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Commission recommends rezoning to fix century-old encroachments between home and Mount Calvary Cemetery
Summary
The planning commission recommended rezoning of two adjacent parcels at 1362 and 1364 Leonard St. NW to formalize long-standing encroachments: a strip of cemetery land containing headstones will be added to Mount Calvary Cemetery and a small portion of cemetery land with a garage/driveway will be added to the single-family lot.
The Grand Rapids City Planning Commission on July 24 recommended approval of two companion rezoning requests to correct historical encroachments between a single-family home at 1362 Leonard Street Northwest and Mount Calvary Cemetery at 1364 Leonard Street Northwest.
Avery (staff planner) told the commission the items were paired because cemetery improvements have encroached onto the single-family parcel and the home’s garage and driveway extend onto the cemetery parcel. Staff said the first recorded gravestone on the site dates to 1928 and the most recent was placed in 2018; the encroachments appear to have accumulated while both parcels were previously under common ownership by the Diocese of Grand Rapids.
Attorney Alex Haywood, representing the Roman Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids and acting as agent for the homeowner Daniel Gerke, said a recent survey prepared after Gerke bought 1362 revealed the encroachments. Haywood said the parties had prepared a lot-line adjustment and then discovered the two parcels lie in different zone districts, which required the present rezoning requests to align zoning with the adjusted property lines.
Under the proposals, the southerly 40.5-foot strip of 1362 would be rezoned from TNTBA to MCN LDR and combined with the cemetery parcel so the existing cemetery improvements would be formally part of Mount Calvary Cemetery. Conversely, a roughly 21-by-91.5-foot area on the north-easterly side of 1364 would be rezoned from MCN LDR to TNTBA and combined with 1362 to incorporate the garage and driveway into the single-family lot. Staff said both resulting lots would meet the minimum lot-area requirements for their respective zone districts and that the requests comport with the West Side area specific plan and the 2024 Bridge to Our Future community master plan.
Commissioners discussed whether a lot-line adjustment could proceed without rezoning; staff confirmed the lot-line change depended on consistent zoning and the rezoning was necessary to finalize the record. No members of the public spoke on the items.
The commission voted to recommend approval of both rezoning requests. Each recommendation included findings that the realignments better reflect current land use patterns, are compatible with adjacent zone districts and further the master plan’s objectives to maintain complete, stable neighborhoods.
Both recommendations carried on voice votes with commissioners saying “aye” and no opposition recorded. Staff will proceed with administrative steps to finalize the lot-line adjustment and rezoning actions, subject to any additional review required by city process.
