Planning commission recommends rezoning 4384 Blue Star Highway to mixed commercial and industrial uses

HOLLAND CITY — The Holland City Planning Commission on April 15 voted to recommend that the city council rezone 4384 Blue Star Highway from low-density residential (LDR) to a combination of corridor mixed use (CMU) for a roughly 5-acre corner and industrial zoning for the remaining property.

The commission action follows a presentation from the applicant’s representative and a staff recommendation in favor of sending a positive recommendation to council. Ryan Isildyke of Holland Engineering, speaking for the applicant, said the request was updated after a neighborhood meeting and work with the existing feed store operator to reflect the business’s retail orientation. "They really much better fit as a commercial use," Isildyke said, describing the feed store as primarily reselling prepackaged products rather than manufacturing on-site.

Staff planning analyst Steve told the commission the rezoning aligns with the city’s master plan and Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) standards. He noted the northern edge of the site falls within an airport overlay and an older avigation easement that limits buildings in that small area but still allows uses such as parking, setbacks, landscaping or farming. "Again, staff is recommending that you send a positive recommendation to city council, as they requested," Steve said.

Commissioners asked several technical questions. They discussed the site’s unusual single-parcel configuration bisected by roads, which would create split zoning if the rezoning is approved; commissioners were told that split zoning is uncommon but permitted and that the legal zoning descriptions would remain in effect even after future land divisions. Isildyke said the Pierce family intends to retain the feed mill site (the approximately 5-acre portion) in the near term and that the remainder — roughly 48 usable acres of the parcel — could be marketed either as a single industrial tract or as multiple smaller industrial lots depending on market interest.

Commissioners also raised the small, odd-shaped pieces on the parcel’s east side that are effectively unbuildable because of right-of-way and setback constraints. Staff said one of those pieces, about 0.9 acre, could function as parking for adjacent industrial users but that building on the area constrained by the airport easement would be limited. Staff characterized the easement as established in the late 1980s and intended to limit uses that "congregate people" near the runway.

A commissioner moved to approve the staff recommendation; another commissioner seconded. The motion carried on a voice vote with no recorded opposition. The planning commission’s vote is a recommendation; the city council will take the final action on the rezoning.

During the meeting’s staff communications, planning staff also noted a minor update to the UDO form-based code map colors to improve legibility in print.