Traverse City planning commissioners voted this week to advance a proposed amendment to the R-2 (mixed density residential) zoning district to the city commission for approval.

The proposed changes would allow up to four dwelling units instead of two to be built on R-2 properties. City Planning Director Shawn Winter noted the rules would still limit the maximum of residential structures to two, but would allow new configurations like two duplex buildings, a triplex with an accessory dwelling unit (ADU), or a quadplex. “Essentially, the only change is how a residential building may be divided on the inside to accommodate the allowed number of dwelling units,” he wrote in a memo.

Setbacks, height limits, impervious surface limits, and lot width and area would also remain the same, so the changes “would not permit something to be built in terms of scale and placement other than what is allowed today,” Winter wrote. The intention of the changes is to increase opportunities for more infill housing in residential neighborhoods while still maintaining the aesthetic character of the neighborhoods.

The proposed zoning changes were part of a package of housing density recommendations made by the planning commission to city commissioners in 2023. While most of those recommendations were approved, city commissioners never voted on the proposed R-2 changes. The R-2 amendment is schedule to be introduced at the city commission's March 17 meeting, with an approval vote to follow at a future meeting.