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CITY OF MUSKEGON
PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING
May 15, 2025 @ 4:00 PM
MUSKEGON CITY COMMISSION CHAMBERS
933 TERRACE STREET, MUSKEGON, MI 49440
MINUTES
CALL TO ORDER
The Regular Planning Commission Meeting of the City of Muskegon was held at
City Hall, 933 Terrace Street, Muskegon, Michigan at 4:00 PM, Thursday, May 15,
2025. L. Willet-Leroi opened the meeting.
ROLL CALL
Present: Commissioners Montgomery-Keast, L. Willet-Leroi, L. Simmons II, S. Blake, J. Seyferth,
S. Gawron, and B. Mazade
Members Excused: Commissioners K. Johnson and D. Keener
Staff Present: M. Franzak and S. Romine
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A motion to approve the Minutes of the special Planning Commission meeting on
March 27, 2025, was made by J. Montgomery-Keast, supported by L. Simmons II,
and unanimously approved.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
A. Hearing, Case 2025-17: Request for a special use permit to operate an
urban commercial farm at 2407 Barclay St, by Coty Sloan. Planning
Request for a special use permit to operate an urban commercial farm at 2407
Barclay St, by Coty Sloan, owner of Restoring Eden.
This item was removed from the agenda until further information can be
provided by the applicant.
B. Hearing, Case 2025-18: Staff-initiated request to rezone the property at
236 Monroe Ave from B-2, Convenience & Comparison Business to Form
Based Code, Urban Residential (FBC, UR). Planning
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Staff-initiated request to rezone the property at 236 Monroe Ave from B-2,
Convenience & Comparison Business to Form-Based Code, Urban Residential.
At the April Planning Commission meeting, this property was recommended to
be rezoned to FBC-MS, along with the property to the east. However, a
neighbor at the Public Hearing noted that this designation would allow for a
parking lot to be built next to their townhouse. After further examination, staff
recommended that this property be rezoned to FBC-UR, which would allow for a
narrow housing unit, but not a parking lot.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: I move that the request to rezone the property at 236
Monroe Ave from B-2, Convenience & Comparison Business to Form Based
Code, Urban Residential be recommended to the City Commission for
approval.
PUBLIC HEARING COMMENCED:
No public comments were received.
A motion to close the public hearing was made by Commissioner Montgomery-
Keast, seconded by Commissioner Seyferth, and unanimously approved.
MOTION PASSES
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: I move that the request to rezone the property at 236
Monroe Ave from B-2, Convenience & Comparison Business to Form Based
Code, Urban Residential be recommended to the City Commission for
approval.
Motion by Commissioner Montgomery-Keast, seconded by Commissioner
Seyferth, to I move that the request to rezone the property at 236 Monroe Ave
from B-2, Convenience & Comparison Business to Form Based Code, Urban
Residential be recommended to the City Commission for approval..
ROLL VOTE: Ayes: Montgomery-Keast, Willet-Leroi, Blake, Gawron, Seyferth,
Mazade, and Simmons II
Nays: None
MOTION PASSES
C. Hearing, Case 2025-19: Staff-initiated request to amend Article II of the
zoning ordinance to amend the definition of "family". Planning
Staff-initiated request to amend Article II of the zoning ordinance to amend the
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definition of "family."
Staff is proposing to amend the definition of "family" in the zoning ordinance to
better reflect the current living situations of many homes in the community.
There are many homes throughout the city that exceed the number of people
allowed under the current definition of family, although it is rarely enforced -
mostly because there are not any complaints that would warrant investigation.
Increasing the number of unrelated people allowed in a house would better
reflect many living situations already present in the community. However, staff
from various city departments have noted issues with too many adults living
within the same dwelling unit. These issues include stress on aging houses,
overcrowding, over-use of amenities/utilities, potential for emergency service
calls, and storage of materials. Staff agree that a couple more adults allowed in
a housing unit should not warrant too much concern on these issues, but any
household larger than that should be situated in a group home or single room-
occupancy type building, which are better equipped to host these types of
living situations.
Please see the existing definition of Family in the zoning ordinance:
Family: means one of the following:
Family, Domestic: One or more persons living together and related by the
bonds of blood, marriage, guardianship, foster relation, or adoption, and not
more than two additional unrelated persons, with all such individuals being
domiciled together as a single, domestic, housekeeping unit in the dwelling.
