Why We Need Your Help

Citizens should not have to sue their elected representatives to secure their rights guaranteed by law. Unfortunately, that is where we find ourselves.

This GoFundMe will help cover the legal expenses incurred in obtaining the court’s judgment against the City of EGR. The court ruled that the City Commission was required by Michigan law to accept our petition. They chose not to. Every contribution helps relieve the financial burden carried by residents who stood up for the rights of our neighbors and our community.

Your donation is also a statement of support for something bigger: the right of ordinary citizens to hold their government accountable, even when doing so requires spending their own money to challenge the very people they elected to represent them.

We want to see Gaslight Village developed. We want construction to begin. We believe the best way forward is for the City, developer, and residents to work together toward a lawful plan that enhances the safety and protects the charm at the heart of our community.

How we got here

In 2004, East Grand Rapids approved a development plan for Gaslight Village that included 107 residential condominiums plus commercial space, with specific limits on density, building size, parking, and public space. That approval remains in place today; the developer can build within those limits.

Instead, twenty years after the ordinance enactment, the developer sought approval for a substantially larger project on the same parcels. The proposed development would have created traffic and parking issues, eliminated beloved public space, reduced green space, and altered the essential character of Gaslight Village.

The revised proposal increased the number of residential units by 37% while reducing the total number of parking spaces to an amount well below that required by city code. It also introduced significant changes to the commercial, mixed-use, and public-space plans. Changes included elimination of the public space currently used for our Tree Lighting Ceremony as well the elimination of a 2004 requirement that the developer provide shared public parking in the heart of EGR.

Neighboring property owners signed a formal protest petition before the final vote, exceeding the threshold established by state law. That petition required a five-vote supermajority of the City Commission to approve the revised development.

Despite the protest petition, the City Commission proceeded to approve the revised plan without the five votes required under Michigan law.

Residents were left with one remaining option: take their own elected representatives to court to enforce the protections guaranteed by Michigan law.

That is exactly what they did.

The court upheld the validity of the protest petition, declared the City’s approval null and void, and returned the matter to the City Commission for further consideration.

The residents were right. The legal protections mattered, and the court enforced them.

We sincerely hope the City Commission chooses not to spend additional taxpayer money to appeal this judgment.

The path forward is clear. The developer can build within the existing approval or work with residents and the City Commission to develop a revised proposal. The City Commission should represent its residents in negotiating for a development that will benefit us all.

Thank you for standing with us for responsible development in the heart of East Grand Rapids.

Your gift is an investment in protecting the future of Gaslight Village.