Utilities + Infrastructure

Action #1

Install public water and sanitary sewer into areas of the Township consistent with Township utility plans.

83% of survey respondents indicated that they are “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” with ground water quality.

Permit intense or dense development only in areas which are currently served or planned to be served by public water and sanitary sewer.

Action #2

Permit solar energy collectors in the Township at both the private and utility scale.

Efficiencies in solar energy collector technology and a reduction in prices have made commercial and private solar energy installations viable in West Michigan as an alternative energy source.

Amend the Zoning Ordinance to allow for utility scale installations as well as building mounted and ground mounted private systems.

Action #3

Encourage green infrastructure in new developments that discourages site run-off.

82% of survey respondents indicated that they are “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” with Thornapple River water quality.

Amend the Zoning Ordinance to offer incentives for green stormwater infrastructure.

Preserve + Protect

Action #1

Increase residential density where water and sewer are present to encourage alternative modes of transportation and discourage the inefficient pattern of spread-out development and infrastructure.

58% of survey respondents indicated that they are “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” with the loss of farmland to residential development.

Amend the Zoning Ordinance to reflect the increases in density prescribed in the future land use plan.

Action #2

Create an inventory of significant natural features, vistas, and viewsheds and develop an overlay which protects these assets.

69% of survey respondents indicated that they are “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” with the loss of open space/natural areas to development.

Utilize topographic, wetland, and hydrographic data and a community survey to determine significant or prized natural features in the Township. Amend the Zoning Ordinance as an overlay to protect these features through buffering or incentives.