The Holland City Planning Commission on July 8 reapproved a site plan for a two-story, 14-unit apartment building on land owned by Hope Church, after the developer said financing delays had caused the earlier approval to lapse.

Jacob Horner, head of real estate for Dwelling Place, said the nonprofit—partnering with Community Action House and the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians—will own and operate the building and hopes to start construction in September. “This building is 14 apartments. It’s 2 stories. It will incorporate a lot of accessibility features,” Horner said.

The project revives a previously approved plan that had included an adjacent parcel at the United Methodist Church; that parcel has been removed from this phase and the unit count was reduced from 15 to 14. Planning staff told the commission the current plan closely matches the earlier approval and recommended reapproval with two specific accommodations: confirmation of the corner entrance treatment consistent with the city’s form-based code and a waiver for glazing on the street frontages (the code requires 30 percent glazing; the proposal shows 27 percent).

City planning staff member Steve said the glazing percentage and corner treatment mirror the earlier approval and recommended the commission reiterate that approval. “Staff is recommending that you approve the new site plan, with the corner treatment and the glazing as proposed,” Steve said.

A brief public hearing drew a comment from resident Dave De Jong of 271 West Twelfth Street, who objected to what he described as the commission’s prior inclination to approve the project and questioned whether public comments were being considered. “I’m very opposed to this project,” De Jong said.

Commission discussion noted this project has come before the commission multiple times and that staff and applicants had engaged with neighbors previously. A commissioner moved to approve the site plan with staff recommendations; the motion was seconded, the commission voted in favor and the motion carried.

Key approvals and conditions recorded in the meeting were limited to site-plan reapproval, acceptance of the corner entrance treatment consistent with form-based code guidance, and a glazing waiver to allow 27 percent glazing on street-facing facades rather than the 30 percent normally required. No additional funding approvals or building permits were taken at the meeting; those remain later administrative or permitting steps.

The developer said the site currently contains a playground that will be removed; a new playground recently was constructed elsewhere on Hope Church property. The applicant and staff reiterated the project will include accessibility features and that some units will be designated for residents using vouchers targeted to people with disabilities.