Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Houghton City Manager Eric Waara discusses city-owned property that could potentially be sold for development during Tuesday’s Planning Commission meeting.

HOUGHTON — Houghton City Manager Eric Waara gave an overview of city-owned property that could be redeveloped and the city’s downtown parking situation during Tuesday’s Planning Commission meeting.

Housing, from apartments to condominiums, is the primary need identified by developers, Waara said.

“There’s people that want to live here, or want to stay here, but they don’t have the right housing,” he said.

The city’s master plan also lists other considerations, such as attracting new businesses and talent and promoting increased density and compact design. The city encourages development and redevelopment of commercial properties, as well as the development of undeveloped parcels. Any development must also maintain road right-of-way on Lake Shore Drive.

Much of Waara’s presentation regarded the site of the Lakeshore Drive parking deck. Last year, the council voted to begin planning processes for removing the deck and figuring out what would replace it.

The deck property includes 1.7 acres — 0.6 acres west of a condo property and 1.1 acres to the east. Property lines make some of those parcels more desirable than others, Waara said. The property is a mix of fee simple, where transactions are easier, and platted rights-of-way, which have more legal hurdles in place.

“If the city wanted to sell those for redevelopment, there’s additional legal work that has to go into selling those,” he said.

The condominium and two rights-of-way — one for Pewabic Street and one for Dodge Street — effectively carve out four parcels of fee-simple property totaling more than an acre. They range from 30,000 square feet on the west end near the Portage Lake District Library to a 9,000-square-foot piece to the west of the Daily Mining Gazette.

Waara asked the planning commission to begin thinking about what it would like to see happen on the site, and how the city should go about selling it off (collectively, or one at a time?).

Through a development agreement, the city will be able to control the type of use and what the development looks like.

Other parcels include 1.5 acres north of east Lakeshore Drive near Super-8.

“It needs some work, there’s some utilities in there and things like that that may need some relocation, but that is a developable piece of property right there that we’re sitting on,” he said.

He did not include the rest of the city-owned property nearby, which he hopes to see become a trail connecting the waterfront trail to the Michigan Technological University campus.

The city also owns seven parcels on the end of College Avenue on the site of Keweenaw Chamber of Commerce building and parking.

The city center has seen interest in the past, most notably from former tenant Midwest Loan Services. The biggest obstacle is finding someplace for the city offices to relocate, Waara said.

“It is a desirable piece of property which could offer a lot of housing options downtown, where people would like to be,” he said.

Waara also cited 100 acres of city-owned land behind Walmart. He excluded wetlands near the Huron Dam, which he said could be made into a park or something else.

“There has been some interest,” he said. “There may be more in the future.”

Another possibility is the city’s RV park near the Kestner Waterfront Park. Houghton makes about $50,000 a year for the city.

“Yes, it covers its costs, but there’s time and resources that maybe we could spend somewhere else,” he said. “…I’m not saying one way or the other, but the times do change.”

Waara said whoever the city sold one of the properties too would need to have a clear idea what they would do.

“We’re not just going to sell them to someone,” he said. “There’s going to be a development plan that’s good for the community.”

Commissioner Mike Needham, who also sits on the City Council, suggested Waara bring the idea to the council Wednesday so it could reinforce the direction. He suggested putting a map of city-owned property on the city website to encourage interest.

Needham said he didn’t think the council would approve a sale without knowing what the buyer proposed to do.

“That process of deciding itself will be short or long depending on what the land is and what the proposed use is,” he said.

Waara also discussed the parking situation downtown. Over the next six to 10 months, he said, the city would focus on ways of improving the management of downtown parking in advance of whenever the parking deck comes down.

“Our previous system was basically based on how we can plow snow, and that’s pretty much it,” Waara said.

The city is renegotiating a parking agreement with Michigan Technological University governing parking at the Lakeshore Center. The previous agreement, which dates back to the Upper Peninsula Power Co.’s ownership of the building, expired last year.

The city’s proposal would reverse roughly 90 spots of about 140 for Michigan Tech. Another 30 permits would be given to others in the neighborhood. Some spare spaces would also be left for two-hour parking, Waara said.

While the previous agreement gave Tech full legal rights to the parking, Waara said the new agreement would only give them from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. After that, it would be open for visitors to Dee Stadium or other downtown amenities.

Other lots in town could be better managed through painting of lines, Waara said. Planning Commissioner Kristine Bradof suggested painting lines on guardrails to enable better use of space in winter.

In other action, the commission:

— Recommended the city council approve a zoning change from R-1 (single-family residential) to R-3 (multiple-family residential district) for 24 parcels, primarily on east Houghton Avenue. Planning Commission Chair Tom Merz, who lives within 300 feet of the property, recused himself and did not participate in the discussion.

–Approved a site plan for 1220 Military Ave. The proposed development would be an apartment building at the site of a former dentist office.

— Approved a site plan for 404 E. Sharon Ave. The site will be used for a storage unit.