EAST GRAND RAPIDS, Mich — After a lengthy meeting at East Grand Rapids City Hall, the city's commissioners came to the consensus that the standards of approval were met on the Gaslight Village Development, but it did not come without push back from residents.
The meeting began with commissioners reviewing the standards of approval for the concept plan. Some commissioners, like Abbie Groff-Blaszak, advocated for traffic studies to be completed before approving the concept plan, stating, "When we could, with a number of these studies, put the guard rails in place now, and eliminate the need to relitigate it at the next point of approval."
However, Commissioner Chris Wessley pushed back, emphasizing that the approval of the concept plan is the starting point for those studies, saying, "We really won't know until we dial in, and they won't know until they dial in all of the details."
After a couple of hours of discussion, the majority of the commissioners voted to approve the standards proposed for the concept plan. The board then introduced an amendment to the original 2004 plan, including discussions about walkability, roads, and funding.
As the meeting wore on, the number of attendees dwindled, but those who remained were vocal in their opposition to the proposed plan. One resident expressed frustration, saying, "You are here at the pleasure of the citizens of the community, we are not here at your pleasure and you made them wait, and this isn't the first time you've done this." Another resident accused the developer, Mr. Wierda, of "calling the shots" and urged the commissioners to "go back to the developer now and just ask for a revision."
The conversation on the amendment language will continue at the next board meeting.
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