On the night of Oct. 2, a woman who lives on the 31st floor of Plaza Towers had friends over for dinner. The bass from the Acrisure Amphitheater came through anyway, for hours. "It was like an invasion into my home," she told Grand Rapids city commissioners four days later.
Her neighbors want the city to hold the amphitheater to its noise ordinance. The city is moving the other way. That fight led a busy week of local government, one that also brought a new Kent County sheriff, an Allegan County budget with a flat tax rate, and a pointed hour of public comment in Grand Rapids about who gets left out when the city grows.
Grand Rapids
The amphitheater gets closer to its exemption
On Tuesday, Oct. 6, the commission approved its consent agenda in a single voice vote, with no objection heard. One item on it authorized publishing a change to the city's noise rules, which would clarify an exemption covering the amphitheater. FOX 17 reports the exemption would run until 11 p.m., with the city manager able to extend it when a show runs late. A final vote is expected Oct. 27 (FOX 17).
The change follows an August court ruling that the venue has to follow the ordinance as written.
Three Plaza Towers residents spoke against it. One argued the city approved the venue on sound projections that proved wrong. He said a 2025 study forecast 68 decibels at his building, while the real levels top 90. Another said measurements he and others took show sound at Plaza Towers far beyond what New York City allows at a home. He said people as far as eight miles up the river complain. Neither claim has been independently checked. The first resident came back at the end of the meeting with a narrower ask: table the amendment until real sound limits are written into the venue's land use approval. He said the court found the Planning Commission never imposed any.
Not everyone in the building agrees. Kara Wood, executive director of Grand Action 2.0, lives on the 22nd floor. She told commissioners "the vast majority" of her neighbors love the venue and are already looking forward to next season. Clear rules, she said, give certainty to everyone.
City Manager Mark Washington said staff will keep studying how other cities handle this. In parts of downtown Austin, he noted, permitted live music can run until 2 a.m.
"Are we being ghosted?"
The sharpest moment of the afternoon came from a group of Black business owners and advocates. Their complaint was about the city's Emerging Developers initiative, a program meant to help people historically shut out of real estate development get a foothold.
Yolanda Wilson of Sisters in Development said participants put in time, money and their personal credibility based on what the city offered. Now, she said, they are left "without clarity, meaningful engagement, or a pathway forward." A business owner speaking alongside her described "a renewed sense of institutional betrayal." The group asked for measurable goals, named people accountable for results, and the city's help raising a $10 million public, private and philanthropic fund.
Commissioner Kelsey Perdue said she shares the frustration and talked about watching her father, who left school in eighth grade, build a life through small business. Commissioner Marshall Kilgore said that same morning a city economic development panel had discussed putting "millions" toward the program. That money would need a recommendation from the Affordable Housing Fund Board, which meets Oct. 12, before it comes back to the commission for a vote. No dollar figure has been set.
Cameras, ICE and what the city can do
Several residents asked the city to drop its Flock Safety license plate cameras. One said the contract expires in June. They pointed to a recent federal ruling in Oklahoma that a month-long warrantless search of plate-reader data was unconstitutional. One speaker urged the city to adopt sanctuary policies drafted by Movimiento Cosecha.
Washington said a review of plate-reader use under the city's surveillance policy is already promised. He added that the cameras helped police and the FBI catch a bank robbery suspect that week. Mayor David LaGrand said the plate-reader conversation is "not done." He said he has been working with the ACLU on ways to make the city more welcoming and better protect residents' rights, but that nothing is ready yet.
Commissioner Lisa Knight raised the death of Mario Coronado Juárez, who died Sept. 20 in a crash after fleeing an ICE traffic stop. She said U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten told her she had looked into the arrests in Wyoming that weekend, and that "it was none of Mario's family that had gotten arrested." A family member told FOX 17 the four people taken into custody were his cousins (FOX 17). We haven't been able to settle which account is right, and we haven't heard from Scholten directly.
The rest of the agenda
The same consent vote covered a long list of other business:
- A three-year deal with Kent County on running 911 dispatch together.
- A $1.75 million contract with Bazen Electric to replace a substation at the city's wastewater plant, capped at about $2.14 million.
- $210,099 from the Michigan Green Building Collaborative to hire a full-time sustainability staffer.
- A $70,000 gift from Matt Richenthal to promote the To College, Through College initiative.
- A liquor license for the new Amway soccer stadium.
- Ten-year tax breaks to rehabilitate old buildings at 2130 Plainfield Ave. NE and 1024 Martin Luther King Jr. St. SE.
- Oct. 27 hearings on rezoning parts of Livingston Avenue NE and Fuller Avenue NE for housing.
One project hit a snag. The commission created a rehabilitation district for 1956 Eastern Ave. SE, where the owner plans eight one-bedroom apartments in a $1.56 million renovation. It then shelved the matching 11-year tax break indefinitely. Perdue said the owner still owes back taxes, has a county agreement to pay them off by March 2028, and isn't yet fully eligible. Kilgore called the delay "not a no."
The second First Ward seat on the commission is still empty. Commissioners have been unable to agree on an appointee since spring (WGVU).
If you vote in the city: early voting opens Tuesday, Oct. 20, four days before the rest of Michigan, and you can use any of the four sites (City of Grand Rapids):
- St. Peter and Paul School gym, 1430 Quarry NW
- GRPS University gym, 1400 Fuller NE
- Ottawa Hills High School, old cafeteria, 2055 Rosewood SE
- New Hope Baptist Church gym, 130 Delaware SW
The clerk said about 33,000 absentee ballots are already out and roughly 4,400 have come back.
Next meeting: Tuesday, Oct. 27, 7 p.m.
