City’s community development director retires, reflects on career | News

CADILLAC — One bit of advice John Wallace has for whoever is chosen to replace him as community development director for the city of Cadillac is this: ere on the side of seeking public feedback on key projects.

Wallace said it’s impossible for city officials to make decisions everyone will be happy with all the time but listening to what residents have to say is an essential part of the job.

Wallace retired last week after working 10 years for the city.

When he was hired in 2015, one of Wallace’s first duties was to oversee completion of the city’s master plan.

A lot has changed since that plan was approved and Wallace said while he would feel better about sticking around until a new master plan is finalized, he feels the time is right to slow down and spend more time with his family.

Last year was a tumultuous time in the city of Cadillac and Wallace did not escape some of the criticism that has been leveled at staff and council members by people in the community on a range of issues.

While Wallace is no stranger to public scrutiny, he said he never experienced quite the same level of personal animosity toward him as he did in Cadillac.

He thinks some of that animosity is “driven by personalities” but it also might stem from changes in urban development and planning that occurred during Wallace’s tenure with the city.

Prior to being hired in Cadillac, Wallace was assistant director of redevelopment for the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Wallace found out about the job opening in Cadillac from former director of community development Jerry Adams.

Adams for a time was Wallace’s supervisor at the WDBC Group, which was an architectural, engineering and planning firm based out of Grand Rapids.

Wallace said they worked together briefly in the 1980s and have been friends ever since.

Wallace has been in the industry a long time and one of the biggest changes he’s noticed is the types of uses allowed in the single-family zoning district.

At the top levels of the state and among influential planning organizations, Wallace said there has been a “desire to blow the concept of single-family zoning wide open.”

More and more, Wallace said municipalities in Michigan and elsewhere are being encouraged to diversify single-family zones and add uses that weren’t previously allowed, including daycare centers, adult care homes, transitional housing, accessory dwelling units and more.

Wallace said part of the push to diversify single-family districts was driven by a desire to end “red lining,” which is a discriminatory practice where financial institutions deny services like mortgages and loans to residents of specific neighborhoods, typically based on race or ethnicity.

While noble in spirit, Wallace said he thinks opening up single-family districts can go too far. He also thinks that having too much of a protectionist attitude toward these districts isn’t the right approach, either.

“I don’t think they have it entirely right or wrong,” said Wallace, whose approach to the issue in the city of Cadillac has been to try to balance the two viewpoints in a way that promotes growth while also protecting the essential nature of residential neighborhoods.

A use he thinks would be particularly valuable in the city of Cadillac is accessory dwelling units, which currently are not allowed in single-family districts.

Accessory dwelling units can be either inside or outside of a home, and can be rented out by the home owner. Some cities allow several accessory dwelling units per property, which Wallace thinks is excessive. He said one or two per property might be appropriate in Cadillac.

Wallace said he believes these would be a great housing option for young people just gaining their independence from their parents, and for elderly folks who would like to live near their families rather than an assisted living home.

Housing, in general, is another facet of Wallace’s job that’s changed considerably in recent years.

Wallace said there has been declining interest from developers in building single-family homes or new subdivisions in the city, because most people who live here couldn’t afford them.

Wallace said the average cost of building a single-family home is more than $300,000 nowadays — a price that is not affordable in this area. It’s part of the reason why Cadillac and Northern Michigan are experiencing a housing shortage crisis.

To get around this challenge, Wallace said more developers are looking at building multiple-family developments, which can still be profitable.

The Cadillac Lofts is an example of a multiple-family development, as is the North Lake Street Flats apartment complex that recently was approved for construction.

In order for these types of projects to be marginally successful, however, developers often need to secure numerous forms of financial assistance, including tax breaks, reimbursements for environmental cleanup costs, state grant incentives tied to housing projects and more.

In the city of Cadillac, they also need to be granted zoning flexibility.

Exceptions to the current zoning code had to be made for the Lofts, the North Lake Street Flats, and several more developments on the horizon. The intensity of use in these projects is what makes them viable from a financial standpoint but also non-compliant with current zoning standards in the city.

The number of parking spaces per resident is another zoning standard that would have prohibited both projects. Under the current zoning code, Wallace said the Cadillac Lofts needs about twice as much parking space.

Planners for some time have been rethinking how much space within a development should be reserved for parking. Wallace said part of the reformation came with the realization that most large parking lots are rarely more than half full, leaving the other half under-utilized and adding to the overall cost of the project.

“We thought we had it right,” Wallace said about past parking standards, which he believes were miscalculated and now are being revised to maximize the effective use of the property.

While Wallace has been accused of pushing projects that don’t fit the current zoning code or master plan — siding with developers over residents — he doesn’t agree with this viewpoint and added that part of the challenge for staff and developers is that the master plan is badly outdated and no longer reflective of market realities.

“There is almost zero land for multi-family development,” Wallace said. “Society is changing, so we need to change with it … If we want any housing at all, we’re not going to get it without flexibility.”

Spot zoning is a term that has been used to describe rezoning but Wallace said this concept is misunderstood.

It’s not automatically spot zoning if a property is rezoned to a district that is different than adjacent properties, as long as the new zoning is appropriate for the area, Wallace said.

A factory being built in the middle of a residential neighborhood is an obvious example of spot zoning but more often than not, the circumstances are more nuanced than that.

Short-term rentals are another topic that has generated conflict in the city and Wallace said part of the problem has to do with the city not having an STR policy in place until a few years ago.

“If we had picked it up earlier, we could have created policy to avoid controversy,” Wallace said.

While there have been ups and downs during his time at the city, Wallace said a project he’s particularly proud to have been a part of is the Cadillac Commons.

Comprised of the Rotary Performing Arts Pavilion, Splashpad, Trailhead, Market and City Park, the Commons took several years to finish.

Having five “placemaking venues” within 600 feet of each other in the downtown area allows for larger, stronger community events and a vibrant shared space, Wallace said.

Wallace’s final day with the city was Wednesday of last week.

The city will be seeking bids from companies interested in doing consulting work on community development projects until a new director can be found.

• After 10 years as community development director for the city of Cadillac, John Wallace is retiring. • Wallace said a lot has changed in zoning philosophy during his time with the city, including how people view the single-family zoning district, housing and other issues. • Wallace may eventually work as a part-time consultant for the city on projects he is especially familiar with. The city also will be seeking bids from companies interesting in doing consulting work on community development projects until a new director can be found.