COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – On a 7-0 vote, the Coldwater City Council approved a request to rezone property at 93 East Park Avenue Thursday night.
Petitioner Talal Al-Abssi wanted to rezone his property from a residential zoning district to a C-1 Community Business District in hopes of operating a small grocery and specialty goods store that would serve the nearby Arabic speaking neighborhood. He said in his application that he wanted to make items available that now require driving to larger cities to purchase adding that certain spices and delicacy’s are currently not available in Coldwater.
Despite the unanimous vote by the Council, the request has led to some disagreements at City Hall.
In his report to the Council for Thursday night’s meeting, City Planner Dean Walrack said his staff was recommending a denial of the petition to rezone saying in part this proposal is plainly a case of “spot zoning”. The rezoning request only got a 4-3 recommendation from the Planning Commission.
The Council also approved the proposed rezoning of over 20 acres of land at 190 East Garfield so that a 102 unit manufactured housing development that would be known as The Enclave at Tall Grass can be built there. In connection with that, the Council approved a PA 425 conditional transfer of property agreement with Coldwater Township so that the property can become part of the city.
Meanwhile, the 2017-2018 fiscal year budget now has a deficit of just under $77,000 after the Council approved several amendments which brought the deficit down from about $170,000.
