Pontiac council green-lights Dwight apartment rehab, conditionally rezones adjacent Mark Street lot

Pontiac City Council on Tuesday approved a rezoning that clears the way to renovate a long-abandoned apartment building at 94–104 Dwight Street and conditionally rezoned a narrow Mark Street parcel to support the project.

City planning staff and Manager Yandrick told council the Dwight building dates to 1928 and the applicant proposes 31 units (23 two-bedroom and eight one-bedroom units). Planning staff said the project will remove a blighted structure and provide modern units, but it requires variances or waivers on parking: the plan lists 54 bedrooms and 59 parking spaces by ordinance, while the applicant proposes roughly 31 spaces and is seeking reductions at later site-plan review.

"This will clear the way to redevelop this project into multifamily housing," Manager Yandrick said during the presentation, adding staff believes the rezoning is the least intrusive change needed and that planning commissioners recommended the Dwight rezoning unanimously.

Neighbors and some commissioners raised questions about whether the development’s proposed parking would be sufficient and whether adjacent residents had been personally contacted. Councilman James asked whether the applicant had spoken directly with homeowners beside the conditional Mark Street parcel; the applicant said he had conducted outreach but could not confirm conversations with the two directly adjacent homeowners.

The council approved the Dwight parcel rezoning from R2 (two-family) to R3 (multifamily) on second reading with a unanimous roll-call vote. The narrower Mark Street parcel — rezoned conditionally from R2 to R3 with a requirement that the strip’s parking face diagonally away from homes and a two‑year window to begin construction — drew more debate. Planning Commission recommended conditional approval by 5–1. Council members split on the conditional rezoning, which passed by a simple majority (4 yeas, 3 nays).

Council members and the administration said the conditional rezoning includes fallbacks: if construction does not begin within two years the parcel will revert to R2. Council members pressed for written commitments on buffering; staff said the ordinance requires a 4‑foot stone wall or landscaping as a minimum and that a 6‑foot wall could be proffered by the applicant and added to the agreement in writing, but it was not included in the executed conditional rezoning as voted.

The council also adopted a separate resolution authorizing the mayor to record the conditional rezoning agreement with the property owner, identified in the resolution as Manuel Huayra.

The council said it will keep neighbors updated as site-plan and parking‑waiver processes proceed.