A controversial proposal to rezone a portion of Kenwood, allowing for higher-density residential development in the neighborhood, will land in front of the Duluth City Council Monday. And if 2nd District Councilor Joel Sipress has his way, the body will reject the proposed ordinance, following the lead of the Duluth Planning Commission, which voted 7-1 on Nov. 13 to recommend the council deny the rezoning request.

Tom Boman, a Maryland Street resident, last week urged the council to maintain his neighborhood's R-1 single-family residential zoning, rather than opening the door to the higher-density development that could come with a zoning shift to R-2 urban housing.

"This was five months before the Planning Commission, and they voted to reject the proposal 7 to 1. The reasons were that it's a fully functioning and fully developed neighborhood. It is currently completely single-family residences, and lastly the neighbors are opposed."

Boman said he and his neighbors are "pretty united on our opposition to this change."

Eric Butche, who also calls the Kenwood neighborhood home, said: "It's not that we disagree with the city that we need more housing. We just think it's wrong to take single-family housing out of the equation. It's like trading one problem for another."

"Our neighborhood, as the planning commission noted ... is a functional and well-established neighborhood that has a lot of things going for it," he said.

Butche suggested it would be a mistake to undervalue the quality housing the neighborhood already provides.

"I think it would be a travesty to rezone our neighborhood, because what in effect you're doing is creating the possibility of taking out ... 20 to 30 individual residential houses, which would change the face of our neighborhood substantially, and it would not necessarily make it a better place. You may create more housing, but is it the kind of housing that would have a positive impact on our neighborhood?" he asked.

At an agenda session meeting Thursday night, Sipress gave fellow councilors a heads-up of his intention for Monday.

"As the district councilor (who represents that neighborhood) I suggest we vote on that Monday, and as some of you know, my recommendation is that we not approve that," he said.

Adam Fulton, manager of Duluth's community planning division, explained that city administration is turning to the City Council for direction.

"This area was designated for this rezoning in the 2006 comprehensive plan, and so it will be important for us to have an understanding of the council's direction here, as we get into that core investment planning for Kenwood and Arrowhead in a few years," he said.

Fulton said the City Council is the proper body to settle the matter, rather than the Planning Commision.

"The Planning Commission for the purposes of rezoning is simply a recommending body. They make a recommendation to the council, but they do not make final determinations about rezoning," he said.

Nevertheless, Sipress asked if it was unusual for a rezoning proposal to come to the council with a 7-1 negative recommendation from the Planning Commission

Keith Hamre, Duluth's director of planning and economic development, agreed it was.

But Hamre explained that staff proposed the rezoning in anticipation of development pressures "to make sure there was orderly development, so you didn't continue to see single-family houses converted into businesses."

Butche recommended councilors give weight to the Planning Commission's guidance.

"We just hope that you take into consideration what the Planning Commission had to say. They were, I think, really objective and diligent in coming to the conclusion that they did, and we hope you come to the same conclusion," he said.