The Wayland City Council Monday, March 17, will take up the issue of the Gun Lake Tribe’s proposal to establish an apartment complex on the vacant lot at the corner of Reno Drive and West Superior Street.
The City Planning Commission last month heard a presentation from Gun Lake Investments and granted conditional preliminary approval for a site plan for mixed use for a planned unit development (PUD) at the former Cars2Go empty lot, which now is zoned B-2 commercial.
Gun Lake Investments first approached the Planning Commission last fall, but the commission tabled it because of fears of traffic congestion and creating parking problems. GLI scaled down its project plans to allay some fears about an already troublesome bottleneck at the traffic light at the intersection, easily the busiest in the city limits.
The proposal originally was for 130 residential units. This time it was 58 units on 2,600 square feet of property in the 10,000 square foot empty lot, which commissioners agreed would lessen the traffic problems at the corner.
The mixed use development proposal was referred to as Phase One of the project, with a Phase Two coming later, according to Urban Planner Adam Rack.A spokeswoman for GLI told the commission, “We’ve worked hard on adjusting our plan,” since the it was tabled last October.
The site formerly was used by a Chevrolet dealership and then a used car dealership. The vacant lot has become something of an eyesore since Cars2Go left, so there was some desirability for a replacement. Furthermore, a lack of affordable housing has been identified as a pressing need in Allegan County.
GLI reps have agreed to remove parallel parking on Reno Drive and a traffic study already has been done.
The lot will have room for 111 parking spaces, with vehicle access on Reno Drive and on West Superior Street.
Rack said the new housing will answer the need for affordable living spaces by targeting people with rental payments between $500 and 1,400 per month.
He added that the apartments will feature a sort of hotel appearance and provide one-, two- and three-bedroom units. The outside appearance will include a brick veneer with wood siding.
The lot became vacant when Cars 2 Go abandoned it after Wayland Chevrolet vacated it more than a decade ago. The lot originally was home to one of the first businesses to leave the Wayland downtown area and set up shop near the U.S.-131 expressway west of town. Dealership owner Lester Herb established the business at that site after his business downtown was destroyed by fire in the summer of 1965.
The residential development should break ground by the summer of 2026. A Phase Two development plan later will seek a special use permit for the project.
Final approval is subject to administrative review and the City Council’s decision on rezoning.
