WALKER, Mich. — An Amazon package sorting and delivery facility will soon go up in the city of Walker.
The City Planning Commission approved the plan Wednesday night to allow the 113,000 square foot warehouse to be built on 4 Mile Road across the street from Kenowa Hills High School.
Just under 32 acres of land, parts of which were recently rezoned from agricultural use to industrial planned unit development, will include the facility along with 1,098 parking spaces. According to the city, Amazon has said the facility will bring up to 200 jobs. Growth that assistant city manager Frank Wash says is much needed.
"The projected growth in Walker has continuously been down tuned since the late 60s," says Wash. "I would call that more of the old Michigan economic development model."
Some neighbors expressed concerns Wednesday especially about the influx of traffic directly near a school campus.
"You know we already don't have sidewalks or anything for the kids, and you know, I feel like it's just going to make it that much more unsafe," said Lyn Jameyson, who has lived in the area for about 7 years and said she just recently learned of Amazon's plans.
As part of the proposal, the city had the developers conduct a traffic impact analysis. City planning director Tricia Anderson said the plan includes interval times for vans to depart the warehouse to avoid high traffic times specifically from the school. She said the delivery vans will primarily use the Northridge Drive NW and Fruit Ridge Avenue NW intersection.
Part of the plan is to connect both ends of Northridge Drive, connecting Fruit Ridge Avenue to Walker Avenue, and that construction is currently ongoing.
Anderson said it has been part of the city's plan to develop that area for several years now. She said the city was approached by Amazon this summer.
"We didn't know Amazon was coming, but we knew that some industrial use would be coming to this area for a very long time," Anderson said ahead of the planning meeting. "Once we set up the rules for land use and zoning, it's kind of out of our hands."
Anderson said the facility should be a good thing for the city in terms of income tax revenue.
"It's one of our largest sources of revenue, so anytime jobs come to the city of Walker, it's a good thing for us," she said.
The property is owned by a group affiliated with Visser Development Inc., a Grand Rapids company, and it's being developed by Ryan Companies based in Minneapolis. The city said the developers plan to break ground as soon as they obtain a building permit, which could happen before the year ends.
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