Planning Commission Agenda, 2025-09-25

The municipal agenda for the Planning Commission meeting on 2025-09-25 is 👉here👈

1041 Leonard St NE

This is a Special Land Use Request by East Leonard Christian Reformed Church (1027 East Leonard Christian Reformed Church), located immediately to the west of the property, to create an "Urban Open Space" on the property which is currently a parking lot. The entire parcel is parking - thus that is the primary use - and is a separate parcel from the church and thus an accessory structure is not permitted. The church desires to construct a private park including a 600st/ft open air pavilion. This can be accomplished by created of an "Urban Open Space".

The current parking lot as eighty four (84) parking spaces. The construction of the private park would remove ~5,000sq/ft of asphalt, reducing the parking to fifty seven (57) spaces. With the forty five (45) spaces on the church's primary parcel to the west the church would have 102 parking spaces (45 + 84) remaining. The arbitrary requirement of the current zoning ordinance is 0.33 spaces per seat, so the church's sanctuary having seating for 256 persons creates a requirement for eighty five (85) parking spaces, With the creation of the private park the church will still have sufficient parking (102 > 85).

In addition to the pavilion the private park will include 4,300sq/ft of green space. Any activation of the park will occur during daylight hours.

All vehicular circulation through the remaining lot, between Leonard St or Spring Ave and Burke Ave will be behind the park. Overnight parking is not permitted.

540 Russwood St NE

This is a Special Land Use (SLU) request for the construction of a ~3,500sq/ft addition for use as classroom space. Construction of facilities for education uses with the sacred LDR (low-density residential) zone requires special dispensation. The addition would accommodate two (2) new classrooms.

Aside: The possible deleterious side-effects of educating children upon nearby residential uses are what, exactly? Are the school's boilers heated by burning coal, and then the ash is dumped out at the curb? Yes, that could foul the street's storm drains, then result in flooding. It is difficult to imagine a more plausible scenario.

As we are, apparently, now issuing driving licenses to elementary age children, we mush consider the impact on parking. The site currently has sixty-six (66) parking spaces, split between two lots. According to the arbitrary requirements of the current zoning ordinance one (1) parking space is required for every 1,000sq/ft plus (1) parking space for every classroom. Thusly, a 3,500sq/ft addition containing two classrooms creates a requirement for (3,500/1000 + 2) = 6. The existing site already has a parking deficiency of four (4) parking spaces. The construction of the addition increases that deficiency to ten (4 + 6 = 10) parking spaces. Fortunately the Planning Commission has the ability to waive up the 50% of the parking requirement. With such a reduction only thirty-eight ((66 + 4 +6) / 2 = 38) parking spaces would be required, well below the provided sixty-six.

855 Butterworth St SW

This is a strange one. The existing property was purchased by the current owner as a four (4) unit building only to subsequently discover that it is only permitted as a three (3) unit building and the fourth unit was added, unpermitted, some ~20 years ago. The current owner is filing a Special Land Use (SLU) in order to make the four unit use of the existing structure a sanctioned use. The current site provides four (4) parking spaces, however a four (4) unit building requires six (6) parking spaces (4 x 1.5 parking spaces per unit).

The Vital Streets classification of Butterworth St west of National Ave is as a "Crosstown Connector", a category not included in the 2024 zoning reforms to facilitate infill development; so 2 - 6 unit multifamily still requires special land use. Were the property rotated and moved several hundred feet in either direction, to be located on Indiana Ave or Lane Ave then a six (6) unit use would be a by-right use.

If the SLU is granted for the fourth unit the owner may still face permitting obstacles related to building code. For example the water service for the building is not appropriately sized to service four units.

1058 Butterworth St SW

As mentioned in the previous case Butterworth St is "Crosstown Connector", not "Link Residential", and not "Network Residential", therefore any residential development other than the only righteous housing type - the single-unit detached - requires special dispensation. The owner of this lonely LDR (low density residential) lot, almost completely surrounded by TBA (Traditional Business Area) and SD-IT (Industrial/Transportation) is petitioning the Planning Commission for their grace regarding construction of a duplex [which, as we know, is one more unit in a structure than our cultural overlords would prefer]. The proposed structure would include a three-bedroom and an six-bedroom unit. Currently the property is not developed and hosts the bane of every pedestrian's existence: a mulberry tree.

The site plan provides three parking spaces, which meets the zoning ordinance's arbitrary requirement of 1.5 spaces per unit (1.5 * 2 = 3).

1644 Ball Ave NE

This is a site plan review for the "Hidden Bluff Condos" project which was presented to the 2024-12-12 meeting of the Planning Commission. That Special Land Use (SLU) for the seventy seven (77) condominium project was granted with the condition that the project return to the Planning Commission for "Site Plan Review". The Planning Department expressed concerns about the grading of the site and both buffering and any integration with the adjacent Ball Perkins Park.