance with CR standards.