Map provided by City of Houghton A map of the portion shows the section of Houghton Avenue (bordered in blue) that is proposed to be rezoned to R-3. The Houghton Planning Commission scheduled a public hearing for its March meeting.

HOUGHTON — The Houghton Planning Commission will hold a hearing next month on rezoning part of the southern side of Houghton Avenue to allow for denser development.

Properties between Agate Street and Townsend Drive would be converted from single-family residential (R-1) to multi-family residential (R-3). The request came from Jon Lehtinen, who owns student rental properties on the street. Two houses on that section were still being used as single-family; Lehtinen had just purchased one of them, Clerk Ann Vollrath said.

“The property we’re looking at, we felt we’d have a challenge to rent,” Lehtinen said. “It’s a six-bedroom, two-bath house currently, with potential for expansion. We felt it’d be a challenge to rent it to a family, because everything around it is student rentals.”

Many properties already exceed the R-1 standards because they were grandfathered in, Lehtinen said. Duplexes on either side of the property include one with eight students in two four-bedroom units, and one with 10 students in two five-bedroom units.

Chair Tom Merz asked why the grandfathered parcels needed to be rezoned.

“Because then you would have it as a right instead of just a non-conforming use,” Vollrath said.

The specific rezoning being sought was left undetermined before the meeting. Commissioner Kristine Bradof said she would support the rezoning to R-3, as it would create a buffer between R-1 properties to the south and the R-4 district to the north. She also thought the rezoning would be preferable to an abundance of non-conforming uses.

“That’s a general thing that planning commissions are supposed to be looking for,” she said. “You’ve got a lot of non-conforming uses or requests for variances, you want to consider, do we need to change something so this doesn’t keep coming up all the time?”

Lehtinen said he would also like to create parking in the alleyway behind Houghton Avenue behind one of the duplexes to reduce congestion on the street.

Of the 24 parcels, 21 are on Houghton Avenue. Another two are on Vivian Street at the interaction with Houghton. One on Emerald Street is part of a larger lot that borders Houghton Avenue.

All members present voted to schedule a public hearing for March. Chair Tom Merz said although he lives within 300 feet of property that would be rezoned, he did not see a conflict of interest.

“My property is R-3,” he said. “If anything, this is not good for me … in a perfect world, I’d be the only R-3 in that neighborhood. My property value would be a lot higher.”

If the Planning Commission recommends the rezoning next month, it would then go to the city council for approval.

In other action, the commission:

— Approved the site plan review for the former Kirkish Warehouse building at 111 Shelden Ave. The owner plans to build out retail space on the first floor and two apartments upstairs. The project will be part of the Michigan Economic Development Corp.’s Community Revitalization program.

Although the plans are limited to the building itself, a site plan review was required because of the use change, City Manager Eric Waara said.

— recommended a special use permit for the boardwalk as part of the Keweenaw Waters Resort project. The commission had previously recommended approval of the cabin and campground portions of the project along Houghton Canal Road.

— recommended a special use permit for Tranquility Fields, a recreational marijuana business planned for the former Bambu site on Ridge Road. The commission had previously approved a permit for the site after a proposal from a different company last year, which later fell through.

— Heard from City Manager Eric Waara divers were in town to locate the AT&T lines going across the canal to Ripley. The lines had caused delays in pier project work.

Waara also suggested the commission come up with suggestions for city-owned land that could be transferred to the private sector for housing development.

“The shortage of housing in our area is still an issue … the prosperity of our area is being hampered by that right now,” he said.

— Discussed the Lakeshore Drive parking deck site, including the council’s vote earlier this month to support pursuing a bond to fund the teardown of the deck and a grant to help with streetscape improvements, as well as engineering on both. Waara said if the city sold the property, it would be able to decide acceptable uses for the property as a condition of sale.

Commissioner Dan Liebau appreciated the direction from the council.

“I was really frustrated just because I felt we were spinning our wheels … I feel like a big weight’s been lifted,” he said.