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New Development for Cannon Township

dbrok

By dbrok
in Grand Rapids

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Trixie Unincorporated Area

Trixie

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Every time a discussion about GR Township comes up, inevitably an annex comment comes up. Thought we should apply that across the board. :D

You just want access to the wild, wonderful water resources of Lake Bella Vista. Admit it. :D

Re: traffic - If they do much residential development it will certainly add to traffic - which is not great right now. Any LH turn onto Belding Road is challenging. I don't know if there are any plans to add a center turn lane from Myers Lake to Blakely. They should. Doesn't mean they will. :lol:

It's funny that we talk about annexing like its going to the store to buy milk or something... It seems like its just as easy. :)

I always get a mental picture of Curt Kimball riding a white steed, swinging a lasso. Hiyooooo! Annex!

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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I can see the residents of GR twp prostrating themselves over the east beltline in vehement protest before they'd allow annexation.

I don't know. I think if the school systems were kept in place (Forest Hills Eastern, Northern, Northview and EGR), and the taxes were kept approximately the same, there might not be as much protest. The tax rate now in GR Township is somewhere between 27 and 30 Mills, depending on school district. Grand Rapids Property tax rates are 28 to 35 Mills, depending on school district. A little bit higher, but there are more services to pay for. Currently most townships do not have a police force, so they contract with Kent County. One possible sticking point might be the 1% Income Tax the city charges.

I'm pretty sure Lake Bella Vista is only open to its residents, regardless of Cannon Twp. :whistling: FWIW, you can keep it. :D

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Trixie Unincorporated Area

Trixie

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I I'm pretty sure Lake Bella Vista is only open to its residents, regardless of Cannon Twp. :whistling: FWIW, you can keep it. :D

I don't know what the restrictions are - I don't live there either. I've been boating on it a couple of times - it's sort of icky water.

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andrew.w Hamlet

andrew.w

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I'm pretty sure Lake Bella Vista is only open to its residents, regardless of Cannon Twp. :whistling: FWIW, you can keep it. :D

I can confirm that it is only open to residents (and their guests), not that it really matters. I wouldn't necessarily call it "icky" but it is ussually really crowded with quite a few boats for a small lake.

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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I can confirm that it is only open to residents (and their guests), not that it really matters. I wouldn't necessarily call it "icky" but it is ussually really crowded with quite a few boats for a small lake.

Yeah, the boats and water skiiers go around the lake like a merry-go-round because it's so small. :rofl:

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blueradon Hamlet

blueradon

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Will this have a traffic impact on Belding Rd? They have been making improvements pretty much from the Kent County line at Montcalm ave for a while. But it seems that with all the development happening out that way they should widen it from Meyers Lake, perhaps Ramsdell, or hey lets go crazy, Wabasis. I haven't been that way in about a year, but last I remember it was still just a two lane highway. There is enough traffic on it though, and I'd imagine something like this would make it worse. I think it'll be wierd if one day Belding starts growing as an outer ring suburb.

I'm sorry but I just can't see that happening. Right now, Belding has probably 1 member of the city council who has the brains to turn that place right-side up again. Of course, the only other reason Belding hasn't grown over the years is because of a rich snob-headed grocery store owner who pretty much buys land around the city to prevent any sort of competition from hurting his family business (although as of late, a couple new developments are being built on the highway). Long time ago, McDonalds and Burger King tried to put their franchises in downtown Belding and get the town going, but he would not have it.

Fortunately, Belding's DDA is together again and plans to carry on with it's plans to grow the city, but will it follow through? I'm having my reservations on that issue...

I don't feel that this development will give juice to Belding's potential growth; I think the intentions are primarily focused on the Bella Vista area, and I think it will give that area it's own identity apart from being known as "The Rockford Area."

If there is anything you should be really interested in as far as growth, pay attention to Greenville for the next 5 years...that's all I can say as far as that :) Drive down Greenville's West Side (or m-57 to/from GR for that matter) on a 5:00PM on Friday and you may think you are on Alpine.

Yes I know, I have to throw Greenville in every conversation because I love the town :yahoo:

But I love GR too :)

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quoteme3 Whistle-Stop

quoteme3

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I'm sorry but I just can't see that happening. Right now, Belding has probably 1 member of the city council who has the brains to turn that place right-side up again. Of course, the only other reason Belding hasn't grown over the years is because of a rich snob-headed grocery store owner who pretty much buys land around the city to prevent any sort of competition from hurting his family business (although as of late, a couple new developments are being built on the highway). Long time ago, McDonalds and Burger King tried to put their franchises in downtown Belding and get the town going, but he would not have it.

thats funny because just for fun a few years back I tried to find the Belding main street/downtown, and thought I had found the right street.... it dead ended into a grocery store parking lot.

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blueradon Hamlet

blueradon

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thats funny because just for fun a few years back I tried to find the Belding main street/downtown, and thought I had found the right street.... it dead ended into a grocery store parking lot.

Exactly....he built the stupid "Covered Village Mall" and slapped it in the middle of downtown messing up all of the grid street style that Belding once had...

Here are some old old photos of what Belding used to be...sad that only a couple buildings still remain...and it makes me wonder what even happened to make it all go to waste...however, the nice thing about this town is that they take advantage of their river and many parks by it:

http://www.ci.belding.mi.us/pages/community/history.htm

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