Council proposes zoning change to require review for multiunit conversions; considers grocery at 2418 Vermont

Councilmembers reviewed a suite of zoning adjustments for uptown that would require multiunit residential conversions to go through planning-and-zoning review and discussed a pending grocery application for 2418 Vermont Street.

Chair (Speaker S1) said the code change would align the uptown transit-oriented districts with the rest of the city's commercial rules so anyone seeking to convert a single-family home to a multiunit building in those blocks would require a special-use review. "I'd like to amend the code to match the rest of the city that if you wanna do a multi unit, you have to go through planning and zoning," S1 said.

The council also reviewed a proposal to convert the long-vacant storefront at 2418 Vermont into a grocery under names discussed informally as "Blue Island Fresh Market." S1 said planning staff recommended limiting tobacco and liquor to no more than 20% of sales area and discussed allowing the grocery to use municipal parking across the street rather than dedicating new marked spaces.

Members asked practical questions about enforcement, parking logistics, and whether changes would be limited to use-class cleanup or extend to property-specific approvals. S1 characterized some of the items as code cleanups intended to reflect current uses at Division and Vermont and to allow vacant storefronts to operate as commercial businesses without additional zoning hurdles.

Next steps: the council will route the proposed ordinance amendments through the planning-and-zoning committee and return with formal recommendations; the grocery's change-of-use request will proceed through the usual planning review with the parking arrangement to be formalized if planning staff and council approve it.