HASLETT, MICHIGAN - At 6:30pm Tuesday evening, the Hudson Senior Living Development and the requested Special Use Permit for the same development were both approved at the Meridian Township Board via Zoom. It was a unanimous vote with a 7-to-0 roll call by the Meridian Township Board of Trustees. In the last meeting there was mention that the trustees would have preferred there to be more residential space allotted than the developer had initially planned for. Contractor Jeff Buck has since reconfigured his plans to the trustee’s satisfaction. Along with the other board members, Brett Dreyfus and Ron Styka both agreed that the monetary gain comes from the residents and not the commercial space.

“Really appreciate what we have here, early on I was opposed to this, because it was in fact just a 55 and over senior project and that was not the vision for this section of Haslett and the developer was very willing and worked hard to satisfy this board and its desire to draw more than just that,” said Supervisor Styka.

On the go forward, the Board wants to create more diversity by providing accommodations for all demographics. It is unknown what will fill the 7,000 sq. feet set aside for retail as of now, but the members suggested restaurants for example, or even bringing food trucks to the area.

The Special Use Permit was also passed 7-0. This was to clarify that the building will exceed the city’s limitations of 25,000 sq. feet to allow room for both residential living and commercial use. Trustee Patricia Jackson gave her praise to the improved plans for construction.

“…Commending Mr. Buck for his enthusiasm and willingness to work with and talk with many of us of what we preferred to see and how they could address those interests,” said Trustee Jackson.

This request has been in the works for five weeks and the board members are in agreement that this will be an exciting development for Haslett.