Planning commission rejects rezoning request for 4301 Stadium Drive after hours of public opposition

The Kalamazoo City Planning Commission voted unanimously to deny a request to rezone 4301 Stadium Drive from RM‑15/RS‑5 residential districts to Community Commercial (CC), after a multi‑hour public hearing during which dozens of residents, neighborhood associations and environmental groups urged the commission to protect the adjacent Asylum Lake Preserve.

Planning staff told commissioners the rezoning request, filed by Stadium Drive 1 LLC and pursued by contract purchaser David Rapp, is consistent with the city’s 2025 future land use map and could be implemented while retaining the city’s Natural Features Protection overlay. "The proposed rezoning request is consistent with the master plan and strategic vision of the city of Kalamazoo," staff said in a formal report to the commission. Staff also described the parcel’s transition‑zone character — high‑volume Stadium Drive frontage on the north and an ecologically sensitive preserve to the south.

That staff analysis did not persuade the commission after extensive public comment. More than 50 people addressed the commission in the hearing room and by phone, representing neighbors, the Asylum Lake Policy and…