call to action! email the City of Kalamazoo in support of 2 new zoning districts
If you support ALPA's Green Zoning letter, which asks the City of Kalamazoo to create two new zoning districts (Conservation District and Green Space District - see definitions below), you can help by emailing City Planning and the City Commission. Our letter is on their agendas in September. Your email can be short and sweet, like our example below. Note: This effort is not related to one specific parcel, rather it’s part of a larger, ongoing conversation about environmental protections in the City of Kalamazoo.
EXAMPLE EMAIL:
(Addressed to: David Anderson, Mayor / Drew Duncan, Vice Mayor / Christina Anderson, Deputy CPED Director, City Planner / Scott Borling, City Clerk)
To: Mayor@kalamazoocity.org, andersonc@kalamazoocity.org, cokcityclerk@kalamazoocity.org, DuncanDM@kalamazoocity.org
Subject: I support Green Zoning!
Body: My name is _________, and I'm writing to express my full support for the Environmental Concerns Committee's recommendation to add two new "green" zoning districts – a Conservation District and a Green Space District – to the City of Kalamazoo's zoning ordinance. These districts are described in ALPA's proposal letter, which the ECC voted to recommend. Along with creating the districts, the letter asks the City to take several related steps:
Create a Green Space Zoning District and a Conservation Zoning District in our zoning ordinance;
Reflect these designations on the Future Land Use Map now, while it is being updated through Imagine Kalamazoo 2035, so the map and the new districts work together to guide development;
Apply the districts directly to public and institutional land already functioning as green space or conservation land, and allow private owners to opt in;
Study which parcels across Kalamazoo's neighborhoods would benefit from these designations; and
Bring a draft framework back to the community for input and eventual implementation.
(If you are a resident of the City of Kalamazoo, it helps to indicate so in your signature line.)
Our proposed Green Zoning districts (at a glance):
A Conservation Zoning District would protect ecologically sensitive areas – prioritizing habitat, biodiversity, and ecological integrity with minimal human intervention.
A Green Space Zoning District would protect and promote publicly accessible green spaces – prioritizing community access, recreation, and public health.