Traverse City News and Events

City To Talk Warehouse Flats, Trail, Prop 3 Lawsuit

Jan. 16, 2017

Developer Thom Darga could finally get answers from city officials tomorrow (Tuesday) on whether he can proceed with a new 60-foot mixed-use development on Union and Garland streets called Warehouse Flats. Traverse City commissioners will vote on Darga’s rezoning request for the property at their 7pm meeting – held a day later than usual due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day – as well as consider approving the next phase of the Boardman Lake Trail plan and going into closed session to discuss a lawsuit against the city over Proposal 3.

Warehouse Flats
Approval from city commissioners Tuesday to conditionally rezone the former Fifth-Third Bank property on Union Street would allow Darga to construct a four-story development (pictured) offering retail/restaurant/office space on the ground floor and workforce rental apartments ranging from 550 to 1,200 square feet on the top three floors.

Traverse City planning commissioners wrestled with Darga’s request over multiple meetings last fall before finally forwarding the proposal to city commissioners with no recommended course of action attached. The rezoning request would allow Darga to build up to 60 feet instead of the 45 feet allowed by right. Darga has said he plans to limit the Warehouse Flats development to 59 feet, 11 inches, avoiding triggering a possible election under the recently passed Proposal 3, which requires a public vote on buildings over 60 feet tall.

According to City Planning Director Russ Soyring, Darga “slightly revised” his most recent offer to the city ahead of Tuesday’s meeting to include additional concessions in an attempt to find a compromise. Concessions include a $125,000 contribution to public riverfront improvements next to the development along the Boardman River, granting the city unrestricted use of easements for access to infrastructure – as well as a public easement walk along the riverfront – and including designated public parking in a planned parking deck at the site.

At their initial December 19 review of the project, city commissioners warned Darga to come prepared in January for a “really thorough discussion,” in the words of Commissioner Tim Werner. As with planning commissioners, city commissioners have struggled to balance their support of the project and for added downtown workforce housing against their reticence to rezone properties on a haphazard or “piecemeal” basis in the Warehouse District. “We like the project, it is really what the city needs," said Commissioner Gary Howe. "But the conditional rezone is a specific tool typically that we don’t see for such a large project."

Boardman Lake Trail
City commissioners will also consider allocating $360,000 in brownfield funding to move ahead with the next phase of completing the Boardman Lake Trail loop around Boardman Lake. Funding will go toward hiring an engineering firm to prepare formal design and construction engineering plans for the last 1.5-mile missing trail segment between Fourteenth Street and Medalie Park. Commissioners last week identified finishing the trail as their top priority in a list of planned projects in the lake district.

If approved by the commission Tuesday, the brownfield funding request will next go to the Grand Traverse County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority for approval. The city would then solicit bids on the engineering project through a request for proposal (RFP) process. Construction on the trail – estimated at $5.2 million – is targeted to begin in spring 2019.

City Lawsuit
Commissioners Tuesday will also consider going into closed session to discuss a lawsuit against the city over Proposal 3.

As first reported in The Ticker earlier this month, Tom McIntyre is suing the city over the recently passed charter amendment, saying Proposal 3 unfairly changed zoning rules for city property owners and subjects developments to a “discriminatory process” in which voters approve or disapprove projects without defined criteria. According to City Manager Marty Colburn, City Attorney Lauren Trible-Laucht Tuesday will provide “an attorney-client communication (to commissioners) in connection with the above lawsuit brought against the city.”

Trible-Laucht told The Ticker she will bring a range of options to city commissioners as to how they could respond to the lawsuit, including possibly hiring outside legal counsel to handle the case. Prop 3 supporters have argued Trible-Laucht should recuse herself from defending the charter amendment on behalf of the city after she publicly stated she believes Prop 3 is illegal.

At least five commissioners must support the motion in order to go into closed session Tuesday. If commissioners decide to take any action regarding the case, they must come out of closed session to publicly vote on doing so.

Also On Tuesday’s Agenda…
Traverse City commissioners will also consider:
> Approving a yearly application fee of $435 for downtown restaurants (those not on the 100 and 200 blocks of Front Street) to operate outdoor platform cafes, as well as a permit fee of $15 per day for use of each city parking space for such cafes;
> Extending a lease with Crooked Tree Arts Center to occupy the city-owned Carnegie Building through March 2020;
> Approving a funding agreement with Traverse City Light & Power for Garland Street lighting, with TCL&P paying $169,000 and the city paying approximately $60,000 for the project;
> Approving a liquor license application for The Dish Café;
> Approving mayoral appointments to the city’s planning and human rights commissions.

Comment

Join The Ticker for April Recess at Commongrounds!

Read More >>

GT Regional Land Conservancy Acquires $5.1M Property in East Bay Township

Read More >>

173-Home Rental Subdivision, Timber Ridge Expansion Proposed

Read More >>

Leadership Changes, Housing Project, Commons Trail on Garfield Agenda

Read More >>

What's Next for Nonprofits at Planned Innovation Center Site?

Read More >>

Land Bank Plans New Uses for Crestwood, Kingsley, Boardman Properties

Read More >>

Meet Traverse City's Behind-The-Scenes Patrons Of Youth Music

Read More >>

NMC Audio Tech Program Plots Fundraiser Concert

Read More >>

Judge Dismisses Studio 8 Lawsuit Against City, Three Individuals

Read More >>

Avelo Airlines Coming to TVC with Direct Service to New Haven

Read More >>

How Two TC Filmmakers Captured The Story Of Michigan’s Arthouse Movie Theater Heritage

Read More >>

$30-$40 Million Technology/Logistics Park Proposed Next to Airport

Read More >>

Has Equilibrium Arrived For Traverse City Home Sales?

Read More >>

Local Wineries Score In Largest U.S. Wine Competition

Read More >>