Kent County
A new sheriff, and a push to open the books
Bryan Muir took the oath as Kent County sheriff on Oct. 8, sworn in by the woman he replaces, Michelle LaJoye-Young, who is retiring after 37 years. Jason Kelley became undersheriff (Kent County, WOOD Radio). Muir started Oct. 9 and will serve through 2028. He was the only applicant for the appointment. His office also has a corrections millage renewal on the Nov. 3 ballot, at 0.98 mills (WOOD TV).
Tucked into the same meeting packet was a letter from Board Chair Ben Greene, dated Oct. 1, setting up a Financial Transparency and Innovation Committee. Its goal, in Greene's words, is to make Kent "the most transparent county government in the United States" on spending. The idea is to publish transaction-level financial data in a format anyone can download and analyze. Greene wrote that the county should let "a commissioner, a reporter, or a resident answer a question for themselves." Commissioner Matt Kallman chairs the committee, with Robin Halsted and Michelle McCloud. Its charge runs through the end of the year.
Also on the agenda, with minutes not yet posted:
- New county policies on contracts, grants and donations. Any gift of $50,000 or more, and any naming rights, would need board approval.
- $95,346.41 from a surety bond to finish a Lowell road resurfacing job after the original contractor walked away.
- An extra $38,787 in state money for the 63rd District Court's DWI and drug court.
Next board meeting: Thursday, Oct. 22, 8:30 a.m.
Allegan County
More money, same tax rate
Allegan commissioners were scheduled to hold a public hearing and vote on the county's 2027 budget Thursday night, Oct. 8. Minutes aren't posted yet, so we can't confirm the outcome.
As proposed, the general fund grows 8%, to about $55.8 million. The county's total levy stays at 6.94 mills: 5.16 for county operations, with the rest going to senior services, roads, the Medical Care Community and the conservation district. Property tax revenue still rises about 7%, because taxable values are projected to climb. County Administrator Robert Sarro's budget memo warns that the cushion the county keeps by levying less than its maximum is getting thinner each year. Departments asked for new full-time positions, and none were recommended.
The board was also set to appoint Harold Hamlin of South Haven to the Road Commission and Jim Storey of Holland to the Board of Public Works.
On Nov. 3, Allegan voters decide whether to renew funding for the Allegan Conservation District (WKZO).
Next meeting: Thursday, Oct. 22, 9 a.m., when the 2026 tax levies are up for action.
Holland
Ice park sponsors and free books for kids
Holland City Council passed its whole consent agenda unanimously on Oct. 7 (WHTC). Meijer signed a three-year, $9,500 sponsorship at the Holland Ice Park, including the February Love on Ice festival. The Tulyp Hotel agreed to a $10,000 deal for pavilion signage. The city will join the Allegan County Community Foundation's Dolly Parton Imagination Library, which mails free books to young children. Downtown Holland takes over the Kerstmarkt holiday market.
Council also set hearings on two downtown brownfield plans: one for the block between 8th and 9th streets from River to Pine, and one for 166 River Ave. and 93 W. 7th St. The agenda included a hearing on an industrial development district, usually the first step toward a factory tax break, covering 1659 M-40 and properties on 52nd Street and Interchange Drive. We couldn't confirm how that vote went.
Next week's study session is cancelled. Council meets again Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 6 p.m.
Ottawa County
The full board didn't meet this week. Its committees meet Oct. 13, followed by a work session Oct. 16 and the full board on Oct. 27 at 9 a.m. in West Olive (Ottawa County).
One thing to watch is the Silver Maple solar project, a roughly 1,900-acre array proposed for Zeeland and Jamestown townships. County officials have been weighing what role, if any, Ottawa County could play in the state review, and Zeeland Township has asked it to step in (FOX 17).
Around the region
Arrests in Wyoming, a protest in Grand Rapids
A family member told FOX 17 that four relatives of Mario Coronado Juárez were taken into federal custody around 8 a.m. Oct. 3 at a gas station at 28th Street and Clyde Park Avenue in Wyoming. That's the account Commissioner Knight's remarks contradicted. Protesters gathered outside the ICE field office on Ottawa Avenue later that day. According to GRPD, officers cited three people for obstructing a passageway and arrested them for failing to obey a lawful command. The Michigan State Police is investigating the Sept. 20 crash at Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's request (Michigan Advance).
West Olive Estates water
A boil-water advisory was issued Sept. 24 at West Olive Estates, a 742-home manufactured housing community, and was still in effect when FOX 17 reported on Oct. 5 (FOX 17). State regulators traced the bacteria to a faulty connection on a pool and spa line, not the wells, and samples taken Oct. 2 came back clean. Residents told FOX 17 they'd heard little from management. We couldn't confirm whether the advisory has since been lifted.
Candidates on the record
Together West Michigan, a nonpartisan coalition of 26 member organizations, was scheduled to hold its Candidate Accountability Forum Saturday morning, Oct. 10, at Calvin Church on Ethel Avenue SE. More than 20 candidates were expected, from city commission races in Grand Rapids, Walker and Wyoming to the state House and Senate. Candidates get the questions a week ahead and answer yes or no on whether they'll work with the coalition on each issue, volunteer Jan Koopman told WGVU (WGVU). Mosaic doesn't endorse candidates. We mention the forum because it's one of the few places to hear this many local candidates answer the same questions in one room.
Coming up
- Grand Rapids City Commission: Tuesday, Oct. 27, 7 p.m. (amphitheater and rezoning votes)
- Kent County Board of Commissioners: Thursday, Oct. 22, 8:30 a.m.
- Ottawa County Board of Commissioners: Tuesday, Oct. 27, 9 a.m., West Olive
- Allegan County Board of Commissioners: Thursday, Oct. 22, 9 a.m.
- Holland City Council: Wednesday, Oct. 21, 6 p.m.
