Page 8/The Sun and News, Saturday, August 5, 2023Gaines planners recommend township approval of
electric vehicle charging stations PUD amendment
James Gemmell
Contributing Writer
The Gaines Township
Planning Commission is rec-
ommending the township
board approve the installa-
tion of a dozen electric vehi-
cle charging stations in a
parking lot of the Gaines
MarketPlace shopping cen-
ter.
At its meeting on July 27,
the planning commission
voted 4-0 to recommend
approval of a major amend-
ment to the planned unit
development (PUD) to allow
the 12 high-speed Tesla Inc.
“supercharging” stations to
be mounted along
MarketPlace Drive in the
Meijer parking lot, east of
Kalamazoo Avenue, between
M-6 and 68th Street.
The vote was taken after a
public hearing. Absent from
the meeting were commis-
sioners Tim Haagsma,
Talimma Billips and Brad
Waayenberg.
The stations would service
Tesla vehicles and take about
30 minutes to recharge a car
so it can run up to 200 miles.
They would be the first
charging stations of that
scale in Gaines Township
and would be accessible 24
hours a day. The stations
would be illuminated by
three 20-foot-tall light poles.
Township staff has recom-
mended that soft lighting be
used so it doesn’t bother res-
idents living in the neighbor-
hood immediately south of
MarketPlace Drive.
Tesla has partnered with
Meijer on similar projects in
Michigan and in the Midwest.
Vehicles would back into the
12 stalls and face the store
about 100 yards to the north.
Tesla would install oneADA-accessible charging
station on the west end of the
project. On the east end, four
parking spaces would be
removed and converted into
an island for some electronic
equipment needed to operate
the charging stations.
“The township board will
review it. They’ll set and
hold a public hearing on it.
So, they’ll go through a sim-
ilar process as tonight,”
Community Development
Director Dan Wells said after
the meeting.
“Tesla is going to provide
some additional materials to
us for the board to look at,
but I think it’s a reasonable
request. And we’ll see how
the board feels about it,” he
said.
Jordan Rhyne, the devel-
opment lead for Tesla’s
charging infrastructure pro-
gram, said the electric vehi-
cle manufacturer has leased
space in the parking lot. It
would use Consumers
Energy to power the
EV-charging stations.
Wells said the proposed
PUD amendment meets sev-
eral required standards,
including provisions of the
township’s new master plan
that envision charging sta-
tions being added in desig-
nated areas.
In the future, charging sta-
tions will be regulated under
the new township zoning
ordinance that is being for-
mulated this year. Wells said
the project’s proposed layout
will meet the township’s
landscaping standards once
changes are made to some of
the aesthetics.
“Really, we were focused
on the visual impacts of this
project on that area, especial-
ly the homes to the south,
across MarketPlace Drive.
They have provided some
additional landscaping plans.Staff does believe that the
landscaping will now cover
up the visual impact of that,”
Wells said.
At the public hearing,
township resident Shawna
Gipe said she was concerned
about the potential impact of
the Tesla charging stations
on the local power grid.
“We’ve already added
Amazon and Kohl’s, and I
work at a business next door.
We have a drain on power
right now. So, what is this
going to do to our power grid
going forward?” she asked.
Rhyne responded that he
would have to refer ques-
tions about electrical capaci-
ty to the utility company
(Consumers Energy) that
would provide the power.
“We go through the same
process that any new appli-
cant or utility service would
go through,” he said.
Resident Dan Root asked
who is paying for the elec-
tricity to charge the vehicles.
“The customer pays for the
charging services,” Rhyne
replied. “All the fees for the
electricity that’s used gets
passed to the customer who is
actually consuming it.”
Another resident, Brian
Koster, asked if there are fire
hazards associated with the
charging stations. Wells
answered that question.
“The fire department hasevaluated the risks related to
car batteries and having
charging stations at this loca-
tion. They signed off on it,”
Wells said.
Planning Commissioner
Ryan Wiersema asked about
lighting plans for the project
and whether some existing
trees will pose a problem.
“I’m just curious if that
would not get in the way of
those full trees that are there
and if it would still provide
ample light that is needed,”
he said.
“I think it will ... I don’t
think there will be any inter-
ference,” Wells replied.
He noted that some ever-
greens will be planted but
will only be 10 to 12 feet tall.
Wiersema also said he was
concerned about potentially
inadequate screening for the
transformer that would be
installed near the street. He
said the site plan calls for one
of the access gates to face
MarketPlace Drive.
“It just doesn’t seem to me
that there are evergreen trees
around the transformer
blocking it from the street.
So ... the neighbors across
the street would see that,” he
said.
“Personally, I think it’s
adequate,” Wells responded.
“I mean, this is an industrial
installation. It’s got that
aspect to it. I don’t think thattransformer is really large.
There’s a plan for an ever-
green to be there. There’s an
existing tree. I don’t think
it’ll be that noticeable. It’s
going to blend in with the
landscaping.”
There will be no screening
around the charging stations
themselves. But Rhyne said
there would be screens
around the electrical equip-
ment that connects to them.
Vice Chairwoman Ronnie
Rober asked if 12 charging
stations is a typical number
to be installed at a site.
“Twelve charging stations
means 12 cars can be plugged
in at the same time,” Rhyne
replied. “In most cases, that’s
adequate. That’s kind of our
standard number we’ll build
if we’re developing a new
site like this. As electrical
vehicle usage grows and
there are more of these cars
on the road, we plan for
future expansions.
“For example, we have
some sites at Meijer in
Illinois, in the Chicagoland
suburbs, where there’s a
higher density of people with
electric vehicles. We started
with 8 or 12 stalls, and
they’ve actually expanded to
about 20 or even 30 super-
charger stalls.”
The chargers don’t gener-
ate much noise, other than
the cooling fans that activate
on hot days.
Planning Commission
Chairwoman Connie Giarmo
asked that Tesla have a photo
of the supercharger available
for the township board to
look at when it meets to dis-
cuss the major PUD amend-
ment. The amendment is
required because charging
stations are not defined in the
current township zoning
ordinance. They will be in
the new ordinance.
Township staff have said
they do not anticipate that
the charging stations would
create traffic congestion or
hazards.68
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FarmBureauInsurance.comTesla Inc. development lead Jordan Rhyne dis-
cusses plans for EV-charging stations in the Meijer
parking lot at the July 27 Gaines Township planning
commission meeting. (Photo by James Gemmell)
A good-sized crowd listens to Gaines planning commissioners discuss the
proposed car charging stations along MarketPlace Drive.