Traverse City Zoning Overhaul Resumes April 7, Addressing Drive-Thrus and Farmers Markets

A controversial proposal for a new car wash on East Front Street has helped push auto uses to the front of Traverse City's zoning agenda, as planning commissioners prepare to resume a long-delayed overhaul of the city's zoning ordinance at their April 7 meeting.

The March 17 planning commission session was cancelled due to continued winter storm impacts, pushing the discussions back nearly three weeks. When commissioners reconvene April 7, two near-term text amendments will be among the first items on deck: one to clarify the legal standing of farmers markets in city parks, and another to tighten regulations on drive-throughs and car washes.

On the farmers market question, the proposed change would amend the zoning ordinance to "expressly list municipal markets as an allowed use in the OS: Open Space District." The reasoning, according to written language attributed to Winter, is to "remove confusion regarding this issue, provide greater clarity on its continued operation, and remove any nonconformity barriers to the operation." Planning commissioners could discuss the proposal in April and then set a public hearing on the change for their May meeting.

The drive-through and car wash amendment arrives with more friction behind it. The controversial East Front Street car wash proposal brought the issue of auto uses into sharp focus for commissioners, and stricter drive-thru regulations are now explicitly part of the April 7 conversation. Together, the two text amendments are being treated as a head start on the city's broader zoning rewrite rather than standalone fixes.

That larger rewrite is expected to occupy planning commissioners for much of 2026. Initial April discussions will address substantive changes commissioners want to see in a new code, including possibly combining or creating entirely new zoning districts, incorporating new uses, and revising development standards. Some commissioners have already signaled specific priorities: reducing setbacks and allowing more 45-foot buildings to reach 60 feet in height, a threshold made strategically significant by ballot referendum restrictions that now apply to any structure exceeding 60 feet.

The farmers market amendment, if it moves on the expected timeline, could reach a public hearing as soon as May, making it one of the first concrete products of a rewrite process that will reshape how Traverse City grows.