Editor’s Note: Watershed Voice reached out to Nottawa Gas for comment but was informed that the authorized spokesperson would be on vacation until after publication time. Should further developments emerge, Watershed will share it in follow-up coverage.

Neighbors are organizing in opposition to a proposed propane business on Highway M-60 near Fisher Lake. Nottawa Gas, which is currently located between Nottawa and Colon, is considering purchase of a 14-acre parcel of land on the west side of the highway between North Fisher Lake Road and Wilson Boulevard. The company, which would construct a new retail and distribution facility on the site, entered into a Buy and Sell Agreement with the current property owner in March of this year and filed an application to have the land re-zoned in August. Neighbors fear the development will negatively impact their property values and quality of life.

On September 30, the Board of the Fisher Lake Association (FLA) voted “to go on record as being in opposition to this proposal, and concurrently to the rezoning of the property that would occur to allow a light industrial /commercial business onto the parcel in question.”

Pam Hughes lives diagonally across the highway from the proposed site and is one of the leaders in opposition to the development. The site is currently an open field that is zoned for agricultural use. Hughes said the land is being offered for sale by an heir to a couple that used to live next door. When the wife passed away in early 2019, responsibility for the open property passed on to heirs. The heir who proposed the sale for the new facility, Hughes said, is an employee of Nottawa Gas.

Nottawa Gas is primarily in the business of selling and distributing propane. Hughes said she believes the company wishes to move to a new location because their existing retail and distribution facility sits on leased land. She said the owners of that land may want to use it for another purpose, and “have increased rent substantially.” 

As of publication time, Watershed Voice was unable to reach a Nottawa Gas representative to provide confirmation, and Hughes does not know if the company has considered any other locations. She also does not know whether the township has proposed any alternative locations, but Township Supervisor Ed English said he has not done so. 

Hughes said Mendon Township’s nearby industrial park is available, and already has water, sewer, and lighting. Park Township has an industrial park of its own, also nearby. In addition, there are a number of industrial and large retail facilities within the township along the U.S.-131 corridor. However, English said Nottawa Gas’s consideration of the M-60 site amounts to a private party decision.

For the M-60 site, Nottawa Gas provided details on its proposed facility in its rezoning application. The company proposes construction of four above-ground bulk storage tanks ranging in length between 77 and 130 feet, and a truck shelter and repair facility of not more than 5,000 square feet. These facilities would occupy the eastern part of the proposed site, which fronts at that end along Darr Road. They would be completed in 2021 according to current schedules. 

A second phase, to be finished by 2023, would involve construction of a building near the M-60 frontage to house a retail store, warehouse, offices, and a small gas cylinder refill station. The phase would also include a 26-space parking lot and a private well and septic system.

Nottawa Gas is requesting to have the land rezoned from Rural Residential/Agricultural use to General Commercial/Light Industrial. In a Statement of Analysis provided with supporting documentation for their rezoning application, the applicants said they “cannot anticipate any impact on community facilities,” or on roadway capacities. The applicants said they will seek permits for entrances from both M-60 and Darr Road. “We don’t anticipate any impact upon neighboring land uses and streets. We are taking consideration of our neighbors and the layout of the site.”

In a letter distributed to some neighbors from the FLA membership, a group called the Neighbors for Safety Committee said, “We do not believe this Statement of Analysis is accurate.” The cosigners of the letter said they felt “The storage and distribution of hazardous/flammable materials should not be considered General Commercial/Light Industrial as specified on the application. It should be categorized as Industrial and should be located in that designated area.” 

Issues cited in the letter included increased traffic on M-60 and other nearby roads, aesthetic issues such as signage, lighting, odor, and noise, what signers felt is a precedent that could impact the area’s long-term character through further industrial development, and the risk of a fire or explosion.

Hughes said even if the likelihood of a fire is relatively small, accidents do happen, and the nearest township fire station is the Lockport-Fabius-Park Fire Department Station on Broadway Road just west of the Menard’s store. Although the Three Rivers Fire Department’s station is slightly closer, it is about 6.4 miles from the proposed site. The next closest stations are in Centreville and Mendon. 

For one resident along Darr Road at the property’s rear end, the proposed storage tanks are “gonna be right in her backyard,” Hughes said. Another resident who uses his property for shooting practice will have to cease that activity.

