The Sun and News, Saturday, June 3, 2023/ Page 7

Tesla proposes to install EV charging stations in

parking lot adjacent to Meijer in Gaines Marketplace

James Gemmell
Contributing Writer
The Gaines Township
Planning Commission has lis-
tened to a preliminary pitch
from Tesla Inc. to install a
dozen electric vehicle
charging stations in the Meijer
parking lot of the Gaines
Marketplace shopping center.
Vehicles would back into
the charging stalls and face
the store.
Jordan Rhyne, a market
leader in charging infrastruc-
ture for Tesla, gave a presen-
tation to commissioners at
their May 25 meeting in the
township hall. It was a pre-
liminary review for a pro-
posed major Planned Unit
Development amendment.
Commissioners voice-voted
7-0 to set a public hearing for
their June 22 meeting. The
applicant also must submit
photometric plans pertaining
to the brightness of the lights
that will be illuminating the
charging stations at night for
the planning commission to
consider at the hearing.
Rhyne said that Tesla has
leased space in the parking lot
at 1801 Marketplace Dr.,
which runs east of Kalamazoo
Avenue, north of 68th Street.
The company is proposing to
install the “supercharging”
stations on the south side of
the lot. They would service
Tesla vehicles and take about
15 minutes to recharge a vehi-
cle so it can run up to 200
miles.
“This would be the first
charging station in the town-
ship that’s of this scale,”
Community Development
Director Dan Wells said.
“There are 12 stalls with
some related infrastructure,
kind of a small transformer
and electrical connections.”
On behalf of Tesla, SMJ
International Zoning and
Permitting Manager Aaron
Adelman sent the township a
letter explaining the proposal
in more detail. It said that
Tesla would install one ADA-
accessible charging station on
the west end of the stalls. At
the east end, four parking
spaces would be removed and
converted into an island for
some electronic equipment
needed to operate the charging
stations. Consumers Energy
would power them.
Rhyne said the site was
chosen because it has a large
parking lot.
“We get a lot of direction
on our site selection from
Meijer where we can be on
their property,” he said. “We
have a great relationship with
them. We know they’re based
here. So, I’m in and out of
metro Grand Rapids fairly
often to meet with them. In
general, they often look at
where their existing parking
pressure is from their
non-Tesla customers. The
other main thing they look at
is their future potential out lot
development.”

Rhyne said Tesla considers

utility access when choosing

a site because it needs a dedi-

cated utility service for all its

EV-charging projects.

The new master plan that

the township board adopted

this spring notes that Gaines

is well-served with gas sta-

tions along the northern and

western edges of the town-

ship but lacks electric vehicle

charging stations. The master

plan mentions that charging

stations should be promoted

in commercial areas for

patrons to use while shopping

at local businesses.

The Meijer building is

about 100 yards away from

the proposed location of the

charging stations, which

would be an easy walk during

good weather, but, as some

planning commissioners

pointed out, difficult during

bad weather or icy conditions.

“If I’m in my car and it’s

February — or if there’s bad

weather of any kind — there’s

no way I’m walking across

that parking lot,” Wells said.

He pointed out that one of

Rhyne’s colleagues had men-

tioned about eight months

ago the possibility of locating

the charging stations between

the Meijer building and one

of the adjacent businesses.

“That seemed like the per-

fect location because then

you’re really close to the

businesses,” Wells said. “And

one of the things that I always

want to look at is, ‘Are we

enabling support of our local

businesses?’”

According to a memo from

township staff to the planning

commission, the addition of

the EV stations is not antici-

pated to result in increased

traffic congestion or traffic

hazards.

“With only 12 charging

stations being proposed, the

traffic generated by their use

is not anticipated to be signif-

icant,” the memo read.

But the entrance and exit

points in the Meijer parking

lot can get quite busy at times,

as can Marketplace Drive.

One concern is that a sin-

gle-family neighborhood is

situated on the south side of

Marketplace Drive, and the

lights from the charging sta-

tions would have to be arrayed

so they do not pose a problem

for neighbors. They would

have to be deemed compati-

ble with adjacent uses.

“I know the neighborhood

immediately to the south of

this has had a lot of concerns

about light spill coming from

the commercial development

on the north side over the

years,” Wells said.

Three light poles would

illuminate the charging sta-

tions.

“We’ve had a lot of com-

plaints throughout the years

with the lighting over against

the bank of houses that line

that,” Planning Commission

Chairwoman Connie Giarmo

told Rhyne. “So, that location

right there —given our histo-

ry — if there’s any way you

could swing it around the cor-

ner, it might be to your advan-

tage.”

Rhyne said Tesla would be

open to reducing light pollu-

tion by potentially cutting

back on or eliminating the

new lighting from the pro-

posed plan.

“The stations themselves

don’t produce much or really

any light. We’d like to add

lighting for customer-safety

reasons,” he said.

Aesthetics would also have

to be considered. There needs

to be screening around the

charging stations in the pro-

posed plan. In addition, there

would be fencing around the

switchgear. Township staff

has said more visual screen-

ing is needed, and a landscap-

ing plan must be submitted

before the public hearing and

site plan review meeting.

“We do have some screen-

ing already proposed around

the electrical equipment,”

Rhyne said, adding that

Meijer has an enclosure

requirement for all its

EV-charging providers. “We

can certainly look to add

some other landscaping

around that.”

“The landscaping has

grown in pretty well through

that area on the south side of

the road,” Wells said. “The

north side of the road is, obvi-

ously, fairly sparse and is still

pretty much just grass. A few

things popped up there —

small trees. But not enough to

block the light generated from

this.”

A major PUD amendment

is needed because charging

stations are not defined in

the township zoning ordi-

nance.

Vice Chairwoman Ronnie

Rober asked Rhyne if there

will be enough traffic to war-

rant having the charging sta-

tions operating at night.

Rhyne replied that there

will be because Meijer and

some nearby restaurants are

open at night.

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