Page 2/The Sun and News, Saturday, January 8, 2022cial development calls for two
freestanding pad sites set aside
for future retail development.
First, the site plan commit-
tee would have to review and
refine project details before
potentially recommending that
the village council amend an
ordinance for rezoning of the
parcel. The council would
have to hold a public hearing
before making a final decision.
“We’ve seen four or five
different concepts. I think this
is the one that’s going to actu-
ally turn into reality. So, we’re
really excited about that,”
Village Manager Patricia Rayl
said.
The Flats at Midvilla’s esti-
mated cost would be $20 mil-
lion to $30 million, depending
on which final plan is
approved.
The property owner and
developer is Nate Heyboer
with Grandville-based Dutch
Developers LLC. He and
Chuck Hoyt, with the project’s
engineering firm – Grandville-
based Nederveld Inc. – gave a
presentation at Tuesday’s
planning commission meet-
ing.
Hoyt described the planned
development for the property
at 4611 and 4691 N. M-
Highway as “144 high-quality,
workforce residential apart-
ment units.”
No builder has been identi-
fied yet.
Urquhart, who also is the
village’s zoning and planning
administrator, said there has
been no decision yet on how
many of the 144 market-rate
units would be apartments as
opposed to senior housing.
“There is no breakdown
that we got from the develop-
er,” he said. “It’s simply
opened up to anyone who
could afford it. It could be a
senior, it could be a family, it
could be anyone. There was
no specific breakdown that
this would be geared toward
senior housing or for subsi-
dized, anything like that.”
Each of the buildings would
be three stories tall. The proj-
ect plan also envisions com-
mercial construction, although
no specifics have been final-
ized.
“That’s what the PUD
would say, is that this is
planned for commercial,”
Urquhart said. “A [private]
drive would come in that
would largely dictate where
the access management would
come.”
If the three commercial out-
lots were to be sold, they
would have to go through a
site plan review process before
any development could begin
on them.
The site plan includes 200
parking spaces, although
developers said that might be
increased to 209.
Urquhart said he doubts the
project would be eligible for
any kind of tax abatement.
“The only discussion we
initially had was a low-income
housing tax credit through
[Michigan State Housing
Development Authority]. And
that is not being pursued at this
time.”
The site would be served by
a private sanitary sewer sys-
tem. Dutch Developers would
foot the cost for construction
of a $250,000 private lift sta-
tion on the residential site. The
living units would be connect-
ed to public water along M-
and Towne Centre Drive, but
the lines serving the develop-
ment would be privately main-
tained.
The residential portion of
the property would be about
16.6 acres, with 8.6 units per
acre, slightly more than the
maximum eight units per acre
specified in the village’s
recently adopted master plan
and future land-use plan,
which call for medium-density
residential and four to eight
dwelling units per acre, or 133
total units. Dutch Developers
is proposing 144 total units
within six buildings, contain-
ing 24 units each.
“Being that slight edge over
density still seems appropriate
for this site, because of thosecompatible uses,” Hoyt said,
referring to a nearby grocery
store, fitness center, gas sta-
tion, beauty salon, insurance
agency, and other services.
“This seems like a seamless fit
into that sort of use.”
Some residents, though,
disagreed and voiced concern
at the public hearing, both in
person and via a remote inter-
net connection. Their main
concern was with the proposed
construction of 11 living units
more than the maximum out-
lined in the village’s master
plan
Middleville resident Sara
Boyd said she supports growth
in the village.
“However, growth needs to
be planned accordingly,” she
said. “We have a master plan
that states the occupancy is
[133 living units]. We proba-
bly should follow the master
plan.”
But planning commission
member Mike Cramer noted
that the extra density is needed
to help the developer offset
additional expenses for the
development.
“There are significant chal-
lenges on this site,” Cramer
said via an online/virtual con-
nection. “The elevation, alone,
for the $250,000 for a lift sta-
tion is going to be hard for any
developer. And then, the
high-pressure [50-foot wide]
gas-line easement on the north
end of the property. That’s
another $200,000. There is
almost half a million dollars in
challenges on this site that
would more than justify theextra 11 units.”
Hoyt said the current plan
includes 112 fewer units than
what a previous applicant had
proposed.
“It’s an impactful project,
no doubt,” he said. “But we
feel it’s impactful in a positive
way.”
