Marina zoning request runs aground

Oct. 3—TRAVERSE CITY — A Traverse City hotel's request to add marinas and liveries to another zoning district didn't float commissioners' boat.

Commissioners took no action on Delamar Traverse City's request, which would have added the uses to Hotel Resort-zoned properties. That would have allowed the hotel, along with Bayshore Resort and four other properties, to build a marina or boat livery with state and federal regulators' approval.

City Planner Shawn Winter said that would correct a situation where the use is allowed, but not on any privately owned land.

At least three commissioners were happy to leave it that way. Mi Stanley was one, and she sees the fact that the only marina in the city is on public land as a "happy accident."

"I don't see the value of this to people who live in Traverse City," she said. "We were elected by people who live in Traverse City, by Traverse City residents. In fact, I see this as being detrimental to quality of life for people who live here."

Stanley said she already sees plenty of boat renters who don't know how to use one.

Commissioner Tim Werner said he didn't want to see a marina by either Sunset Park or Senior Center Park, both of which are adjacent to Great Lakes Maritime Academy's harbor. And Mayor Richard Lewis said he didn't think the city needed another marina on West Grand Traverse Bay.

Others disagreed, with Commissioner Mitchell Treadwell noting city commissioners would still have some say over the projects — neither the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy nor the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would consider a permit application without a resolution of support from the commission, city Attorney Lauren Trible-Laucht said.

Even if city commissioners supported a project, both agencies would review the plans to ensure it's not an environmental hazard, Treadwell said.

That had Mayor Pro Tem Amy Shamroe wondering if the ordinance would give the city a way to regulate something that's already happening on West Bay.

"I see this as enacting a regulation that the city commission get to control more than we already do right now," she said.

Commissioner Linda Koebert echoed this, later adding she was in support of the idea when the planning commission took it up but on Monday felt "wobbly" about it.

Dave Glenn, an attorney who spoke to commissioners on Delamar Traverse City's behalf, said the hotel has a dock it installs seasonally. It's a legal nonconforming use — one allowed by precedent even though it's no longer permitted by law — and one the hotel intends to continue.

Glenn agreed that adopting the ordinance would bring that practice under state, federal and local regulations. Without the change, he argued, the current zoning ordinance is unintentionally exclusionary since it bars a use for which there's a public interest on any privately owned land.

"I want to somewhat refocus the purpose of this request," he said. "It's a zoning text amendment, we're not asking for you guys to evaluate the merits of a marina we're putting in, we're not asking for you to look at boat moorings or anything like that today."

Glenn said he appreciated commissioners' desire to protect the waterfront. But marinas in West Grand Traverse Bay are full — Treadwell noted there's a three- to four-year waitlist for a slip in Duncan L. Clinch Marina and the transient slips fill up quick, prompting some boaters to anchor off city parks.

Delamar isn't planning a marina or boat livery, and may never actually do so, but the hotel owners want the opportunity to request one without being barred by zoning, Glenn said.

It'll be up to the next city commission to decide, with the current board declining to vote on introducing the amendment for an Oct. 16 decision.

By not rejecting the request, Delamar can bring it back before the next commission in November, Shamroe said. Had commissioners defeated it, they would have had to wait six months by commission rules.

In other business:

* Commissioners approved an employment agreement with Trible-Laucht, upping her salary to $160,000 per year.

Lewis said that's in line with what a recent wages study for administrative, confidential and technical employees recommended for the position. It comes a year after commissioners agreed to a $32,000 raise to bring Trible-Laucht's annual salary up to $130,000 per year. She'll also be allowed to participate in the city's Municipal Employees Retirement System plan, with Lewis noting she previously was the only city employee who couldn't.

Commissioners approved amendments to the city's payment-in-lieu-of-taxes ordinance. A PILOT allows an apartment owner to pay a portion of their net rents — rental income minus the cost of certain utilities — instead of property taxes. In exchange, they offer the apartments at below-market rents for the duration of the agreement, which by law matches the project's loan term and can't exceed 50 years. Such agreements used to require that a project get Low Income Housing Tax Credits, which are limited to tenants earning up to 80 percent area median income. Now, state law allows local governments to adopt shorter-lived PILOTs of up to 15 years for projects renting to tenants earning up to 120 percent area median income, with the owner also paying a higher percentage of net rent.