Page 6/The Sun and News, Saturday, October 16, 2021James Gemmell
Contributing Writer
The Caledonia Township
Planning Commission will
host a public hearing at its
Nov. 1 meeting to receive citi-
zen input on a proposed update
to the township’s design stan-
dards for mixed-use residen-
tial construction.
The meeting will begin at 7
p.m. in the township hall, 8196Broadmoor Ave. SE.
The planning commission
discussed a proposed ordi-
nance at its regular Oct. 4
meeting. The draft document
calls for stricter standards to
be implemented regarding the
durability of construction
materials used for the exterior
walls of attached residential
buildings, such as row houses
or townhouses.
Longer-lasting materials,
such as brick, stone or fiber-ce-
ment siding, would be required
on all four sides of new build-
ings.
“Those durable materials
that need less ongoing mainte-
nance than a vinyl or a
HardiBoard [siding], or some-
thing that needs to be painted
regularly,” Township Planner
Lynee Wells explained to the
planning commission.Wells said in an interview
before the meeting, “We want
these buildings to stand the
test of time and really mini-
mize the upkeep costs, espe-
cially for future homeowners
or renters. Those buildings
tend to require less ongoing
maintenance.
“With brick, you’re not
going to have the peeling
paint. You’re not going to have
the siding that’s coming off the
building or dented. You’re
going to have a situation where
you have something that is
more sturdy,” she said.
However, some members
of the planning commission
expressed reluctance to man-
date that specific materials be
used to construct building
exteriors.
“I don’t necessarily want to
discourage people from build-
ing these facilities or these
kinds of homes, if we have
areas that are zoned for it,”
Commissioner John Eberly
said. “I don’t want to make it
more expensive. It’s kind of a
backdoor around the [town-
ship] master plan, if we’re try-
ing to make it harder for people
to build those kinds of homes.”
He added that developers
who have used other building
materials in the township in
the past may not be happy to
hear they would have to use a
different product in the future.
“I’m not sure I’d want to
tell somebody building a
duplex that they can’t use a
similar architectural style; that
they have to use brick.”
Another planning commis-
sioner, Stan Bosscher, agreed.
“Cost is a huge consider-
ation,” he said. “I don’t want
to drive people out of
Caledonia because of the cost
factor. To just sit here and say
‘You’ve got to have brick,
regardless of where it is,’ it’s a
little unsettling for me.”But Wells said the draft
ordinance has flexible lan-
guage that would allow a
builder to determine which
construction materials are
used, so long as the materials
are deemed durable under the
ordinance’s standards.
The draft ordinance says 75
percent of all sides of a build-
ing would need to have
masonry as the predominant
material, according to Eberly.
A question also was raised
at the planning commission
meeting whether builders
could be incentivized in some
way to use durable building
materials, such as stone or
brick, rather than being forced
to do so under the proposed
ordinance. Wells said incen-
tives potentially could be fac-
tored in under the township’s
planned unit development pro-
cess, which provides develop-
ers some leeway in how build-
ings are designed.
“Or, we could look at updat-
ing our site-condo ordinance,
if we wanted to add something
about architectural features.
Then that would be considered
a single-family development,”
she said.
“What I’m struggling with
is, often these higher-density
homes are the entry-level
homes,” Commissioner Tim
Bradshaw said. “If it costs
more to put a better skin on the
outside of the building, that’s
just going to get passed along.
So, finding that right balance
... to have homes that last, and
also finding the right afford-
ability niche is the conflict
here. And how do we resolve
that?”
Planning commission Vice
Chairwoman Jodie Masefield
said the purpose of the ordi-
nance would be to address the
aesthetics of how buildings
look from the outside, as well
as ensuring their longevity.Wells said longevity and
sustainability go hand-in-
hand.
“Are we building for the
next 100 years,” she proposed,
“or are we doing ... dispos-
able buildings?”
“I think we have to be care-
ful what we put in front of the
community that they have to
do,” Eberly said. “Particularly
in this community. People
don’t necessarily like to be
told what they have to do or
what’s good for them.”
In other unrelated action,
the planning commission
voted 6-0 to recommend the
township board rezone a par-
cel of land at 8941 Kraft Ave.
SE from an agricultural desig-
nation to residential, or R2.
That would make it a medi-
um-density district covering
11 acres. Board Chairman
Doug Curtis was absent from
the meeting.
The owner of Sherwood
Custom Homes LLC, Jeff
Sherwood, requested the
rezoning, along with project
partner Scott Van Grouw of
North Coast Investments LLC.
