MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - After spending some time hearing from the public, local residents, and representatives from Whole Foods, the Township Board came to a decision on December 10th to pass the Commercial Planned Unit Development to construct a Whole Foods on Grand River Avenue.

Sometimes projects like this take up to a year, but this one took about six weeks.

During the deliberation process, the public and Board expressed concerns regarding bike racks, lighting, bus routes, signage, and traffic. The issues were addressed accordingly and Whole Foods worked with the Township to ensure there would be bike racks for employees and customers and LED lighting.

The signage was the biggest concern, and the board did grant Whole Foods an exception to Meridian Township's signage ordinance which allows Whole Foods to display a bigger sign than usual.

When the Board came to a vote, it passed unanimously and different members commented on how they were excited for new business be coming to the Township.