• The current New Hope Church, located at 1340 Haslett Road, Haslett, MI 48840.

MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - On May 17, the New Hope Church of Haslett appeared before the Township Board to speak about their need for a special use permit for their proposed new location.

The New Hope Church is proposing to build a new, 42,000 square foot church at the northeast corner of Newton Road and Saginaw Road. The church needs the permit due to an ordinance which says that all buildings or groups of buildings on a single lot over 25,000 square feet must get a special use permit from the Township Board.

The members of the Board, however, seemed less concerned with the need for a special use permit than they were about the proposed removal of trees for the new church's parking lot. During the meeting, Treasurer Julie Brixie wondered about the possibility of saving some of those trees by adjusting the placement of the islands in the parking lot.

Jeff Kyes, Vice President of Kebs, Inc., the landscaping company working with the New Hope Church, said, "I don't want to tell you that we're gonna save every tree that's in that parking lot right now. We're gonna do everything we can to save everything around it. I believe that we would consider looking at some of those if there is a specimen that we could make it work."

Kyes also mentioned the need to clean up several sections of the lot from what appears to be small gasoline spills in the past.

The New Hope Church Special Use Permit is planned to be an action item at the next Township Board meeting.