Meijer has purchased about 20 acres of land on the southeast corner of the intersection of U.S. 31 and M-55 in Manistee township.
/ upnorthlive.com photo
MANISTEE TWP. -- Retail giant Meijer is considering building a store in Manistee Township.
Rob Carson, Manistee County planning officer, says Meijer owns about 20 acres of land on the southeast corner of the intersection of U.S. 31 and M-55.
The company has already submitted a preliminary site plan to Manistee Township.
The township zoning administrator has been reviewing plans to see if they meet the zoning requirements.
This Thursday, representatives from Meijer will have a meeting with the Manistee Township planning commission at 7 p.m. at the Manistee Township Hall. At the meeting, officials will go over any zoning questions or concerns with the site plans.
The meeting is open to the public.
Carson says it is likely that Meijer will have to make some adjustments to site plans before they can go on to the next step. Carson goes on to say, "We haven't seen a large retailer, a big box store like Meijer approach any of the communities near Manistee in quite awhile, so there's definitely going to be some positive and negative reactions. It's going to be very important for officials here to take concerns of the citizens very seriously and make decisions appropriately based on these concerns..."
Owner of Northern Spirits Gift Shop in downtown Manistee Maria DeRee says, "It's sort of a mixed reaction, part of me says it's really good we're growing, getting bigger, drawing in more people into the community. Then there's another little part that goes well gee how is it going to impact me?"
Chair of the Main Street Downtown Development Authority Jeff Reau says, "If you have one-stop-shopping that's something that potentially threatens, so we just have to make sure that we offer something unique in the downtown district, both our merchants and also the experience that we can create."