A ground-mounted sign at
the M-37 entrance would be
installed. There would be two
private drives serving the
development off M-37 and
Towne Center Drive.
Boyd said traffic congestion
along Towne Centre, Main
Street, Oak Meadow Drive,
Minstehr Drive, and Oak View
Drive is too heavy for a fire
truck to get through during
peak rush hours and when
school is letting out.
Boyd asked the planning
commission to request that a
traffic-impact study be done
on a couple of intersections. “I
don’t think it’s unreasonable,
due to the amount of traffic I
see go by my home every
day.”
Planning Commission
Chairman Jason Holzhausen
said a previous traffic study
already had been conducted
on the main streets in the area.
Hoyt pointed out that the study
did not call for any traffic-con-
trol signals to be added.
The PUD calls for an inter-
nal sidewalk along the access
drives to the apartment units, a
gravel pathway connecting the
apartments to Wildwood Trails
Park, and a sidewalk along the
public streets.
Planning commissionmember Bruce Farrell said he
has a “big problem” with the
traffic issue, especially
because it is across M-37 from
the Marketplace Plaza retail
center.
“With all of the amenities
that are nearby, with the gro-
cery store and all that kind of
stuff. The problem I see is,
how do these people – without
getting in a car – get across
four lanes of traffic on M-37?”
Barry County
Commissioner Catherine
Getty spoke as a resident at the
meeting.
“I think we all recognize
that there is a need for afford-
able housing. I am for growth,
but I am for smart growth,”
Getty said. “I participated in
your master-planning process
... a lot of effort went into
determining those future land-
use designations. And medium
density means four to eight
dwelling units per acre. This
site exceeds that.”
Getty said the final site
plan’s call for senior housing
“would be completely incon-
sistent with the future land-use
map and with your master
plan. And, as a member of the
public and a member of the
professional planning commu-
nity, I think it is your duty to
be consistent with your master
plan.”
But Cramer countered that
the master plan is only a guide
for developers. “To make it fit,
there’s give and take. And I
think this is a pretty fair pro-
posal. I think there’s a need ...
I think this is a great fit for thisparcel.”
Village Deputy Clerk
Rhonda Van Polen said she is
frustrated with how some peo-
ple have been treating others
during the discussion process
about the project.
“People are saying they
don’t want ‘these kind of peo-
ple in my town that live in an
apartment.’ That really frus-
trates me,” VanPolen said.
“There also have been com-
ments that people are too lazy
to be homeowners ... You’ve
got people who say that crime
is going to increase, and apart-
ment buildings are not kept up.
I challenge you to pull a
code-enforcement report in
this town and look at the areas
that are not kept up. We don’t
get phone calls on apartment
buildings not being kept up ...
it’s happening with homeown-
ers. It’s not happening in
apartment complexes.”
Thornapple Township Fire
Chief Randy Eaton sent vil-
lage officials a letter Tuesday
expressing concern about the
26-foot width of the proposed
private access driveway in the
development, if parking were
to be allowed on both sides of
it. Eaton’s concern is that the
driveway off Towne Centre
and M-37 would not be wide
enough for a fire truck to get
through to the apartments, in
case of an emergency. Eaton
recommended that the drive
be built 30 feet wide, curb to
curb.
Holzhausen suggested that
the private drive include
no-parking signs.
The Flats at Midvilla would
be built using paneled con-
struction, allowing color
changes to provide a uniform
look among the buildings
while also giving each one its
own identity. The 144 units
would feature one bedroom/
one bath and two-bedroom/
two-bath configurations. The
developers plan to partner
with BVW Property
Management.
In other action, the plan-
ning commission voted to
elect its officers for 2022.
Unanimous 4-0 votes were
taken to re-elect Holzhausen
as commission chairman and
Amanda Pullen as vice-chair-
woman, and to elect commis-
sion member Di Wilke as the
village secretary. The mem-
bers who were elected
abstained from voting on their
own respective nominations.
Cramer could not legally vote
because he participated in the
meeting remotely from home.
Previous secretary Maria
Dahlke was absent.COMPLEX, continued from page 1
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The Middleville Planning Commission discusses the proposed Flats at Midvilla residential development at
the site of the former Middle Villa Inn. (Photo by James Gemmell)