Re-zoning issue settled in Houghton Co.
The Houghton City Council has agreed to accept the re-zoning of the former Good Will Farm Property near Michigan Tech University. It has been an on-going issue for several weeks but the council decided it was time to close the case. Developer Jonathan Julien was interested in building apartments on the site but zoning laws made it difficult. Houghton City Manager Scott MacInnes says Julien’s proposal required the assistance of the council.
“The developer felt there was a very significant need for one bedroom apartments here, especially to help Michigan Tech grow their graduate program,” MacInnes said. “And that was what he wanted to do but our zoning density problem we had would not allow that so we had to have our zoning changed.”
MacInnes also adds that the benefits of the rezoning stretch further than the direct benefit it provides to Michigan Tech students.
“I think that the more students we can get living closer to Michigan Tech, it helps as far as with traffic and congestion. It helps reduce the number of people who want to live in our single-family neighborhoods. We have a lot of parents that come up and buy houses in our single-family neighborhoods. I think this will provide adequate housing for a lot of those people right close to campus.”
Now that the proposal has been passed, Julien will look to officially purchase the property and begin his project.