Public Comment on Conservation and Green Space Zoning at Environmental Concerns Committee Meeting

On 9/16/26, ALPA board member Tom Howes delivered a public comment to the Environmental Concerns Committee (ECC) on ALPA’s proposal for conservation and green-space zoning districts. In ALPA’s comment, Howes responded to concerns the Planning Commission had raised just a few weeks earlier. Among the concerns was a claim that one of ALPA’s environmental ordinance examples (yet to be identified by city staff) from another city had actually been repealed. An ECC member responded after public comments, identifying the repealed ordinance for ALPA. Howes returned later in the meeting to clarify that the repealed ordinance, though similar in name, was actually different than the still-active example in ALPA’s proposal letter.

The conversation on the proposal for new green zoning districts later continued with a dynamic exchange (see second video) between the ECC board and City Planner Christina Anderson. This meeting was also covered in an article by the Public Media Network.

ALPA-Designed Conservation and Green Zoning Districts Introduced at City Planning Commission Meeting

On 9/3/26, the Kalamazoo City Planning Commission discussed “green” zoning for the first time. Listen to that discussion in the video below. Just two weeks prior, the Environmental Concerns Committee voted unanimously to send ALPA’s five-point proposal (which included a new conservation zoning district and green space zoning district) to the City Planning Commission for consideration. Though the deliberation here was brief, the subject remains active at the city level. More news to come.

Environmental Concerns Committee Votes to Recommend Two New Green Zoning Districts to the City Commission

The Environmental Concerns Committee voted unanimously on 8/19/26 to recommend that the City Commission direct City Planning to establish Green Space and Conservation zoning districts in the City's zoning ordinance. We're proud that this recommendation goes forward alongside a 3-page letter ALPA prepared, proposing the two districts and laying out the case for them.

Currently, Kalamazoo has no zoning designation that fits lands like the Asylum Lake Preserve (which is currently zoned 'Residential') or the many other publicly used green spaces and conservation lands across the city.

Our letter to this commission and the city at large ends with the following requests:

1. Create a Green Space Zoning District and a Conservation Zoning District in our zoning ordinance;

2. 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;

3. Apply the districts directly to public and institutional land already functioning as green space or conservation land, and allow private owners to opt in;

4. Study which parcels across Kalamazoo's neighborhoods would benefit from these designations; and

5. Bring a draft framework back to the community for input and eventual implementation.