The Paris Ridge residential development is located on the extreme northeast portion of Leighton Township, yet it demands a great deal of attention.
Paris Ridge is just below the Kent County line and a close neighbor of the elementary school with the same name in the Caledonia district.
Though work on the development continues, there is much to do, according to the Township Board at its Thursday night meeting. So a public hearing has been scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 11, to try to resolve issues.
Board members had many questions for developer John Bitley, who only 24 hours before had won the recommendation for approval for an amendment to allow the size of the development to increase from 262 units to 284.
The Township Board essentially concurred with the Planning Commission’s decision from Wednesday, but there remain several issues, particularly the ability of residents to get mail, adequate access to water for the Leighton Fire Department and more time to build sidewalks.
Bitley said he ’s just as frustrated as Leighton officials about the mail situation. The federal government has some recent regulations that make it difficult and cumbersome for residents to get mail. The solution right now is to install cluster mailboxes, but it’s not certain that the problem has been solved down the road.
Bitely repeatedly was told he needs to sign off on the mail situation, but he’’s not comfortable doing so because he may not be around 10 years from now.
On the water issue, he was told a waterless hydrant may not be desirable to ensure consistent ability to fight fires, but he had a productive discussion with Fire Chief Matt Weston and board members.
For sidewalks, Bitely asked for and was granted more time, from five to eight years for them because he isn’t sure five years is enough.
In other business at Thursday night’s meeting, the Township Board:
- Welcomed two new firefighters, Matt Rabino and Ethan McQuay to the department. Both are experienced firemen.
- Agreed to an amendment to the I-1 district to allow a fitness center to be established inside a building in the district.
- Approved purchase of a Ricoh printer from Applied Innovation for $6,400 and relegate the old unit for backup. Treasurer Jaci Bultsma said, “It’s a lot of money. But I like knowing who I’m dealing with.”
- Learned from Greg Bultsma that the Wayland Area Emergency Ambulance Service will add a 5 percent increase in the fee for the service in 2026.
- Decided to hire Potts Landscape Management again for snow removal for the winter for the township hall and library and two fire stations.
- Was told the cost for each of the two Allegan County Sheriff’s deputies to cover Leighton and Dorr townships will increase to more than $112,000 annually.
- Pored over the Allegan County Road Commission’s ratings for roads that may need attention next year. Supervisor Steve Wolbrink plans to attend the annual meeting of the commission Jan. 7.
- Decided to split the cost yet to be determined for installing a new sound system for the library and township hall.
- Learned that Faith Miedema was recognized by the Library Board for her 30 years of service, including her position as liaison between the library and township.
- Was told by Weston that the fire department has already surpassed the number of call over last year, with 550, and there still is a month and a half to go for 2025.
- Learned that Leighton Township through November has handled 30 requests for building permits.