Functional Family: The following persons shall be considered a functional family:
Persons living together in a dwelling unit whose relationship is of a permanent
and distinct character and is the functional equivalent of a domestic family,
with a demonstrable and recognizable bond which constitutes the functional
equivalent of the bonds which render the domestic family a cohesive unit. All
persons of the functional family must be cooking and otherwise housekeeping
as a single, nonprofit unit. At least one person in the functional family must be
the record or equitable owner of the property or dwelling unit, or the primary
tenant under a written lease having a least one year’s duration. This definition
shall not include any society, club, fraternity, sorority, association, lodge, coterie,
organization, rooming house, rooming units, or group where the common living
arrangement and/or the basis for the establishment of the functional
equivalency of the domestic family is likely or contemplated to exist for a limited
or temporary duration. The definition of functional family shall not include a
living arrangement where there exists less than 225 square feet of living space in
the dwelling unit per person residing therein, or insufficient off-street parking
located entirely on the property for all vehicles used by the said residents.
Applicability: Living arrangements which would otherwise comply with the
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description of a family shall not constitute a family if the said arrangements
have occurred as a result of commercial or other advertising, or the offering of
rooms for rent. Any financial arrangement, except a true sharing of the
expenses of all the facilities in the single household unit shall be presumed to
constitute renting a room or rooms, and to have resulted from the offering of
rooms for rent or commercial or other advertising. Where rooms have been
rented, or persons live in the house in response to commercial advertising or the
offering of rooms for rent, the living arrangement shall be presumed to
constitute a rooming house and not a family. A person claiming the status of
family shall have the burden of proof of each of the elements set forth in the
relevant definitions of this ordinance.
The current definition of domestic family would allow up to three unrelated
adults to live in a single housing unit.
The current definition of a functional family would allow an unlimited amount of
unrelated people to share a home (as long as they function as a family as
described by the ordinance and its not commercially advertised), with the only
restriction being a minimum of 225 sf of space per person. A 4,000 sf house
would allow up to 17 people.
Staff is proposing to amend the definition of family to the following:
Family: One or more persons living together and related by the bonds of blood,
marriage, guardianship, foster relation, or adoption, and not more than four
additional unrelated persons, with all such individuals being domiciled together
as a single, domestic, housekeeping unit in the dwelling.
This definition would increase the number of unrelated people allowed in a
house from three to five.
Looking forward to the following case, rooming houses would allow
opportunities for households between 6-8 unrelated people and single-room
occupancy homes would allow up to 25 unrelated people.
PUBLIC HEARING COMMENCED:
No public comments were received.
A motion to close the public hearing was made by Commissioner Montgomery-
Keast, seconded by Commissioner Seyferth, and unanimously approved.
MOTION PASSES
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: I move that the request to amend Section II of the
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zoning ordinance to amend the definition of family be recommended to the
City Commission for approval as presented.
Motion by Commissioner Montgomery-Keast, seconded by Commissioner
Seyferth, that the request to amend Section II of the zoning ordinance to amend
the definition of family be recommended to the City Commission for approval
as presented.
ROLL VOTE: Ayes: Montgomery-Keast, Willet-Leroi, Blake, Seyferth, Gawron,
Mazade, and Simmons II
Nays: None
MOTION PASSES
D. Hearing, Case 2025-20: Staff-initiated request to amend the zoning
ordinance to create a section that allows for single-room occupancy
homes and rooming house uses. Planning
Staff-initiated request to amend the zoning ordinance to create a section that
allows for single-room occupancy homes and rooming house uses.
Staff had been asked by the City Commission to explore the option of allowing
Single-Room Occupancy homes in the City. A Single-Room Occupancy is a
dwelling unit within a housing structure that does not have its own kitchen, or
usually even a bathroom, where the tenants share common amenities like kitchens,
bathrooms, laundry facilities, etc. This type of use actually happens under the radar
quite often, with inspectors finding them periodically in the City. Sometimes these
non-permitted uses have the owner living on-site, sometimes they do not. Through
research, staff have discovered that the term "boarding house" is often associated
with a use where the owner or manager lives on-site and rents out rooms with
common amenities. The term "single-room occupancy" is often associated with a
use where neither the owner nor a manager resides on site and rents out rooms
with common amenities. Our current zoning ordinance does not have a definition for
single-room occupancy, but it does have a definition for "rooming house", although
they are only allowed in RM-2 and RM-3 zoning districts and only up to five people
are allowed in the house. It also does not require the owner or manager to live on
site. See definition below.
