PORTAGE, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The Portage city council has approved rezoning the Lake Center commercial corridor, angering some existing business owners.
The idea is to alter the Portage Road corridor south of Centre Avenue into a more pedestrian-friendly area that caters to the homeowners living nearby, with restaurants and stores, and new residential structures on what had been commercial properties.
Mayor Patricia Randall likes the vision.
They heard opposition from existing business owners and their lawyers, who argue it could impose limits on their growth, expansion and new construction.
Development consultant Joe Agostinelli supports the rezoning. He happens to live nearby and says it could give Portage something its always wanted.
“Creating what I view essentially as Portage’s downtown. Someday, out into the future, but you need to start somewhere and I applaud the effort to do that.”
The vote to approve the zoning was unanimous, despite the opposition.
It could take years or decades for the area to evolve into the kind of neighborhood that city officials envision.
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