English said the proposed rezoning is in keeping with future plans for commercial development along the M-60 corridor. He said a 2016 future land map calls for limited industrial and commercial uses along the highway in order to grow the township’s economy and tax base. The map does not actually amend the township’s zoning ordinance, but provides a template for possible, future development.

Hughes said that 2016 map is part of an update to a five-year plan for the township, which she only became aware of after she began looking into the Nottawa Gas issue. “Shame on all of us that, you know, everybody that I’ve talked to, none of us knew about this, about the inclusion of commercial,” Hughes said. “How are you supposed to know unless you research it?”

To make the changes to the plan, Hughes said the township would likely have held a public hearing in 2016 with advance notice published in compliance with the Michigan Open Meetings Act (OMA). Whether residents would have known about it would have depended on how widely notice was distributed and whether they knew where to look. Hughes has not sought to obtain the minutes from the 2016 revisions, and online minutes only go back to 2017.

“They did decide they wanted to put more businesses there,” English said, including “limited industry and commercial. It’s not like this is something we’re doing just for Nottawa Gas. This is something that we’ve had in the works for four years, as far as getting more economic growth out there. That was the plan.” Hughes and her partner Pat Demarais, however, believe that development should mean small businesses, such as restaurants, that would serve the local community’s daily needs. 

“I understand progress,” Demarais said. “This just isn’t the place for that. It just doesn’t make any sense to have it here.” The land in question, he said, has been used agriculturally for years, and that use formed the basis for relationships and character in the neighborhood. Both Demarais and Hughes recognized the possibility that potential, future agricultural uses such as a dairy or a hog operation could also be negatively impactful, but that such potential does not negate what they see as similar impacts from the proposed gas facility. Any tax revenue or other development benefits for the township could be realized equally in another location, they said.

Because Nottawa Gas deals mainly in bulk sales and distribution, Hughes said it represents a different kind of operation. The company’s rezoning application says it will sell retail items like bird food and other animal supplies as well as small propane cylinder refills, but Hughes said she feels people largely go to other retailers to have those needs met.

Because he is not certain whether the application will pass the Planning Commission’s review, English said he would not comment on what the potential outcome of the zoning application might be. He also said that before he took a position on the issue, he would wait to see what the Planning Commission decides. “I’m not for or against it,” English said. “I’m just waiting to see what they come up with.” He also said he believed other township trustees would remain neutral until they receive more information from the Planning Commission.

English said there is already a variety of business and industry along the corridor, including the Fisher Lake Inn, the Fisher Lake Grocery and Deli, and several light industries. He does not believe the proposed development will negatively impact current property values, and particularly not the highest-valued properties on the shores of Fisher Lake. Based on Google Maps satellite imagery, the distance separating the lake from the corner of the property’s nearest corner is slightly less than 1,000 feet. “They don’t have anything to do with Fisher Lake,” English said. “It’s not going to affect property values on Fisher Lake one bit.”

No analysis has been performed on the potential impacts on adjacent property values, English said. “We haven’t done that because we don’t even know if it’s going to pass the Planning Commission,” he said. “There are a lot of what-if’s out there.”

Adjoining residents like Hughes say they foresee significant impacts. During non-peak highway traffic hours, she said the neighborhood retains a quiet, rural character, which is the reason she and others purchased there. In addition to the hazards that propane can pose, Hughes said the facility would add a more urban character to the neighborhood and introduce other potential impacts like round-the-clock lighting. 

Several residents told Hughes they would not have bought their properties if they had known developments like a gas distributor might be coming. Those residents, she said, are “similar to us. We’ve spent the last 25 years here, and this is our forever home. That was our intention.” Previous developments of residential properties, they said, have already impacted the presence of wildlife and traffic levels near their house.

Hughes said adding a business across the road would change traffic patterns around the proposed entrances on the highway and on Darr Road, and with nearby trees and vegetation, turning traffic could present a visibility hazard made worse by the fact that the facility’s trucks will be carrying propane.

The land is on a straightaway on M-60, but Hughes said farm equipment, tractor-trailers, and cars all vie for priority on the road during peak hours, and sometimes attempt to pass one another with minimal safety margins. Due to the traffic volume, Kuhlman said the Michigan Department of Transportation has only authorized one driveway entrance on M-60 rather than the proposed two.

Hughes also said she is distrustful of the township’s willingness to be transparent in the rezoning process. Since the Buy and Sell Agreement was signed in March, she thinks word could have gotten out to officials before the summer. Since the rezoning application was submitted in August, Hughes feels that township officials have had time to review it. Hughes said she and other neighbors first became aware of the proposed project in August when they saw surveyors working on the property.

