The City Commission will consider proposed changes to the City of Kalamazoo’s Zoning Ordinance and Map during a public hearing at its meeting on Monday, October 16 at 7 p.m. The meeting will be held in the City Commission Chambers at City Hall, 241 W South Street. It will be broadcast live on the City’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.

On September 7, the Planning Commission recommended approval of these updates to the City Commission. The City Commission previously scheduled a public hearing to be held on October 16 for the proposed updates and are expected to vote on whether or not to approve the proposed updates following the public hearing.

The proposed updates are related to commercial zoning districts and their related standards, like signs, landscaping, screening, and lighting. When the updates were first introduced in the spring, City staff started a public engagement process to review the proposal with community members and hear feedback, questions, and concerns. A series of public meetings were held, staff met one-on-one with affected property owners, and staff discussed questions and concerns received directly via phone and email. Presentations were also made to the Planning Commission, Natural Features Protection Review Board, and the City Commission.

The proposal was revised four times in this process, and what is being considered includes several changes based on community feedback received during the engagement process. A list of the properties included, an interactive map, and information on the proposed changes can be found at www.imaginekalamazoo.com/zoningupdates A summary of the changes will also be included in the meeting agenda once available at https://kalamazoomi.portal.civicclerk.com  

A postcard was mailed to residents and owners of property included in the proposed Zoning Map update as well as those that own property or live within 300 feet of properties included in the updates to notify them of the public hearing.

These proposed updates to the Zoning Code and Map are part of a larger effort to overhaul the Zoning Code that started in 2018. The Code has been updated incrementally in focused sections, previously focusing on the biggest barriers in the Code (like removing nonconformances related to lot size and area from most residential districts), following Neighborhood Plans, specific goals in the Imagine Kalamazoo Master Plan related to zoning, and other updates like those related to cannabis. As updates are approved by the City Commission, the regulations are moved out of the 2005 Zoning Code in Appendix A to the Chapter 50 Zoning Ordinance.