Dexter planners poised to amend zoning rules for central business district

Posted on Tue, Feb 8, 2011 : 9:50 a.m.

Dexter planners poised to amend zoning rules for central business district

By Lisa Allmendinger

Dexter Planning Commissioners Dirk Wilcox and Kim Clugston look over documents during the Planning Commission meeting Monday night..

Lisa Allmendinger | AnnArbor.com

The Encore Theatre in Dexter wants to expand its building to make room for storage and set construction, but because of current village zoning requirements, it must either add a second story to its current one-story building or apply for a variance.

The theater is located in the village’s central business district, which has a zoning requirement that stipulates buildings that are not two stories in height are non-conforming. To get approval for an expansion, a building owner would ordinarily need to bring it into compliance, but that requirement is likely to be lifted following action by the Dexter Planning Commission Monday night.

The commission unanimously voted to hold a public hearing on March 7 on a proposed amendment that will remove the two-story requirement for all existing one-story buildings in the central business zoning district.

Allison Bishop, Dexter community develop manager.

Lisa Allmendinger | AnnArbor.com

“Originally, the goal (of the ordinance) was to really encourage density, but in reality, there is a hodge-podge of buildings in the district,” said Allison Bishop, the village’s community development manager.

The Encore building “is not lot line to lot line, they could go up, but they don’t have to. They have enough room to expand,” Bishop said.

“It’s a dramatic addition to go up,” said Planning Commissioner Thom Phillips. “Even if the first floor is built for it.”

The village’s planning consultant suggested that the village’s ordinance may not be reasonable for older existing one-story buildings.

There are more than a dozen non-conforming buildings in the district.

Three commissioners were absent from the meeting, Matt Kowalski, Matt McCormack and Mary Kimmel.

Lisa Allmendinger is a reporter for AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at lisaallmendinger@annarbor.com. For more Dexter stories, visit our Dexter page.