Planning commission approves Harvest Health site remodel with village‑design departures

The Cascade Charter Township Planning Commission recommended approval March 16 of a site‑plan review and associated departures for Harvest Health’s proposed exterior and interior remodel at 6807 Cascade Road in the Thornapple Center PUD.

Staff explained the remodel keeps the existing footprint while adding a vestibule, replacing roofing with new asphalt shingles, installing a parapet wall on two elevations to break up the long façade, adding brick veneer and fiber‑cement siding, and enclosing dumpsters and mechanical equipment. The village design review committee recommended that the planning commission grant departures from six subsections of Section 8.09 (identified in the staff report) because the existing building cannot meet all standards without effectively rebuilding the structure.

Applicant Mitchell Null said the owners intend to remove many existing signs and retain two, add five operable windows in the front and five in the back where feasible, improve building materials and replace worn parking‑lot pavement. Null said the investment — described in discussion as roughly $1.5 million by the applicant — is intended to modernize the store and increase patronage; he said a comparable remodel at another location produced an approximate 15% increase in first‑month sales.

Commissioners discussed sidewalk connections and pedestrian visibility of the entrance, acknowledging constraints posed by site grades and adjacent utilities; staff and the applicant said some pedestrian improvements might be pursued in the future when broader lot rework is feasible. The commission approved the site plan and the requested departures by voice vote, adding conditions that the applicant meet the Thornapple Center PUD sign requirements through a future PUD ordinance amendment process and that lighting comply with zoning chapter 19.