510 Butler/120 Mary (Wickwood Inn), Amended Conditional Rezoning Request

MEMORANDUM City of Saugatuck Planning Commission Memo Date: Request: Address: Parcel: Lot Size: Complete: City Staff:

April 10, 2026 C-2 WSE Conditional Rezoning 120 Mary/510 Butler

Meeting Date: Applicant: Project Name:

April 16, 2026 Christopher Khorey/ McKenna Wickwood Inn

57-300-055-00 and 57300-053-50 24,729 s.f. Yes Grayson Moore

Plan Date:

N/A

Zoning District: Recommendation: Consultant:

R-4 CER TBD David M. Jirousek, AICP

Overview The applicant requests the rezoning of 120 Mary Street and 510 Butler Street from the R4 City Center Transitional Residential District (R-4) to the C-2 Water Street East District (C2 WSE) with voluntary conditions, in accordance with Section 405 of the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act and Section 154.176(I) of the Zoning Ordinance. The applicant intends to expand Wickwood Inn's business operations beyond the bed and breakfast establishment allowances to include hotel/inn accommodations, an accessory restaurant use, and special events. Since the March meeting, the applicant has revised the conditions and now references a future designation as a hotel/inn rather than a motel/motor court.

102 Butler Street  P.O. Box 86  Saugatuck, MI 49453 Phone: 269-857-2603  Website: www.saugatuckcity.com

City of Saugatuck Planning Commission 120 Mary Street & 510 Butler Street April 10, 2026 Page 2

Background Previous Rezoning Approval The property at 120 Mary Street was previously zoned C-2 WSE; however, in 2023, the owner requested rezoning to R-4 to rent the first and second floors on a short-term basis. The R-4 zoning district permitted this, while the C-2 WSE zoning district allows short-term rentals only on upper floors. Since then, the owner decided to incorporate 120 Mary Street into the overall bed and breakfast establishment. Previous Special Land Use Approval In 2025, the Zoning Ordinance was amended to allow accessory guest buildings for bed and breakfast establishments, and the owner secured special land use approval to incorporate the residential dwelling at 120 Mary Street and an accessory building at 510 Butler Street as accessory guest accommodation buildings for the Wickwood Inn. Current Request Since the special land use approval, City staff and advisors have had multiple conversations with the owner’s representatives regarding future uses and desired business activities. Staff determined that these uses and activities would not comply with the requirements for bed and breakfast establishments and the R-4 zoning district. Subsequent conversations covered options such as amending the provisions of the R-4 zoning district, rezoning to C-1 City Center Commercial District (C-1 CC), rezoning to C-2 WSE, or creating a new land use designation with specific use requirements. Because the desired commercial uses at the Wickwood Inn would no longer be consistent with the intent of the R-4 zoning district, the applicant chose to pursue a rezoning to C-2 WSE as part of a broader expansion of the operation. Previously, the applicant noted the future expansion under the “motel/motor court” provision. While the land use term itself seemed inconsistent with the character and operation of the Wickwood Inn, the desired operation and activities appeared to comply with the definition of the term and the special land use requirements. However, the applicant has revised their request to “hotel/inn,” and has described their intent as follows: • • •

Obtain a liquor license and serve alcohol as part of their food service. Offer a wider variety of dining options to their guests, beyond the current breakfast service. On a reservation-only basis, open their dining room to the public. The operational model would be that reservations would only be opened to the general public if overnight guests do not fill all available spots for a given meal service.

City of Saugatuck Planning Commission 120 Mary Street & 510 Butler Street April 10, 2026 Page 3

Host events at the Bed and Breakfast that are consistent in scale with the property’s size and layout. (staff note: events could only be authorized with future hotel/inn or motel/motor court use approval, not for bed and breakfast establishments)

Along with the rezoning, the applicant has voluntarily offered limitations in an effort to reduce the potential impacts of future commercial expansion on nearby R-4 zoned lands and the neighborhood as a whole. These conditions are stated in their revised letter, dated April 3, 2026. These conditions generally include: •

Limit land use to hotel/inn and any other use that is allowed in both C-2 WSE and R-4 CER. After comparing these districts, these uses would be the following: o Single-family dwellings (floor area ratio not exceeding 0.3:1) o Home occupations o Short-term rental (of a single-family dwelling) o Bed and breakfasts (without accessory guest buildings) o Essential public services Add restrictions on a future hotel/inn use by referencing certain bed and breakfast establishment limitations from the Zoning Ordinance. Lower the lot coverage of C-2 WSE from 65% to 27%. Increase the front setback from zero (0) feet to 20 feet (with potential reductions based on established setbacks on neighboring property). Limit kitchen expansion, indoor dining capacity, hours of operation, cooking space, and dining space. Limit events to 75 attendees. Prohibit expanded outdoor dining within the public right-of-way.

Conditional Rezoning A conditional rezoning process follows the same formal steps as a traditional rezoning process. However, coordination is required when written voluntary conditions are translated into the ordinance to rezone land. This is because the text is sometimes amended to ensure it is appropriate from a technical zoning and legal perspective. As such, once the ordinance is prepared, the applicant must accept the conditions as written for them to be considered voluntarily submitted. If a conditional rezoning is approved by City Council, the conditions must also be formalized in a “statement of conditions,” which is a separate legal instrument required by the Zoning Ordinance that must be recorded. Since the conditions have been revised, the applicant will present their new approach at the April 16 meeting, and another hearing will need to be set for a new ordinance to rezone land, no earlier than the May Planning Commission meeting. The preparation of the ordinance will be contingent on the applicant’s final request, which may change based on the upcoming discussion.

