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Staff presents 2025 annual planning report and downtown parking study; commission discusses RRC certification and future land‑use categories
Summary
City planning staff reviewed the commission's 2025 activity (26 public hearings, 10 recommendations to council) and a 2025 downtown parking study showing about 3,088 spaces and typical peak utilization near 65%; commissioners discussed pursuing Redevelopment Ready Communities certification and asked staff to begin public outreach on future land‑use map categories.
City planning staff summarized the Planning Commission’s 2025 annual report and a detailed downtown parking report during the March 25 meeting.
Mr. Bartley said the commission handled 26 public hearings in 2025 and transmitted 10 recommendations to council on land‑use requests; council actions matched the commission’s positions on most items but reversed two recommendations. He said the city plans to pursue the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s Redevelopment Ready Communities certification in 2026, a multi‑step program that can improve grant competitiveness and signal readiness to developers; staff will propose process changes and public‑participation updates tied to that work.
On parking, staff reported about 3,088 spaces in the downtown system (about 85% in garages, 9% in surface lots, 6% on‑street). Typical peak system utilization is roughly 65% (excluding Saturday football game outliers), and some facilities have higher or lower use patterns by time of day. The city has eight EV chargers across facilities; validation tickets totaled about 175,000 sold with roughly 75% used; VIP monthly permits (access to city parking facilities) totaled 34 in 2025. Commissioners noted downtown capacity overall but emphasized that vacancy is unevenly distributed and encouraged staff to explore policy options (shared parking, delivery windows, enforcement) and possible working groups to craft detailed recommendations.
On new business, staff initiated a preliminary conversation about revising the comprehensive plan’s future land‑use categories (15 categories currently). Mr. Bartley said categories sometimes do not map cleanly to specific zoning districts and recommended a review and community engagement process before proposing new categories and an updated future land‑use map.
What’s next: Staff will present the parking report to council (April 14 discussion meeting), pursue RRC certification steps with affected boards/commissions, and schedule community engagement and mapping work on future land‑use categories; commissioners suggested more focused policy follow‑ups and maps showing zone district impacts.