When that happened, Hughes said, she and neighbors talked to English. “He told us that he was going to look into it,” she said, “because he hadn’t heard anything about it since the beginning of the year, and he would let us know. When he did call us back, he basically stated that there was not a zoning application.” Subsequently, however, at the township’s September meeting, Hughes said English told her there was, in fact, an application, but that “he hadn’t gotten to the paperwork yet.” Following that, Hughes obtained the application paperwork through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

English said his knowledge of details about the proposed facility was limited to having seen the overall site plan in the rezoning application. He said he has gotten most of his information on the situation from Township Zoning Administrator Doug Kuhlman.

Kuhlman said because of the volume of work he currently faces, he has not reviewed the rezoning application in detail yet and does not know if there will be impacts from features like lighting. With a backlog of work from pandemic impacts and other issues, he said “I’ve only touched this application twice. I touched it when I received it, and I touched it because the members of the group that are against it did a (FOIA) request. That’s the only time I’ve touched it just because of where it’s at in the line of things to be processed.” 

However, Kuhlman expects to schedule a public hearing before the Park Township Planning Commission shortly. Because the planning commission only meets quarterly, the hearing will likely take place at a special meeting. However, Kuhlman said, “even if they had a meeting coming up, I’m going to schedule this one as a special meeting, because obviously, this one’s going to be an intense meeting.”

Hughes said she is concerned whether there will be enough notice for people to attend the public hearing, and whether the pandemic will impact people’s ability to attend and make comments. Kuhlman said he is still evaluating what format the meeting will take based on the latest developments in pandemic restrictions, the township hall’s capacity, and limitations on its telecommunications abilities. He may consider use of another facility to accommodate what he expects to be a large meeting.

Notification of a special meeting will be mailed to every property owner within 300 feet of the parcel in question, Kuhlman said. It will also appear in local newspapers and on the township’s website. 

Hughes said there are 15 residential properties within the 300-foot notification area, not counting Darr Road residents. She said there is also additional concern and support among many other residents who live further out. Fisher Lake, Hughes said, has the highest concentration of residents in the township. “I’ve only had two people tell me ‘we think it’s great for them to be here,’” Hughes said. One such person said Nottawa Gas is “a great company and they support the local community,” and the other said “it’s great because I can get my gas tank for my grill filled,” which Hughes said is already possible at the Fisher Lake Grocery. Kuhlman said he has heard from both detractors and supporters of the project.

If the township’s planning commission approves the application, there is a further review process afterward. The application will then go before the St. Joseph County Planning Commission, which has 30 days to review it. Once that process is completed, the recommendation from the local and county planning commissions are forwarded to the township’s Board of Trustees for a final decision.

Kuhlman said the rezoning request is for something called a “conditional rezone,” which means the rezoning is not necessarily permanent. It comes with an affidavit that specifies whether the proposed use will create specific conditions that can impact neighboring properties with things like lighting and noise. “The planning commission cannot dictate those conditions,” Kuhlman said, but it can recommend the applicant include measures to address them. If the business closes, the township can vote to revert the property’s zoning designation back to the previous one. In a standard rezoning, the change is permanent.

Kuhlman said the selection of a site on M-60 has to do, at least in part, with the business’s need to be on a Class-A designated all-weather road to receive deliveries with semi-trucks. “You can’t take them out on just a regular county road, because they’re not all-weather,” Kuhlman said.

“It’s not my position to ask them why they didn’t choose someplace else. I just have to deal with where it’s at,” Kuhlman said. “I know they do not want to be in the City of Three Rivers, so I’m just going to process this application per their request and see where it goes.”

To perform a site plan review, Kuhlman said, “I will go through the site plan review criteria. That’s in the Zoning Ordinance.” He will compare proposed site features against the regulations and indicate that the feature either “meets or exceeds the regulations” or that it does not, with an explanation of why.

“I have no problem with reporting facts. I have nothing to hide on this project, or any project. I just wish the people would wait and see all the information before they misconstrue anything,” Kuhlman said.

Dave Vago is a writer and columnist for Watershed Voice. A Philadelphia native with roots in Three Rivers, Vago is a planning consultant to history and community development organizations and is the former Executive Director of the Three Rivers DDA/Main Street program.