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Hancock’s planning commission will set a public hearing in May to consider map updates in the city’s zoning. Hancock will consider three amendments dealing with updating the zoning map in the areas of the former Finlandia University campus, M-203, and Cliff Drive.
What I’ve been involved with this whole process is the fact that you don’t rezone just for a developer, like when I deal with NADC, because the developers don’t want to invest any money and time without knowing that it’s a probability that they can do it. So that is a concern for me as the person that’s trying to navigate this field. And we could put off our developer event if need be. – Mary Babcock, City Manager, City of Hancock
The city plans to develop tour areas of the city in June and will need to fix sections of the zoning that were missed when Hancock approved the map in 2023. The changes will also take into consideration that the city’s zoning map was approved around the same time that Finlandia University announced its closure. Since then the campus properties have been sold, with the city retaining control of three buildings on the east side.
Additionally, the city has rescheduled the May planning commission meeting to have items ready in time for June. The public hearing for the zoning updates will take place before the commission’s regular items on May 20th.
A final item was tabled so a developer could provide more information to Hancock before approving a project at 1002 Minnesota Street.
