By Greg Chandler
Zeeland Record
A final decision from the Zeeland Township Board could come next week on a proposed planned unit development on a vacant 13.4-acre parcel at the northeast corner of Woodbridge Street and 96th Avenue.
The Township Board is expected next Tuesday to have a second and final reading on the proposal to rezone the property at 9501 Woodbridge St. from
R-1 rural residential to R-2 medium-density planned unit development. The property is owned by Steve Sterken. The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. at the Township Hall, 6582 Byron Rd.
Project engineers have presented a conceptual development proposal, dubbed Woodbridge Flats, that calls for 29 single-family homes and six duplexes, totaling 41 housing units in all. It also would set aside four acres as open space.
The board for three-and-a-half hours at its Aug. 19 meeting went through the township’s PUD residential ordinance in great detail and compared it to the conceptual development proposal to determine whether the project meets the ordinance standards. They generally agreed that the project either meets most of the standards, or would meet them if conditions were placed on the project.
However, there are significant sticking points with several board members, such as whether the project development meets the standard of allowing flexibility for a higher quality of development. They also question what the size of the lots in the project should be, and whether the development is compatible with the township’s master plan.
Township Treasurer Melissa Veldheer said the amenities provided in the project, such as a soccer field, are readily available nearby at places such as Woodbridge Elementary School and Huizenga Park.
“If this was a cornfield in the middle of nowhere that had none of those things, then I would say ‘oh look, these things are being added to the area that don’t exist.’ I don’t see where there’s a new amenity that’s not already available in the area that would make a PUD more preferable than an R-1 zoning,” Veldheer said.
Veldheer also said there was “a lot of distaste” for duplexes, given that all of the housing in the surrounding area is single-family. The residential PUD ordinance allows up to 30 percent of a development to be two-family or multi-family residential. The six duplexes proposed at Woodbridge Flats would represent 29 percent of the 41 housing units in the development, meeting that requirement.
Township Supervisor Tom Oonk said the project meets the flexibility of land development standard and addresses the open-space requirement of the PUD ordinance.
“You’ve got duplexes and single-family, one-story, two-story (homes). You’ve got different styles of housing opportunities within the development,” Oonk said. “To me, that is flexibility.
In a traditional (development), you wouldn’t have that. As far as the greenspace area, that is more specific, in my opinion … to those residents within the development.”
The PUD ordinance requires at least 30 percent of a development be preserved as open space.
Some board members have expressed discomfort with what they see as lack of specifics in the proposed development. “There’s no plan. It’s just their goal of what they’re saying their development is going to be,” Trustee Kerri Bosma said.
However, Oonk said those specifics would be addressed in a site plan that would be presented to the Planning Commission after the rezoning was approved. “This is a conceptual phase where they’re meeting general criteria,” he said.
Project engineer Jacob Melton has proposed that the single-family homes would be 1,100-1,500 square feet, with ranch-style and two-story homes. The homes would be three to four bedrooms with two full baths.
The township’s future land use map, which is part of its master plan, shows the Woodbridge Flats parcel eventually being rezoned as R-2 medium-density residential. However, that plan was last updated in 2019 and some board members are questioning whether it might be outdated.
“When I look at the master plan, it doesn’t make sense why it was master-planned this way,” Bosma said. “To encourage a development that’s consistent with the goals stated in the master plan, I struggle that our master plan is what it has in place for us, due to the age of it … How heavy do we lean on our master plan here, in a case like this?”
The board voted Aug. 19 to put out a request for proposals to interested firms who would work with the township on updating the master plan. But for now, Township Attorney Ron Bultje said, the current master plan is what the township must base any decisions on, and that a judge would use to rule in any legal challenge against the township.
“In terms of legal entity, it is the you, the township and you, the board adopted the master plan and have allowed it to stay in place. It is the master plan. It is what a developer looks at,” Bultje said.
Veldheer questioned whether the present master plan encourages preservation of the township’s rural character.
“How do you make a township stay rural-looking, and you’re allowing, especially in the PUDs … the smaller lot size. That to me, it doesn’t look rural,” Veldheer said.
Most of the single-family lots proposed in Woodbridge Flats would have a lot size of 6,500 square feet. The township’s residential PUD ordinance allows a minimum single-family lot size of 6,500 square feet, compared to the traditional R-1 requirement that each lot must be at least 15,000 square feet, and the traditional R-2 requirement that each lot must be at least 10,400 square feet.
“I don’t necessarily have an issue with (a lot size of) 6,500 square feet, provided you can still build a house on there that doesn’t cover the whole footprint (of the lot), where all you have is house,” Oonk said.
Board members were able to agree on a 25-foot driveway setback between the street and the garage for the development, even though the PUD ordinance allows a front-yard setback of as little as 12-1/2 feet. Some board members were concerned that a lesser driveway setback would not accommodate larger vehicles.
If the rezoning for the Woodbridge site is approved by the Township Board, the developer must then put together final site plans and present them to the Planning Commission within two years, Township Zoning Administrator Lori Castello said.
