![]() ![]() ![]() He believes the changes will encourage business activity in Gaslight Village. LaFave said the ordinance amendments would make some uses easier to execute. Occupancy in the district typically hovers at more than 90 percent, he added. Just 7 percent of ground-floor spaces were vacant in Gaslight Village this month, according to LaFave. Another 22 percent of spaces house service-oriented businesses. The EGR City Commission has yet to take action on the ordinance amendments, but will likely do so in September, LaFave said.Ī similar conversation is playing out in nearby Grand Rapids, where some developers are citing persistent vacancies in questioning a city ordinance that mandates ground-floor retail in some areas of downtown.Ībout 30 percent of the ground-floor storefronts in Gaslight Village feature a retail use, followed by restaurants at 25 percent. “We want to make sure we’re keeping up as much as possible with the market and making sure we’re not creating problems for our business community and retail environment, but trying to be flexible and mindful of the market force changes,” said Interim City Manager Doug LaFave. It also would permit storefront usage for bed & breakfasts, hotels and product showrooms, but would still require a special land use variance for those uses. For the last couple of months, the Planning Commission has been assessing whether alternative ground-floor users should be allowed by right, versus forcing business owners to go through a special land use process. In its most recent master plan completed in 2018, one of the city’s goals was to look at the current state of retail, how it’s changing and how that might affect the business district. The discussions sprung from a 2018 master planning effort and the move of a State Farm office to another location within Gaslight Village that required a special land use request. Along with conversations at the city about ground-floor uses in the district, it could become easier to open a non-retail or restaurant business in Gaslight Village. ![]()
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