SN 5.15.2021

Page 10/The Sun and News, Saturday, May 15, 2021

Caledonia village approves sign variance for optometrist office

Makes no decision on zoning change for private lot

Greg Chandler

Staff Writer

A Caledonia optometrist

won’t have to remove the

wall sign advertising her

business after the village

council, functioning as the

zoning board of appeals,

approved a variance

Thursday night.

Dr. Jennifer Nichols, who

owns Caledonia Vision

Center at 9809 Cherry Valley

Ave., received approval for a

variance to the village sign

ordinance, which says no

wall sign in the C-2 commer-

cial zoning district can be

more than 30 square feet.

The sign above the entrance

is 84 square feet.

Nichols had the sign

installed at the end of last

year, but didn’t realize that

she needed village approval

or that the sign did not con-

form to the ordinance. She

had read a portion of the

ordinance that said it would

allow signs of up to 100

square feet, but did not see

the portion of the ordinance

limiting wall signs to 30

square feet.

“We didn’t realize it was

going to be necessary,”

Nichols said. “It was an hon-

est mistake. We weren’t try-

ing to pull a fast one.”

Nichols said she wanted to

make the sign visible enough

to be seen from M-37/Cherry

Valley Avenue. She and her

husband, Justin, pointed out

that wall signs at two neigh-

boring businesses – Fox Pre-

Owned Sales and Wagner

Detailing – both exceeded

the 30-square-foot limit for

wall signs.

Council members agreed

with Nichols’ concern about

visibility from the road. Even

more significantly, they

sided with her position that a

dense tree barrier north of

the business blocked visibili-

ty for southbound motorists

on M-37.

“I believe the trees to the

north really hinders [visibili-

ty],” Trustee Gerrianne

Schuler said. “It makes it

hard to see.”

Nichols said she could not

have a ground sign installed

for the business because of

the terms of her Small

Business Administration

loan.

The sign for Caledonia

Vision came up as an issue

after a neighboring business

called the village to com-

plain about the size.

“We go in and investigate

what is going on and take it

from there,” said Lance

Gates of Imperial Municipal

Services, who performs zon-

ing administration duties for

the village.

As part of the council’s

approval, the variance is spe-

cific only to Caledonia

Vision; a future business

operating out of that building

would have to abide by the

sign ordinance restrictions.

Also Thursday, the coun-

cil held off deciding on a

request to split the lot at 404

E. Main St. Property owner

Jake Thomas is proposing to

split the lot into a

10,560-square-foot lot where

the house currently sits and a

6,600-square-foot lot, which

has a barn and where Thomas

proposes to rebuild into a

two-story residence with two

bedrooms and 1 1/2 baths.

“It would be more cost-ef-

fective to save the building

than to tear it down and start

over,” Thomas said.

The property is on the cor-

ner of Main and Maple

streets. Several neighbors

objected to the project over

concerns of increased traffic

on Main Street and plans by

Thomas to rent out the

remodeled structure.

“Rental properties don’t

get invested in the same way

as a personal [owner-occu-

pied] dwelling,” said Kim

Peters, who lives two houses

away and serves on the plan-

ning commission.

The property is zoned R-

residential. The zoning ordi-

nance for that district

requires a minimum lot

width of 80 feet and a mini-

mum lot size of 10,

square feet. The lot where

Thomas proposes to rebuild

the barn has a proposed

width of 50 feet.

Village Manager Jeff

Thornton pointed out that

one of the lots immediately

across the street from

Thomas’ property has a

width of 48 feet, but that

house was built long before

the current zoning ordinance

standards were adopted. He

also said he has had contact

with a property owner who

wants to build a tiny house

on his property.

“The village is almost

built out,” Thornton said. “I

can see where there’s going

to be more of these requests

in the future.”

In addition to the lot size

variance, Thomas also is

seeking variances for the size

of the remodeled barn and

the setback. The ordinance

requires a minimum of 700

square feet on the main floor

for any dwelling and at least

a 7-foot side setback. The

structure is currently 640

square feet and is set back 6

feet, 2 inches from the rear

property line.

The council will resume

discussion on Thomas’ vari-

ance request Tuesday, June

8.

160502

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

The Middleville Village Council will hold a public hearing to receive public comment

on a proposed project for sewer main lining and replacement on Greenwood Street

at 7:00 pm on May 25, 2021 in the Council Chambers of the Village Hall, 100 E.

Main Street, Middleville, MI 49333, and via electronic means using ZOOM online

video conferencing.

A GRANT APPLICATION TO REPAIR THE AGING INFRASTRUCTURE BY

LINING SEWER MAINS, REMOVING AND REPLACING EXISTING SEWER

MAIN THAT HAS SHIFTED AND NO LONGER PROPERLY ALIGNED WILL BE

THE SUBJECT OF THIS HEARING.

Members of the public wishing to participate in the public hearing must do

so electronically via the following website address https://us02web.zoom.

us/j/88461432229, Meeting ID 884 6143 2229, Passcode Village. Detailed

instructions for joining the video conference of the meeting and providing public

comments via video conference are included below.

PUBLIC NOTICE IS FURTHER PROVIDED THAT, due to social distancing

requirements and physical constraints at the Village Hall, members of the public

wishing to attend the meeting in person must contact the Village Clerk prior to May

25, 2021 at 4:00 pm to make arrangements for participation.

