Page 10/The Sun and News, Saturday, June 3, 2023121 E. Main Street
Downtown Middleville(269) 795-LIGHT TRUCK PARTS
USED PARTS • PICK UPS • ONE TONS • VANS • SUV’S • JEEPS • 4X4SFULL SERVICE & YOU PULL IT
269-381-
USED PARTS USED TIRES
1811 LAKE ST., KALAMAZOO
QUESTIONS:ASK US... Sisters Fabrics
218 E. State St., Hastings • 945-
OPEN: Monday-Friday 8 am-5:30 pm;
Saturday 9 am-3 pm
Pray for our Service People!
QUESTIONS:
ASK US...
Sisters Fabrics
218 E. State St., Hastings • 945-
OPEN: Monday-Thursday 8 am-5:30 pm;
Friday 8 am-7 pm; Saturday 9 am-5:30 pm❀
❀
- Hulst Cleaners Pick-Up Station
Enjoy Spring
with pretty cottons
Make pillows, curtains,
quilts, more...
For Rent
CALEDONIA RURAL RES-
IDENTIAL, 2 bedroom, 1
bath in lower level of walk-
out ranch. Large master
bedroom with walk-in clos-
et, utilities included. No
Pets, No Smoking. $1,500/
month, references. 616-
891-8211.Garage Sale
2 GARAGE SALES: Several
household items, small ap-
pliances, bedding, luggage,
electric fixtures, clothing,
crafts, round white table-
cloths. Thurs.-Sat., June 8, 9
& 10th, 2023. 9:00am-5:00pm.
132 & 140 Grand Rapids St.,
Middleville.Business Services
MICHIGAN TREE FELLERS
LLC- Licensed and insured.
Call for free estimates. 269-
838-1782.CONSTRUCTION: ADDI-
TIONS, REMODELING,
Roofing, Siding, Pole Barns
& Decks. Licensed builder 25
years. Tom Beard, 269-838-
5937.MATT ENDSLEY, FABRI-
CATION and repair, custom
trailers, buckets, bale spears,
etc. Call 269-804-7506.BUYING ALL HARD-
WOODS: Walnut, White
Oak, Tulip Poplar. Call for
pricing. Will buy single
Walnut trees. Insured, lia-
bility & workman’s comp.
Fetterley Logging, (269)818-
7793.Pets
LAB PUPPIES, VERY cute &
adorable. 1st shots and de-
wormed. Mom on site. $300.
517-726-0706.DOG GROOMING. QUAL-
ITY local groomer at reason-
able rates. 269-331-9999.KING CHARLES CAVAIL-
ER Spaniel/Mini Poodle
Cross Puppies For Sale-
Family raised, dewormed
and vaccinated. $400. Pic-
tures available. Call 517-
852-2173.Help Wanted
ANIMAL CARE/KENNEL
ASSISTANT: Seeking part
time help (10-15 hours/
week) for a private show
dog kennel. Responsibil-
ities will include cleaning
kennels, feeding/walking
dogs and other daily care.
Flexible working around
school/sports schedules,
weekends/occasional holi-
days will be required. Will
train on all tasks! Pay is
competitive with other entry
level jobs. Located south of
Middleville. Please contact
by email, kaybelter@gmail.
com or text 616-808-6460.Gaines Township Planning Commission approves
site plan for daycare building expansion at
Kentwood Community Church
James Gemmell
Contributing Writer
Some development activity
will soon take place at the
Kentwood Community
Church in Gaines Charter
Township.
The planning commission
has approved a site plan for a
building addition on the back
of the existing daycare opera-
tion at the church.
In April, the township
board passed an amendment
to the township’s office-ser-
vice zoning that allowed the
operation of an expanded
daycare facility at the church,
1200 60th St., west of
Kalamazoo Avenue.
At its May 25 meeting, the
township planning commis-
sion roll-call voted 7-0 to
approve the site plan for the
7,138-square-foot addition to
the daycare center. It will
operate in the township’s
office-service (O-S) zoning
district.
Orion Construction is the
project applicant.
Township staff recom-
mended the approval of the
plan on the condition that any
landscaping removed during
construction be replanted.
Also, the township engineer
and local fire department
must approve the plan.
Project Engineer Robb
Lamer with Exxel
Engineering drew up the site
plan for the daycare addition
to the south side of the exist-
ing building. It complies with
the township’s recently
adopted master plan because
it has a compatible use with
the church. The project will
replace the existing play-
ground and wood chip area.
“It’s really fun to work
with a project where there’s a
lot of space. There is a thriv-
ing business that wants to
expand, and it seems like this
is the perfect fit for it,” Lamer
told the planning commis-
sion.
There are multiple access
points around the existing
facility. Additionally, it has a
lot of green space, which
engineers believe will help
address stormwater runoff. A
special-use permit was recent-
ly approved for the use of the
property.
“I do believe we’re going
to help the neighbors’ runoff.
I really do think that’s proba-
bly going to happen,”
Planning Commission
Chairwoman Connie Giarmo
said.
