The Kalamazoo Planning Commission shot down a proposal Thursday to rezone land near the Asylum Lake Preserve. The board’s recommendation will now go to the City Commission, which has final say on the proposal.
The decision came after more than an hour of public comment at an hours-long evening meeting.
Robert Piellusch was one of the commenters. He said he was happy to see the commission reject commercial zoning on the land, but adds that he hopes friends of Asylum Lake can find a permanent solution to protect the preserve.
“I'm really hoping is that they establish a 501-C-3 non-profit steward for the property and we raise the money and let the car wash guy walk away after doing his civic duty to just turn over the property," he said.
Before the vote, Planning Commission member Roland Bissonnette said there was a lack of community need for development in the area.
“Especially given the vagueness of the potential rezoning with no real plan indicating what the land would be used for - you can't articulate a need based off of vagaries," he said.
Previous proposals aimed at building a car wash on the site met with similar opposition.
