EAST GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A judge heard arguments Friday in a lawsuit filed by neighbors challenging how East Grand Rapids approved the concept plan for a proposed development in Gaslight Village.
The mixed-use development would cover lots surrounding the D&W and include residential and commercial space, along with a parking garage.
For more information about the project, click here.
In October, the same day before commissioners voted to approve the project's conceptual plan, neighbors filed a petition aimed at requiring a super majority vote (at least five votes) for approval. City leaders rejected the petition and moved forward with a four-to-three vote.
Neighbors later sued, leading to Friday's court hearing where a judge considered whether the petition should have required a higher vote threshold for the initial plan.
A key question surrounding whether October's vote was administrative or legislative.
"This is a situation where it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it looks like a duck, and I'm getting the argument that it's a penguin," said an attorney representing neighbors.
The plaintiffs' attorney argued city leaders approved changes to the planned unit development that made the vote legislative, meaning the petition should have been accepted and five votes should have been necessary to pass the plan.
"You have a deck of cards. We still have the same deck. We've just shuffled them differently, and so we're still within the same PUD," said the defense attorney.
The defense argued leaders made minor changes within the existing planned unit development, making the October decision administrative and therefore not subject to a protest petition.
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The judge said he worked hard to explore all the issues before the court.
"I didn't come in here knowing nothing. I tried to explore all the issues. I think I've worked pretty hard," the judge said.
After the weekend, the judge is expected to decide whether he has enough information to rule or if more fact-finding is needed before the case moves forward.
Despite ongoing litigation, the project has continued moving through the city's planning commission. The city manager previously stated the lawsuit challenges procedural issues rather than the project itself, adding that without a court order stopping the project, the developer can continue moving forward.
The city declined to comment on pending litigation following Friday's hearing.
In a follow-up email after the hearing, neighbors suing the city stated: "We feel comfortable that we are in the right regarding the validity of the Protest Petition and that the PUD approval should be voided because the change did not receive sufficient support from the City Commission."
The judge said he will share his decision Monday.
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