The proposed zoning ordinance comes as Kent County’s Cascade Township faces growing interest from developers. Key objectives of the proposal include establishing sustainability, preserving community character, maintaining quality of life, and protecting property values.
But during Wednesday’s board of trustees meeting, many residents, like commercial realtor Mark Ansara, spoke against the proposal, saying it dramatically limits development.
“Huge infringement on property rights, my investors and myself included, may end up lowering property values.”
But Planning Commission Chair Alan Rowland, who claims to have been intimately involved in reviewing the ordinance, called potential housing and commercial developers “barbarians at the gate.”
“The barbarians are the people that want to develop, and put seven-story apartment complexes in, that want to have low-income housing, that want to have hotels and banks and truck stops, and the planning commission has held the line and stopped that.”
In the end, the board voted 4-3 to formally introduce the zoning ordinance. Trustees emphasized that the proposal remains flexible with room for changes before final adoption.
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