Georgetown considers development at Eighth and 44th

GEORGETOWN TWP. — The Georgetown Township Board of Trustees considered a proposed development at Eighth Avenue and 44th Street at its Dec. 8 meeting.

The board held a public hearing on the rezoning of the roughly 12-acre property on the southeast corner of the intersection from low-density residential to planned unit development in order to accommodate an office, townhome, and apartment building complex with 27 residential units, two commercial buildings and pedestrian walkways.

During the discussion of the development at the planning commission level, concerns were raised about wildlife habitat loss, traffic flow on the busy corner, and noise and light pollution from commercial properties near neighboring low-density residential areas with single-family homes. 

The developer said around 70% of the property would remain unchanged. The commercial buildings will be zoned for neighborhood service, which is a low-volume commercial zoning.

A greenbelt buffer including evergreen trees was discussed as necessary along the east and south sides, but only the south side is included in the proposed ordinance. A resident brought this to the attention of the board during the public hearing. 

Another resident was concerned with extra drainage onto their property.

During discussion, Supervisor Jim Wierenga voiced his support for the development plan, saying it had been well-vetted already.

Clerk Kelly Kuiper said the ordinances require that there is no drainage onto neighboring properties.

"They will be held to that standard," Kuiper said.

Zoning Administrator Ryan Schab said the screening requirement in the proposed ordinance only included the south side of the property because he believed the east side of the property already had adequate trees there. The south side mainly needed additional evergreen trees for winter coverage. He also offered that the board could amend it immediately if it wanted to include the east side.

The board quickly reached consensus that an amendment was unnecessary and that the current requirements for a greenbelt along a property line shared with a residential property should be fine.

"I think there is sufficient coverage within our ordinance already," Kuiper said.

The township master plan stipulates that such a development could be built on this corner, if there is adequate buffering from neighboring properties, the site is serviced by public water and sewer, and a traffic study is conducted and the site is developed accordingly. 

A traffic study performed by Fishbeck concluded that the additional traffic could be accommodated with minimal changes to the traffic signals.

"What was proposed originally was quite a bit more than what you see in front of you," Wierenga said.

The proposal received unanimous support from the board.

The developers can move forward with township approval. During inspections, the zoning administrator will ensure the greenbelt on the south and east sides of the property adheres to the ordinance requirements.

— Joshua Vissers covers communities in eastern Ottawa County. Contact him at newsroom@ottawanewsnetwork.org.