Rooming House: A dwelling structure having single rooms for rent and having no
common areas except common places for the taking of meals, or baths, or laundry
facilities, and not defined as a tourist home, or state-licensed residential facility.
Staff recommend amending this definition to require the owner or manager to
reside on-site, to distinguish it from the proposed single-occupancy ordinance. Staff
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also recommend creating a new section in the ordinance that regulates both
"rooming houses" and "SRO's."
Most requests for SRO buildings will likely be for former assembly buildings, such
as schools and churches, or potentially commercial/office buildings. Most schools
and churches have an R, Neighborhood Residential zoning. The master plan
recommends allowing higher density for adaptive reuse of these types of buildings.
Staff recommend that SRO's be allowed in RM-1, Low Density Multi-Family districts.
This would require rezoning most of these types of buildings, but would be
supported by the master plan because it allows different types of residential uses,
so they would not be considered spot zones. The density requirement proposed for
these SRO's also closely resembles that of the RM-1 districts. Staff also recommend
that we amend the ordinance at a later date to allow "rooming houses," where the
owner lives on site, in the R, Neighborhood Residential and FBC, Urban Residential
districts, with stricter guidelines on spacing and fewer allowed roomers, so that
traditional houses do not become overcrowded and stressed. A "rooming house"
would be for fewer people and be allowed in more traditional houses while an
"SRO" would be for more people and be required to be in larger buildings more
equipped for density.
Proposed definitions:
Rooming House: A dwelling structure having single rooms for rent and having no
common areas except common places for the taking of meals, or baths, or laundry
facilities, and not defined as a tourist home, or state-licensed residential facility. The
owner or manager of the property must live on-site.
Single Room Occupancy (SRO) Home: A dwelling structure having single bedrooms
for rent by tenants and having common areas such as kitchens, bathrooms, or
laundry facilities available to all tenants. The owner of the property or manager may
or may not live on-site. This does not include uses defined as a tourist home, or
state-licensed residential facility.
Proposed ordinance:
Section 2318: Single-Use Occupancies & Rooming Houses
Rooming Houses are allowed as a principal use permitted in R, Neighborhood
Residential, FBC, Urban Residential and RM-1 districts under the following
conditions:
1. The owner or property manager must live on site.
2. There may be up to two people per bedroom. A bedroom must have at least 100
sf of space for a single tenant and at least 200 sf of space for two tenants.
3. Houses at least 2,000 sf in size may allow up to six people to live on-site. Houses
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at least 2,500 sf may allow up to eight people to live on-site.
4. Parking requirements of the zoning district must be followed.
Single-Room Occupancy Homes are allowed as a special use permitted in RM-1
districts under the following conditions:
1. The property owner or manager may or may not live on site.
2. There may be up to two people per bedroom. A bedroom must have at least 100
square feet of space for a single tenant and at least 200 square feet of space for
two tenants.
3. There shall not be more than 20 bedrooms per building.
4. There shall not be more than 25 people per building, regardless of the number of
two-bedroom units available.
5. There shall only be one building that houses people per parcel.
4. All bedroom occupants shall have access to common areas and amenities such
as the kitchen, bathrooms, laundry, etc.
5. At least 90% of the SRO units shall be occupied by the same tenants for a
continuous period of at least 90 days.
6. One parking space is required for every 3 bedrooms.
PUBLIC HEARING COMMENCED:
No public comments were received.
A motion to close the public hearing was made by Commissioner Montgomery-
Keast, seconded by Commissioner Seyferth, and unanimously approved.
MOTION PASSES
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: I move that the request to amend Section 2318 of
the zoning ordinance to create regulations for single-room occupancy and
rooming houses be recommended to the City Commission for approval.
Motion by Commissioner Montgomery-Keast, seconded by Commissioner
Seyferth, that the request to amend Section 2318 of the zoning ordinance to
create regulations for single-room occupancy and rooming houses be
recommended to the City Commission for approval..
ROLL VOTE: Ayes: Montgomery-Keast, Willet-Leroi, Blake, Mazade, Seyferth,
Gawron, and Simmons II
Nays: None
MOTION PASSES
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
NONE
NEW BUSINESS
NONE
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT
No public comments were received
ADJOURNMENT
The City Commission meeting adjourned at 4:46 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Ann Marie Meisch, MMC City Clerk
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