Posted: May 12, 2021

Glorimar Ayala

Village Clerk

Board approves industrial development

district for Mobile Defenders

James Gemmell
Contributing Writer
Kentwood-based electron-
ic-parts supplier Mobile
Defenders made clear in its
pitch to the Gaines Charter
Township Board May 10 that
it is serious about doing
long-term business in the
township – not just con-
structing a building to turn
around and remarket.
At the meeting, the town-
ship board gave final approv-
al for establishment of an
industrial development dis-
trict for the $6 million build-
ing, to be built at 6155 East
Paris Ave. SE. The next step
will be for Mobile Defenders
to apply for an Industrial
Facilities Tax certificate, in
order to receive a tax abate-
ment on construction costs.
“Initially, we’re going to
occupy roughly 50 percent of
that building. And we plan,
over the next number of
years, expanding into the
building in its entirety. We’re
planning ahead for growth of
that. In fact, earlier today
[May 10], I signed a lease for
some temporary space,
because we’re running out of
space in our current location

[3990 44th St. SE],” the

company’s vice president of

operations, Eric Baum, told

the township board.

Also addressing the town-

ship board on the behalf of

Mobile Defenders was Jon

Andersh, an associate in the

Miller Johnson law firm’s

real-estate arm. He noted that

there had been some concern

raised at a previous board

meeting about the fact

Mobile Defenders won’t be

occupying the entire building

right away. And that it might

be considered by some to be

a “speculative building” not

eligible for the IFT certifi-

cate.

The statute that pertains to

IFT certificates defines a

speculative building as one

that is built for manufactur-

ing before a specific user has

been identified. That is

according to Andersh, who

pointed out that Mobile

Defenders has already been

identified as the specific user.

“Mobile Defenders isn’t

building a building that is a

shell that they’re going to

market with no intent to

occupy,” he said. “This com-

pany is going to occupy that

building from Day One. And

they’re building a bigger

building than they need from

the outset, because they

intend to grow with the help

of certain tax savings that

would be available under this

IFT certificate.”

But Andersh admitted that

no manufacturing tenants

have been identified yet for

the unoccupied portion of the

building.

Baum told the township

board the lease he signed for

some temporary space in the

building is “indicative of the

opportunity that we see mov-

ing forward in this space.

We’re excited to do that in

this area. We’ve made some

investment in this area

already. And we’re commit-

ted to it with the workforce

and developing in the com-

munity, as well.”

Township Planner Dan

Wells told the Sun and

News that Mobile Defenders

likely will apply for the

Industrial Facilities Tax cer-

tificate at a public hearing in

June or July. “It’s basically a

special tax applied at a lower

rate,” Wells said.

issues and space limitations

that are present at this time,”

Smith said.

Kelly Robbins, another

resident committee member,

said the wants and needs of

those who work in the office

seemed reasonable.

“Quite frankly, a lot of

townships who are a lot

smaller than we are already

have what Yankee Springs is

asking for,” Robbins said.

The other resident

committee members are

Marcia Clark and Diane

Gaertner. Also on the

committee are Cunningham,

Deputy Clerk Marge

VanderMeyden, Treasurer

Deb Mousseau, Deputy

Treasurer Alice Jansma,

Assessor Dan Scheuerman

and Zoning Assistant Sandy

Marcukaitis.

While any renovation of

the hall is some time away,

Cunningham brought up

some immediate concerns,

most notably the condition of

the floor in the office. He

proposed having Fleis &

VandenBrink do a study of

the floor and its support to

see if any improvements

might be needed.

“This question about the

floor condition haunts us at

every turn, when we talk

about what to do in the office

and with the office. I’d like to

get some clarity on it,”

Cunningham said, noting that

it would be about a $

expense.

Knowles supported the

idea.

“I would like to hope that

if they seem to think it’s an

emergency, that we can come

up with a way to brace the

floor temporarily until we

plan for the renovation,”

Knowles said.

But Trustee Dave Van

Houten wondered if the study

could wait until a decision is

made on the committee’s

recommendation on the

renovation.

“It seems like if we can

just hold off a month or two

until they’re done with their

work, we would better

know,” Van Houten said.

Cunningham proposed a

special meeting focused

solely on the renovation

project because of the time

he feels is needed for

discussion.

“It’s just too big, too

much discussion needed to

[cover in] 15 to 20 minutes in

one of our regular meetings,”

he said.

No date for the special

meeting has been set.

Robbins said she had

concerns about the renovation

project when it was proposed

in 2019, but after hearing

from employees and official,

she has a much different

feeling about it.

“I feel that this whole

process has given me a lot

more confidence in what is

happening, has given me a

lot of reassurance that the

township is asking for

reasonable things, that

they’re doing their due

diligence, that they’re

following a process. I feel

confident that whatever is

decided, it’s going to address

the current needs of the staff

and anticipate things what

they might need in the

future,” she said.

Area students receive GVSU awards

Three area students have

been selected to receive

awards for academic excel-

lence and their contribution

to Grand Valley State

University.

Two Caledonia High

School students have been

awarded Academic

Excellence Awards:

Anna Stover, who is sup-

ported by Marc and Jean

Stover, received the

Academic Excellence Award

for Mathematics.

Jordan Pattison, who is

supported by Mark and

Sandy Pattison, received the

Academic Excellence Award

for Economics.

The Academic Excellence

Award honors one under-

graduate student and one

graduate student in each aca-

demic major. Faculty from

each department select the

award recipient for their aca-

demic major.

Hannah Kelly of

Middleville was awarded the

Thomas M. Seykora Award

for Outstanding Contribution

for writing. Kelly, a graduate

of Thornapple Kellogg High

School, is supported by

Laura Johnson-Kelly and

Tim Kelly.

The Seykora award recog-

nizes seniors who, through

their involvement, make sig-

nificant contributions to the

GVSU campus community.

PLANS, continued from page 1

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