GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The day has finally come and the vote is in.
The Grand Rapids Planning Commission unanimously approved a special land-use request Thursday afternoon to build a soccer stadium on the city's west side.
The decision was not a quick one, as Thursday's meeting lasted close to three-and-a-half hours.
After a presentation from Grand Action 2.0, the nonprofit helping facilitate the development, highlighted the full plan for the stadium and surrounding property, nine different people stepped up to the microphone during the public comment period.
Many of those people either live or own businesses in the area near the proposed site, and each of them shared a similar sentiment — they are in full support of a stadium, but their support is conditional, citing parking and traffic or transit concerns.
"A traffic and parking study just like we see required for much smaller projects, but has somehow been allowed to be missing here. That should happen." said Lucas Leverett, Vice President of the West Grand Neighborhood Organization.
"The parking plan isn't there," said another concerned citizen. "It could very possibly destroy our business district there."
"I would love to be able to use public transit instead of increasing my carbon footprint," said a resident of Grand Rapids' northeast side. "I would love to be able to bring my family down for these events but 45 minutes of my time to get here and 45 minutes of my time to get back home is just not feasible when you got little kids."
Planning commissioners heard those concerns and agreed parking was at the top of their list as well.
For example, GVSU has a parking deck in that area and has apparently offered to make it available, but Grand Action 2.0 admitted there's no formal agreement in place.
While the planning commissioners asked for this, and other items, to be addressed, they did not feel it was enough to delay the project.
Susan Shannon, a member of the Planning Commission, said, "So many different developments — whether that's the Amphitheather, Van Andel Arena — all of which have not added parking when they were built, and people came out saying, 'We're not going to be able to use it because there's not enough parking.' That has not happened."
Another Planning Commission member, Lawrence Williams, added, "Those cars are going to have to go somewhere. They're going to be up on the streets nearby, they're going to be in front of people's houses, they're going to be in places that they shouldn't be. Now, if we're okay with that, then we're okay with that. But, I wanted to just add that to the record because I don't want to pretend as if that's not going to happen and that this is not going to be a headache because it is."
The stadium will be located to the north and east of the YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids. Currently, that space is occupied by surface parking lots and the former Big Boy restaurant, which abruptly closed its doors at the end of last year.
The land is owned by the YMCA, City of Grand Rapids and the Grand Rapids Downtown Development Authority. Both sites will be combined, as the property will ultimately be transferred to the Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority.
According to the application, here's what you can expect with the new stadium: "8,500 individual seats (as opposed to bleachers), a synthetic turf field, a food and beverage concourse, a club space (which can convert to a restaurant for non-game day events), and a team store accessible to the public from the street during game and normal retail hours. There will also be two plazas, one located adjacent to the southeast entrance along Pearl Street and Mt. Vernon Avenue and the other at the north entrance off of Summer Avenue."
The soccer season would run from April through September, with 15–20 home games per season, and the possibility to program up to 56 other events. The hours of operation will vary by event and activity:
- Professional soccer matches: Generally, these events will occur on weekends and may vary start times between matinée matches beginning in the early afternoon to games starting in the mid-evening. Matches typically last three hours with the stadium clearing of most attendees in under an hour.
- Tournament events and matches: Tournament matches may include youth, high school, or collegiate level of play in soccer or other sports. These matches may start in early to mid-morning and run through the day into the evening hours past sunset. The stadium will be cleared within an hour following each event.
- Community events (Art Prize, World of Winter, Festivals, other): The hours of operation for community events vary more than sporting events but can generally be categorized by events that begin set up in the early morning on both weekdays and weekends. Attendees typically arrive in mid-morning and events can be concluded in the early evening or after sunset. With events of this type, the venue is generally cleared and shut down in less than one hour.
- Team Store and Club/Restaurant: The expected hours of operation will be 11am-10pm Sunday through Thursday, and 11am to 11pm Friday and Saturday.
The application also makes mention of the stadium's potential economic impact.
"The stadium is expected to bring ten full-time employees with an average salary of $70,000 plus full benefits," according to the proposal. "Approximately 250 part-time employees with a minimum wage of $20 per hour will also be added. There will be approximately $5.2 million in annual wage earnings driven by the stadium. The venue is also expected to generate $408 million in new economic impact through development on adjacent properties and spending at hotels and restaurants and other tourism in Grand Rapids over the next 30 years."
The West Side Corridor Improvement Authority has previously expressed its support for the proposed stadium, noting what they believe will be a positive impact on the local business community.
In mid-February at a board meeting, the YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids Association "voted unanimously in support of Grand Action 2.0's plan."
Parking has been raised as a potential concern, which Grand Action 2.0 addressed in its proposal by pointing out there will be 16,000+ spots available within a 15-minute walk of the stadium.
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