Both companies are based in
Caledonia.
“The development that
we’re putting in there is a
higher-end home,” Van Grouw
told the planning commission.
“There will be a lot of things
to make sure we maintain
what is wanted in Caledonia,
so it looks very professional.”
“They’re looking at some
future single-family detached
residential [homes]; so, the
single-family subdivision,”
Wells said. “About seven
homes sites, potentially.”
She added that the request
was consistent with the town-
ship’s master plan. Some con-
ditions would have to be met
for future development, suchNorah Wiswell may only
be 9, but she’s been helping
spread seeds of hope all over
Barry County.
The Lee Elementary
School third-grader was
recently recognized and
thanked by Barry County
United Way Director Lani
Forbes in front of the crowd
gathered for the organiza-
tion’s campaign kickoff and
Day of Caring.
“I was really excited. I
didn’t know exactly what
they were going to do,” said
Norah after she was called to
stand up in front of the crowd
at the gathering.
Norah, wearing her “Live
United’’ T-shirt, said her
work helping give away gar-
dening seeds to others started
in the spring of 2021.
Barry County United Way
was given an overshipment
of garden seeds from
WalMart. United Way
teamed with Blue Zones
Activate Barry County to
figure out a way to get the
seeds into the hands of fami-
lies in need. With Norah’s
help, they created packets
that included 10 packs of
seeds, information from
MSU Extension on garden-
ing, and information from
the United Way.
How Norah got involved,
she said, was just a “coinky-
dink.” She and her mother,
who is the director for Blue
Zones, were in the United
Way office one day and Norah
saw all the seeds. She imme-
diately wanted some of her
own to take home and start
her own garden.
“My mother and my
grandmother garden and I
wanted to have my own gar-
den,” Norah said. She was
pleased when the beans, car-
rots, peas and flowers started
popping up.
“I thought it was really fun
watching everything grow,”
she said.
With her own love of gar-
dening, helping send the
seeds to other people wassomething Norah wanted to
do.
“I put 10 seed packs in
each packet,” she said.
The packets were placed
in Blue Zone mailboxes
around the county and avail-
able to anyone who wanted
them.
In all, Norah helped pre-
pare more than 250 packets
and those seed packets
allowed people throughout
the county to grow their own
fresh food. “I felt happy for
the people who got the seeds,”
Norah said. “What’s most
happy is being with family
and you could grow a gardenand eat the food with your
family. So that’s even more
fun.”
She said she likes helping
others. “When I see someone
sad I try to help out and make
them feel better.”
When she’s not busy
spreading her seeds of hope
or helping make other people
happy, Norah said she loves
playing soccer and four-
square. “Sometimes I just
like to play with my friends
and we just do whatever we
all want to do - or just be
together. That’s what makes
me most happy – being with
my friends and my family.”QUESTIONS:
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Caledonia Township planners set hearing on building design standards
Greg Chandler
Staff Writer
The Village of Caledonia
had relaxed some of its
restrictions on temporary
signs in the wake of the
COVID-19 pandemic in a
way to try to help local busi-
nesses survive.
The village is now going
back to enforcing those
restrictions.
The village council
Monday unanimously
approved canceling a morato-
rium on enforcing the ban ontemporary signs, effective
Nov. 1.
“If we saw a sign that was
illegally placed per our
ordinance and they were not
[representing a local] vil-
lage business, we were
removing them,” Village
Manager Jeff Thornton said.
“We were allowing most
village-based businesses’
signs to remain.”
Village President Jennifer
Lindsey suggested setting anCaledonia to enforce sign
restrictions in the villageLee Elementary School third-grader Norah Wiswell
filled more than 250 packets with seeds to be given to
people in Barry County. (Photo provided)Lee Elementary third-grader
spreads seeds of hope
The Caledonia Area
Chamber of Commerce will
host its first Halloween
Hustle 5-kilometer run/walk
Saturday, Oct. 30.
The race will begin at 9
a.m., beginning and ending at
the Community Green park
near the Kent District Library
Caledonia branch. Costumes
are encouraged.
The price for registration is
$35 per person.
Young runners can take
part in a half-mile fun run
after the 5K race, beginning
at 10 a.m. The fun run is
intended for runners age 10
and younger.
Anyone with questions
may email caledoniacham-
[email protected].Registration underway for
Caledonia Halloween Hustle
See HEARING, page 9See RESTRICTIONS, page 9