Zeeland Record
A final decision from the Zeeland Township Board could come next week on a proposed planned unit development on a vacant 13.4-acre parcel at the northeast corner of Woodbridge Street and 96th Avenue.
The Township Board is expected next Tuesday to have a second and final reading on the proposal to rezone the property at 9501 Woodbridge St. from
R-1 rural residential to R-2 medium-density planned unit development. The property is owned by Steve Sterken. The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. at the Township Hall, 6582 Byron Rd.
Project engineers have presented a conceptual development proposal, dubbed Woodbridge Flats, that calls for 29 single-family homes and six duplexes, totaling 41 housing units in all. It also would set aside four acres as open space.
The board for three-and-a-half hours at its Aug. 19 meeting went through the township’s PUD residential ordinance in great detail and compared it to the conceptual development proposal to determine whether the project meets the ordinance standards. They generally agreed that the project either meets most of the standards, or would meet them if conditions were placed on the project.
However, there are significant sticking points with several board members, such as whether the project development meets the standard of allowing flexibility for a higher quality of development. They also question what the size of the lots in the project should be, and whether the development is compatible with the township’s master plan.
Township Treasurer Melissa Veldheer said the amenities provided in the project, such as a soccer field, are readily available nearby at places such as Woodbridge Elementary School and Huizenga Park.
“If this was a cornfield in the middle of nowhere that had none of those things, then I would say ‘oh look, these things are being added to the area that don’t exist.’ I don’t see where there’s a new amenity that’s not already available in the area that would make a PUD more preferable than an R-1 zoning,” Veldheer said.
Veldheer also said there was “a lot of distaste” for duplexes, given that all of the housing in the surrounding area is single-family. The residential PUD ordinance allows up to 30 percent of a development to be two-family or multi-family residential. The six duplexes proposed at Woodbridge Flats would represent 29 percent of the 41 housing units in the development, meeting that requirement.
Township Supervisor Tom Oonk said the project meets the flexibility of land development standard and addresses the open-space requirement of the PUD ordinance.
“You’ve got duplexes and single-family, one-story, two-story (homes). You’ve got different styles of housing opportunities within the development,” Oonk said. “To me, that is flexibility.
In a traditional (development), you wouldn’t have that. As far as the greenspace area, that is more specific, in my opinion … to those residents within the development.”
The PUD ordinance requires at least 30 percent of a development be preserved as open space.
Some board members have expressed discomfort with what they see as lack of specifics in the proposed development. “There’s no plan. It’s just their goal of what they’re saying their development is going to be,” Trustee Kerri Bosma said.
However, Oonk said those specifics would be addressed in a site plan that would be presented to the Planning Commission after the rezoning was approved. “This is a conceptual phase where they’re meeting general criteria,” he said.
Project engineer Jacob Melton has proposed that the single-family homes would be 1,100-1,500 square feet, with ranch-style and two-story homes. The homes would be three to four bedrooms with two full baths.
The township’s future land use map, which is part of its master plan, shows the Woodbridge Flats parcel eventually being rezoned as R-2 medium-density residential. However, that plan was last updated in 2019 and some board members are questioning whether it might be outdated.
“When I look at the master plan, it doesn’t make sense why it was master-planned this way,” Bosma said. “To encourage a development that’s consistent with the goals stated in the master plan, I struggle that our master plan is what it has in place for us, due to the age of it … How heavy do we lean on our master plan here, in a case like this?”
The board voted Aug. 19 to put out a request for proposals to interested firms who would work with the township on updating the master plan. But for now, Township Attorney Ron Bultje said, the current master plan is what the township must base any decisions on, and that a judge would use to rule in any legal challenge against the township.
“In terms of legal entity, it is the you, the township and you, the board adopted the master plan and have allowed it to stay in place. It is the master plan. It is what a developer looks at,” Bultje said.
Veldheer questioned whether the present master plan encourages preservation of the township’s rural character.
“How do you make a township stay rural-looking, and you’re allowing, especially in the PUDs … the smaller lot size. That to me, it doesn’t look rural,” Veldheer said.
Most of the single-family lots proposed in Woodbridge Flats would have a lot size of 6,500 square feet. The township’s residential PUD ordinance allows a minimum single-family lot size of 6,500 square feet, compared to the traditional R-1 requirement that each lot must be at least 15,000 square feet, and the traditional R-2 requirement that each lot must be at least 10,400 square feet.
“I don’t necessarily have an issue with (a lot size of) 6,500 square feet, provided you can still build a house on there that doesn’t cover the whole footprint (of the lot), where all you have is house,” Oonk said.
Board members were able to agree on a 25-foot driveway setback between the street and the garage for the development, even though the PUD ordinance allows a front-yard setback of as little as 12-1/2 feet. Some board members were concerned that a lesser driveway setback would not accommodate larger vehicles.
If the rezoning for the Woodbridge site is approved by the Township Board, the developer must then put together final site plans and present them to the Planning Commission within two years, Township Zoning Administrator Lori Castello said.
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