Zeeland residents voice concerns about solar farm
OTTAWA COUNTY, MI — A capacity crowd filled an Ottawa County township hall as residents in rural Zeeland voiced opposition to a proposed large-scale solar farm.
The crowd filled the lower level of the Zeeland Township hall Tuesday, Dec. 9 as one resident after another told township planners why they believe a $300 million solar farm would ruin the township’s agricultural character.
“Zeeland Township must stand firm and protect the land and agriculture identity that defines this place,” said Gerald Vanderlugt, who lives on 48th Avenue.
“Once it’s covered in steel, glass, wiring and fencing, that land is gone for 30 to 40 years,” he said.
Most of the approximate 200 people who packed the meeting were in opposition to the solar project planned by Germany-based energy company RWE.
Zeeland Township planners for several months have been working on an ordinance to govern solar projects.
At Tuesday’s meeting, they pivoted and asked municipal attorney Dave Eberle to expand the ordinance language to include wind and battery storage.
RWE wants to build a solar project on up to 1,100 acres spanning properties in Zeeland and Jamestown Township, south of I-196. The project would require a special use permit from the township.
RWE could at any time also choose to bypass township leaders and ask the Michigan Public Service Commission for approval, based on Public Act 233.
Monty Vanderwall said he and his family moved into a brick ranch house on five acres on 56th Avenue about 10 years ago. He has four young sons.
Vanderwall recently built his “dream house” on the same property after splitting the lot into two parcels. He’s worried his country views will soon be disrupted by solar panels.
“The house we moved into just four months prior is going to be surrounded,” he said.
RWE wants to start construction on the 200 mw solar farm sometime in 2026 and is working to secure long-term leases with property owners. The solar panels would not necessarily be on one large property, but could involve several non-contiguous properties.
Township planners on Tuesday advised the attorney and township staff to work on a new ordinance that could allow the township to have a certain extent of regulatory oversight over a solar farm — setbacks, drainage, removal caveats at end of lifespan — but without causing RWE to seek approval from the MPSC instead.
John Tunison has been a reporter at MLive/Grand Rapids Press since 1997, covering courts, crime and local government. Since 2024, he's covered Ottawa County government.
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