Planning commission recommends rezoning of portion of 560 Marsh Street to Waterfront Industrial PUD
Loading...
Summary
On Oct. 23 the Muskegon Planning Commission voted to recommend that the City Commission rezone about 23.5 acres of 560 Marsh Street from Waterfront Marine to Waterfront Industrial PUD, allowing the owner to pursue a PUD and bringing longstanding port uses into conformance with zoning.
On Oct. 23 the City of Muskegon Planning Commission voted to recommend that the City Commission rezone a portion of 560 Marsh Street from Waterfront Marine (WM) to Waterfront Industrial PUD (WIPUD), a change that would allow the property owner to apply for a planned unit development (PUD) under the Waterfront Industrial rules.
The rezoning covers roughly 23.5 acres of a 43.5-acre site. City staff recommended approval, saying the change would bring decades-old port activities on the site into conformance with current zoning standards while preserving the process that requires any future site changes to return as an approved PUD.
"If Mark Dock had come to us and said they wanted to rezone to industrial PUD, we likely would have recommended approval because it's consistent with existing uses on the site," Jake Ekholm, director of development services for the City of Muskegon, told the commission. Ekholm said the request was consistent with the parcel's existing operations and that the rezoning would allow the owner to pursue a PUD rather than immediately alter ongoing uses.
City staff described the site's existing uses that would remain grandfathered: storage of aggregates offloaded by vessel and truck, on-site silos leased to a company storing fly ash, occasional large cargo deliveries such as wind turbine blades, and barge operations for stone and other materials. Staff emphasized that the property owner would still be required to submit a PUD site plan for any new uses or changes beyond those currently carried out.
Several commissioners expressed concern that creating a WIPUD at this downtown location runs counter to language in the zoning preamble and the Planning Commission's long-term preference to consolidate port activities at the eastern terminus of Muskegon Lake. One commissioner said the preamble to the WIPUD language specifically encourages locating port uses on the East End to preserve continuity of lakefront uses and to avoid industrial expansion along the downtown lakefront.
Staff replied that the rezoning is not itself an authorization for development; it simply allows the owner the option to apply for a PUD and that the PUD review would include detailed site-plan review and conditions. The staff presentation also noted the rezoning request is related to a broader package of agreements under negotiation; staff said the rezoning was discussed earlier in the process in part as an "insurance policy" so the property owner could continue port operations on this parcel if other relocation plans did not go forward.
The planning commission approved the recommendation to the City Commission on a roll call vote: Simmons, Blake, Azade, Aaron, Pfeiffer, Montgomery Keys and Willette LeRoy voted yes; Skinner and Johnson voted no. The commission did not record any abstentions.
The rezoning recommendation will go to the Muskegon City Commission for final action. City staff noted that any future changes that exceed the site's grandfathered uses would require a PUD site plan and, depending on the scope of work, permits from state and federal agencies.
No members of the public addressed the planning commission about this rezoning during the meeting's public comment period.
