The Ann Arbor Planning Commission recommended denial of a property owner's request Wednesday night to rezone land at 3325 Packard Road for construction of a new duplex.
Chairman Kirk Westphal and other commissioners said they're obligated to uphold the city's master plan and they couldn't support "spot zoning" a single parcel.
"It's very difficult to justify spot zoning," said Sabra Briere, who serves on both the Planning Commission and the City Council.
City of Ann Arbor
The property owner asked that the vacant lot, where a fire destroyed a single-family house in April 2012, be rezoned from R1C single-family dwelling to R2A two-family dwelling.
The commission followed the city staff's recommendation by voting to deny the request.
City Planner Jill Thacher said the proposed land uses permitted under R2A zoning would not be consistent with the city's master plan, which recommends single-family detached homes for that particular block of Packard, as well as other blocks to the east, north and west.
Land use in the area to the east, north and west of the site is almost entirely single-family residential, Thacher stated in a report to the commission.
Phillip Weaver of Bradenton, Fla., is listed as the property owner. Scott Betzoldt of Ann Arbor-based Midwestern Consulting is listed as the petitioner for the project.
They proposed a single duplex residence with a detached two-car garage to replace the single-family home that burned.
Commissioner Wendy Woods said she could appreciate that the petitioner was stuck "between a rock and a hard place" but she couldn't support the rezoning.
It was suggested that the city could take a fresh look at the overall zoning for that area of Packard at some point in the future to see what land uses might be most appropriate.
Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529. You also can follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's email newsletters.