“There’s plenty of parking
for this additional use,” town-
ship Community
Development Director Dan
Wells said.
Meanwhile, a separate
project calling for a
multi-family townhouse
development adjacent to the
church still has several hur-
dles to clear.
The planning commission
voted 6-1 to approve a request
from Orion Construction to
conditionally rezone two par-
cels, or 30 acres, from resi-
dential (RL-10) and
office-service (O-S) to multi-
ple-family residential (R-3).
The conditions include future
modifications to the zoning
contract and provisions
regarding the 61st Street right
of way.
Commissioner Tim
Haagsma cast the only “no”
vote.
Right now, KCC owns the
property. It would be divided
into two parcels at 1200 60th
St. and 1326 60th St.
In April, the planning com-
mission tabled the rezoning
request. Orion proposed
building 152 market-rate
townhome units on the west-
ern parcel and 124 units on
the northern parcel. Each
would be single-entrance or
single-family units. There
will be no apartments. The
church would be split off
from the overall develop-
ment, meaning the church
would have to sell the proper-
ty first.
Several citizens spoke
against the proposed project
in a public hearing at the
April meeting, citing flood-
ing, traffic congestion and
impact on wildlife as primary
concerns. The developer
would have to build retention
ponds and drainage outlets to
prevent runoff and flooding.
Wells noted that 61st Street
will remain as it is and will
not be connected to the devel-
opment. An existing road stub
will be abandoned or “vacat-ed” on the property.
“They’re reconfiguring
some of the drive lanes to
show that there will not be a
road going into 61st Street,”
Wells said.
However, the developer
has an agreement with the
church to use the south drive
going out to Ridgebrook
Avenue. So, there will be two
drives in the development.
There was no public hear-
ing at the May 25 planning
commission meeting.
However, several citizens
were given the opportunity to
speak about the proposed
development during the pub-
lic comment period.
Wells said Orion will have
to present a site plan to the
township for review. It is still
working on engineering
aspects of the plan, including
how to address stormwater.
He said it does comply with
the township’s recently
adopted Future Land Use
Plan, which envisions a vil-
lage-residential development
such as townhouses.
There is a portion of the
property on the northwest
corner that is zoned RL-10,
but the township master plan
allows for a slight deviation
because the land is part of a
larger development that is
zoned R-3.
Township staff recom-
mended approval of the
rezoning request. But
Haagsma called the site plan
“terrible,” pointing out that it
shows no open space or recre-
ational uses. He said the con-
tract negotiated between the
township attorney and the
developer’s attorney specifi-
cally refers to the site plan.
Haagsma said he prefers
that the development be under
a planned unit development
(PUD) rather than conditional
rezoning because a PUD
allows the planning commis-
sion to have some say in how
the development is laid out.
“What hammer do we have
when the next site plan comes
in — and we don’t like it —
and then the developer says,
‘Well, it’s conditional-re-
zoned.’ What hammer do we
have back that says we can
tweak the site plan to what we
wanted to see?” Haagsmaasked.
Wells replied that the
rezoning would be to R-
standards. The developer will
have to meet those standards
or be denied.
“It’s just like a plat, where
you have a piece of land that’s
future-zoned for a certain
thing. If they meet those stan-
dards, it’s pretty much a
by-right thing,” Wells said.
“Then, I don’t like our R-
standards being applied to
this parcel,” Haagsma said.
“The way they’re currently
written I don’t think gives us
enough power to get things
on this site that we want.”
“We don’t have the ability
to make sure the site plan will
be the way we want it,”
Giarmo said.
Wells said the developer’s
final site plan could be
attached to the contract, so
commissioners will know
exactly what is being planned
for the site. The site plan will
be submitted this summer for
review.
A spokesman for the devel-
oper said the existing wet-
lands will be enhanced, and
the drainage down to 61st will
be improved. In addition,
there will be a dedicated com-
mon area with walking pathsthat will connect to sidewalks
throughout the development.
Haagsma said he would
like a park or open space in
the plan.
“I’m not going to tell them
they have to have a communi-
ty center. But if they had that.
It would be really great if they
had some kind of playground
or recreational facility or a
soccer field. They’re building
right over top of two existing
softball diamonds ... things
that would (allow) the resi-
dents to have some activity
outside,” Haagsma said.
He added that recreational
areas would help the develop-
er market the property and
entice people to live there.
The developer said the cost
of the townhomes has yet to
be solidified, but some of
them would be long-term
rental units. Additionally,
some units would be sold.
There would be two building
types. One would have a back
loaded garage with sidewalks
in front of the home. The
other would be more of a
standard townhome with a
typical garage facing the
street.
The township board will
hold a public hearing on the
final site plan at a later date.Several citizens attended and spoke at the May 25
Gaines Township Planning Commission meeting. A
proposed residential development adjacent to
Kentwood Community Church was one of the topics.
(Photos by James Gemmell)The Gaines Township Planning Commission
reviewed a proposed multi-family residential devel-
opment on 60th Street at its May 25 meeting.