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Commission opens work on BRD‑1 district and asks council for vacant-property ordinance follow-up
Summary
The commission asked staff to start work on BRD‑1 district use lists and to re-engage city council and the city attorney on a vacant-property ordinance; staff also noted the city recently adopted a short-term rental ordinance.
The Planning Commission reviewed several master-plan implementation items including a preliminary discussion of the BRD‑1 district (South Main near the Royal Oak border) and the status of a vacant-property ordinance long recommended in prior planning work.
BRD‑1 district: staff asked permission to prepare a more detailed review of uses allowed in the BRD‑1 district and to consider grandfathering language for existing small residential uses that are currently nonconforming. “We've got a couple of residential uses that are completely non conforming there. You know, is it reasonable to write some grandfathering language for them or just permit small residential there,” staff said. Commissioners favored exploring a limited set of additional uses while being mindful of residential neighbors directly behind the small lots.
Vacant-property ordinance: staff said prior work recommended a vacant-property ordinance that would set maintenance and point-of-contact standards for vacant commercial and residential properties. Staff noted the recommendation has been on city worklists but not yet enacted; the commission asked staff to re-engage the city attorney and ordinance-review committee. Staff said the city’s current toolbox includes nuisance/maintenance enforcement and a residential vacant-property fee and proposed bringing a draft ordinance back to council committees.
Other notes: staff reported Council had recently approved a short-term rental ordinance and that the city is coordinating inspections for compliance. Commissioners asked staff to prepare an implementation progress tracker for master-plan items and to include updates in future packets.
Ending: Staff will return with draft BRD‑1 use-language options and will reinitiate discussion with the city attorney and council committees on a vacant-property ordinance.