City of Saugatuck Planning Commission 120 Mary Street & 510 Butler Street April 10, 2026 Page 4

Initial Review Comments Hotel/Inn Classification and Ordinance Compliance Questions remain regarding whether the proposed use can meet the definition and requirements of a hotel/inn. The ordinance specifies interior hallway access to guestrooms and references a single building, which may conflict with the existing layout, which includes multiple guest buildings and exterior-access guest units (primarily for the two-unit accessory building). As you may recall, the definition of motel/motor court contemplated multiple structures (“a series of”) and was more flexible concerning room access. Please see the following definitions (bold emphasis added). HOTEL (INN). A building comprised of attached, furnished, sleeping rooms, containing bathroom facilities, which are accessible by interior hallways, in which transient lodging or boarding are offered to the public for compensation. A hotel may contain a restaurant(s), gift and specialty shop(s), swimming pool and exercise facilities, lounge(s), and conference rooms(s); provided these uses are clearly accessory to the hotel. A hotel shall not be considered or construed to be a motel, bed and breakfast establishment, multiplefamily dwelling, or similar facility. MOTEL/MOTOR COURT. A series of attached, semi-detached or detached, furnished, rental units each containing a bedroom, bathroom and closet space in which transient, overnight, lodging or boarding are offered to the public for compensation. The design of a motel is oriented to the public traveling by motor vehicle with individual sleeping rooms typically exiting directly to the outside with patron parking located at or near each room exit. A motel may contain a restaurant, gift and specialty shop, lounge and swimming pool and exercise facilities, provided, these are uses clearly accessory to the motel. The applicant may wish to consider requesting a text amendment related to the definition of hotel/inn. Additionally, clarification is needed on whether all hotel/inn standards, including Section 154.092(C)(1) and (C)(2), can be satisfied. Prior Text Amendment Request Previous discussions concerned whether users of accessory amenities and attendees of meetings, conferences, and events needed to be overnight guests at the motel/motor court. With a hotel/inn designation, the use of meeting and/or conference rooms is not limited to the exclusive use of overnight guests. As such, it is assumed this request will be withdrawn if the intent remains to qualify as a hotel/inn.

City of Saugatuck Planning Commission 120 Mary Street & 510 Butler Street April 10, 2026 Page 5

Events as an Accessory Use The ordinance does not explicitly permit “events” as an accessory use to a hotel/inn (weddings, parties, etc.). While events may be interpreted as incidental to hotel/inn operations due to the allowance of meeting and conference facilities, future special land use review would best address the scale and nature of events to ensure they remain accessory and incidental to the principal lodging use. Mixing Standards Between Use Types The applicant offers to apply several requirements related to bed and breakfast establishments to hotel/inn use in an effort to reduce future potential impact. However, applying bed and breakfast restrictions to a hotel/inn through specific section references may result in conflicting requirements and misinterpretation. For example, differing minimum guest room size requirements cannot be reconciled within a conditional rezoning framework, especially as bed and breakfast rooms must be 100 square feet compared to 300 square feet for a hotel/inn. If additional limitations are desired, they should be structured independently rather than by referencing another use category. In all cases, hotel/inn requirements must be met, and additional restrictions can be offered. Event Limitations and Conditions Proposed limits on event size and frequency may raise concerns about how those limits are established and applied. The Planning Commission or City Council may be reluctant to associate a specific number (e.g., 75 attendees) with the conditional rezoning, as this could be interpreted as implicit support for events of that scale prior to special land use review. The applicant may consider an alternative approach to frame the condition in terms of future requests, for example, by stating that they will not seek approval for events exceeding a specified threshold. This approach avoids committing to a fixed number at the rezoning stage while still establishing a clear upper limit for consideration during future review. Section 154.176 (C)(1)(b) Factors to Consider When reviewing a rezoning application, with or without proposed conditions, the Planning Commission and City Council must consider the following factors: 1. Whether the rezoning is consistent with the policies and uses proposed for that area in the city’s Master Land Use Plan. 2. Whether all of the uses allowed under the proposed rezoning would be compatible with other zones and uses in the surrounding area. 3. Whether any public services and facilities would be significantly adversely impacted by a development or use allowed under the requested rezoning.

City of Saugatuck Planning Commission 120 Mary Street & 510 Butler Street April 10, 2026 Page 6

4. Whether the uses allowed under the proposed rezoning would be equally or better suited to the area than uses allowed under the current zoning of the land. Please keep these factors in mind as you review the request and prepare your position on the matter. Recommendation Staff does not offer a recommendation for the April meeting, as it will be the applicant’s opportunity to present the revised conditional rezoning request. When the applicant confirms their final conditions, the ordinance to conditionally rezone land will be prepared for a public hearing and consideration by the Planning Commission.

Wickwood will not seek approval from the County Health Department to expand its kitchen.

Wickwood will not expand its indoor dining room, which has a capacity of roughly 20 people.

Food service in the Wickwood dining room would be limited to the hours of 8 AM to 8 PM.

Wickwood will not add additional cooking space, or additional indoor or outdoor dining space to the property, beyond what already exists.

The maximum number of people attending any special event, or simultaneous special events, shall be 75.

Expanded Outdoor Dining, which is defined in Section 154.092.O.2 as outdoor dining within a public rightof-way, shall not be permitted accessory to 510 Butler or 120 Mary.

We look forward to discussing this request with the Planning Commission at any upcoming meeting. Respectfully Submitted, McKenna

Christopher Khorey, AICP Vice President

City of Saugatuck – Revised Conditional Rezoning April 3, 2026