by Joseph Schultz
Wayland Ford’s project of locating across the U.S.-131 freeway in Hopkins Township from the City of Wayland took a step forward Tuesday night with conditional approval recommended by the Hopkins Planning Commission.
Wayland Ford earlier asked for rezoning nine acres on 12th Street, south of 135th Avenue, from C-1 Neighborhood Business District to C-2 General Business District.
This time, Wayland Ford representatives were requesting a conditional rezone of the property. Mike Houseman of Wolverine Building Group told the commission that due to the lack of water and sewer lines in the area, the proposed dealership would need to have a well and drainage fields for the septic system.
Houseman said the conditional rezone was similar to a proposal that was approved in 2020, which expired after 18 months due to the Covid pandemic.
Many questions from the neighbors attending the meeting were about future development of the neighboring parcels along 12th Street. Houseman said he did not know of any future plans, explaining that the family that owns the land was not going to develop it but had it up for sale.
Lori Castello of Professional Code Inspections (PCI) explained that the C-2 designation would lock the site down for use as an automobile dealership. The C-1 designation is more of a generic commercial use.
Planning commissioners agreed to recommend approval to the Township Board for rezoning only the back nine acres from C-1 to C-2, to be used for the purposes of operating a car dealership. If the Township Board approves conditional rezoning, Wayland Ford will need to present a site plan to the Planning Commission before the 18-month conditional approval expires.
Planning goals for the year discussed
The Planning Commission outlined several goals for the new year. One is to audit special use permits that have been approved to see if property owners are in compliance with the conditions of those permits.
Another goal is the formation of a Purchase of Development Rights (PDR) & Agricultural Preservation Board. The township is currently volunteers to serve on this new board.
Crafting a data center ordinance is another goal the commission wishes to accomplish. With no known interest for a data center in the township, Castello said the township has the choice of whether or not to impose a moratorium. A moratorium could only be used to provide time to craft an ordinance; it could not be used to simply prevent an organization from building a data center in the township.
Castello also clarified a misunderstanding regarding the differences between data centers and Solar, Wind, and BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) projects. Data centers are considered industrial and would need to be located on land zoned for industrial purposes. Conversely, solar, wind, and BESS projects are considered agricultural uses and must be situated on land zoned for agriculture.
Solar application to be submitted in April
Castello informed commissioners that NorthStar Clean Energy – Allegan Solar LLC will submit an application for a solar project in Hopkins Township. While NorthStar requested a hearing in April, Castello noted that the application is too extensive for the township to review in such a short time frame.
A representative from NorthStar told the commission that they could still attend the April meeting to provide a preliminary overview of the project. A full, formal review would then take place in the following months.
