Work has begun on a new development in Muskegon’s Bluffton neighborhood; however, several homeowners say the project is not a welcome one.
So far, the project has been four years in the making. Located on what used to be Pigeon Hill, the $100 million development known as “The Docks” will feature 240 new upscale homes, as well as townhomes and condominiums.
Scott Musselman is chief financial officer for Sand Products Co. who is behind the project and owns the land.
“There will be a ten-to-twelve-acre marina basin, there will be home sites on Muskegon Lake, there will be a small restaurant in the development, kayak launch, a lot of public amenities in terms of open boardwalks and greenspaces,” Musselman said.
The project however has been met with heavy criticism from several residents in Bluffton who say the Docks will flood the neighborhood with traffic, destroy the neighborhood’s current identity, while a number of residents currently use what’s left of the Pigeon Hill sand dune as a public park.
“To see it being sold off, we feel like our voices aren’t being heard, and we are being thrown under the bus,” Bluffton resident Dr. Mark Polletti told WGVU in 2019.
Musselman says, he isn’t interested.
“Typical nimby concerns, they have been able to use the property to walk their dogs for fifty years and they are upset that they won’t be able to do that anymore.”
And residents will still be able to in the meantime as crews have only begun construction of the road to The Docks, as the project still waiting on a number of permits before developers can break ground.
