The Kalamazoo Zoning Board of Appeals on Sept. 24 approved a use variance allowing a stand-alone commercial parking lot on two parcels at 209 and 219 West Cedar Street, subject to two staff conditions including a five-year sunset and required removal of parking improvements if the site is not redeveloped. The board voted to approve the variance after hearing the applicant describe the parking as a short-term measure to consolidate spaces while housing development proceeds nearby.

Kurt Artema, presenting for the applicant, said his development team planned to move parking off primary street corners into the middle of the block to free corner parcels for multifamily housing. City staff told the board the site previously served as construction staging and that the alley bisecting the parcels causes the site to qualify as a corner lot under the zoning code, creating the need for a variance.

During public comment, resident Eric Stuckey said he was not a proponent of more surface parking downtown and pressed the board for guarantees the lot would remain temporary. Staff and the city attorney said the two conditions the board was asked to attach — a five-year term and removal of improvements at the end of that term unless the lot is absorbed into a development — would be enforced if included in the variance approval.

After closing the hearing the board made a finding of fact that the parking would help support nearby housing and allow redevelopment of a primary corner, and it voted in favor of the variance. The roll call recorded five votes in favor and one opposed. The approval included the staff-recommended conditions: the variance will expire five years from the approval date and the parking improvements must be removed at that time unless the site is redeveloped.

The applicant and staff said the proposal was intended as an interim solution to allow construction staging and support existing downtown housing while the developer advances design and Brownfield planning for new residential buildings. The board’s action does not rezone the parcels, and city staff said future redevelopment proposals on the parcels would be subject to the usual site plan review and stormwater management requirements.

Next steps: the variance decision will be memorialized in a written decision to the applicant and recorded with the conditions described at the hearing. If the applicant or a future owner fails to remove the lot at the end of the five-year term, staff said the city could pursue enforcement action and recover costs.