Traverse City planning commissoners approved a site plan Tuesday for a new mixed-used development at the corner of Pine and West Front streets.

Developers Erik Falconer and Joe Sarafa had originally proposed a nine-story building for the site, but scaled back their plans this spring to a 60-foot building following a lawsuit over the project and the November passing of Proposal 3, which requires a public vote on buildings over 60 feet tall. The redesigned project plans call for a nearly 309,000 square-foot development with 237 rental apartments (20 studios, 147 one-bedroom units and 70 two-bedroom units) and 95 lower level parking spaces. The property will also feature nearly 19,000 square feet of commercial space.

Because the project no longer requires a special land use permit for building height, the developers can build by right with site plan approval from the planning commission – which was unanimously granted Tuesday. However, City Planning Director Russ Soyring noted that a few areas of the project site will extend slightly over 60 feet, such as a staircase tower that could reach up to 67 feet. Because it is unclear at this point to city staff at what point an election could be triggered under Proposal 3, Soyring said that even with site plan approval, city staff would not issue any permits for the project until city commissioners adopted a policy dictating how to interpret and implement Proposal 3. Such a policy is expected to be in place by the end of March or early April.

"A building permit and a land use permit for that building will not be issued until we have had a meeting with the city commisson and they've adopted some type of policy that gives us some type of guidance, because we don't want to be in violation of Proposition 3," Soyring told planning commissioners. "So we're going to wait until there's a policy, so staff knows how to handle those small areas of the building that do go over 60 feet. We need to have that addressed."