CALL TO ACTION – CITY MASTER PLAN Revisions

Next Thursday, June 10th, 2010, the City of Kalamazoo Planning Commission will hold a public hearing to consider whether, or not, to adopt the recently revised 2010 Master Land Use Plan.  This Plan is important to you because it helps “guide the future growth and development of the City”, and in some minds helps lay the foundation for future zoning and land use.  Please review the Master Land Use Plan on the City website here and click on this link to read the ODWNA Planning Committee Report giving their views of the Master Plan.

 

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The ODWNA Planning Committee consists of three (3) residents with experience in dealing with urban planning issues.  This Committee was originally set-up by the OWDNA President in response to WMU’s request for a group of ODWNA contacts with whom WMU could interface with respect to neighborhood questions related to the recently updated WMU Master Plan, and in particular, the fate of Noble Lodge located on the corner of Howard Street and Oakland Drive.  In studying the WMU Master Plan, it was natural for this Committee to also review the City Master Plan, which is currently undergoing updates and revisions.  The Committee Report is provided on this website as it was originally submitted to the ODWNA Board.  However, it is important to recognize that the Report gives the opinions of the Committee, and shall not be construed to reflect the opinion, or Official Position, of the ODWNA organization or its membership. 

 

Based on the proposed City Master Plan (draft dated 03-24-10) on the City website, other issues related to the proposed Plan that have been brought to the attention of the ODWNA Board, and reflect the opinions of residents living in other areas of the Neighborhood, are concerns related to the following maps in the proposed Master Plan:

 

Future Land Use and Character Map (pg 31):

 

• Rambling Road Commercial Development
The parcels on Rambling Road near Stadium Drive that now contain small offices are colored red and identified in the map legend as Community Commercial which is defined as “chains or large-scale commercial”.  This would appear to extend large-scale commercial development into the Neighborhood along Rambling Road.  There is no buffer between Community Commercial use and the adjacent residences.

 

• Stadium Drive Commercial Development
There are no apparent provisions for buffers between the Community Commercial use along Stadium Drive (colored red on the map) and the adjacent residences (colored yellow).

 

• Institutional Use along Winchell Avenue and Stadium Drive
According to City online records, the Winchell Elementary School and the two (2) adjacent churches are zoned RS-5 (Residential).  While the School is colored blue and identified in the map legend as Institutional, the adjacent churches on Winchell Avenue are colored yellow and identified in the map legend as Modern Residential 3.  The nearby neighborhood synagogue and private school located on Stadium Drive are zoned RS-5 (Residential) but colored blue (Institutional) on the map.  This internal mapping inconsistency is confusing.  In addition, there are concerns that illustrating residentially zoned parcels on the Master Plan map with an “Institutional” use might later be interpreted by some as a basis for promoting a change from residential to institutional zoning.  Institutional zoning would most likely allow the addition of non-residential style lighting associated with an “institutional” sports complex, etc.  It would be more accurate to show residential zoned property with a current special permitted institutional use as a different color on the map (e.g., Residential yellow with Institutional blue stripes).

 

Open Space Framework Plan Map (pg 61):

 

• Parkdale Platted Parks
These Neighborhood parks border on Kensington, between Brooklyn and Broadway, and are identified on the map legend as City-owned parks.  This is NOT the case.  The City does not own these parklands; the parklands are owned by the property owners of Parkdale Plat.  The ODWNA, and neighbors living in this part of the Neighborhood have fought, and successfully won, when the City attempted to sell this land in 2006.  In 2006, an attorney advised ODWNA that if the City is permitted to list these parklands as City parks:  a) the parks could then be taken out of the Master Plan, deemed unnecessary (i.e., excess City land), and sold by the City; and b) this would negate the deed restrictions and the registered Plat dedication of these parklands to public use.

 

• Natural Areas/Green Space Designations
Some of the areas colored light green and identified on the map legend as “natural areas/green space” include people’s homes, garages, asphalt and cement-covered driveways, and associated landscaping.  This gives an inaccurate and grossly overstated view of the amount of green space and “buffer zone” available in and around the Neighborhood.  The open grassy field located south of Asylum Lake is NOT designated on the map as green space.

 

The ODWNA Board urges you to review the City Master Plan, review this information, talk with your neighbors, and consider how the proposed Plan might impact you, your home and the Neighborhood at large.  Because the perceived potential impacts this Plan (good or bad) are personal, and will vary from resident to resident, the ODWNA will not issue a “blanket statement” at the June 10th public hearing.  YOU need to personally get involved and directly let the City know what you like about the proposed Master Plan, and what you dislike and want changed.  However, this must be done before June 10th.  You can do this by:

 

• E-mailing your comments to plan@kalamazoocity.org. 
• Communicating with City personnel.  Letters and phone calls can be directed to:  a) Keith Hernandez, Community Planning & Development, 445 W. Michigan, Kalamazoo, MI 49007; b) the City Manager’s Office, City Hall, 241 W. South Street, Kalamazoo, MI 49007; and c) Sonia Dean, Chair of the Kalamazoo City Planning Commission, c/o the City Manager’s Office. 
• Attending the June 10th public hearing 7:00 p.m. on the second floor of City Hall, 241 W. South Street.  It is the understanding of the ODWNA Board that residents will be able to submit written comments to the City of Kalamazoo Planning Commission and/or speak for no more than four (4) minutes at the June 10th public hearing.