Friday night market planned at Holland Town Center
HOLLAND TWP. A marketplace in Holland Township will expand its offerings with its first night market.
The market will be open 5-8 p.m. Friday, April 30, at Holland Town Center with the intention of kicking off Tulip Time. The event at 12330 James St. will include a live band, at least two food trucks and two dozen vendors.
Macatawa Marketplace, also known as The Market at Holland Town Center, launched in July 2020 with dozens of vendors and a single food truck.
In six months, the monthly event grew to more than 70 vendors with live music, pumpkins and several hundred customers.
Visser Farms briefly operated a farm stand at 461 Chicago Drive just outside the city limits last spring. In May, the township sent a cease-and-desist letter to the farm, saying it was in violation of zoning rules.
Since then, the commission has been working on potential solutions. But misinformation on the subject is leading to frustration on both sides.
Here is the corrected record:
FALSE: The planning commission denied a special-use request for Visser Farms’ stand
The planning commission hasn t denied a direct request to allow the farm stand on Chicago Drive. It s never been on the agenda.
In August 2020, attorney William Sikkel on behalf of Visser Farms proposed the amendment to township ordinance. The commission suggested the farm appeal to the township board directly for temporary authorization to operate its farm stand, rather than changing township ordinance for a single property.
HOLLAND TWP. After a lengthy discussion during its regular meeting Tuesday, April 13, the Holland Township Planning Commission agreed to explore an overlay district for farm stands.
The decision comes months after a request to amend an existing township ordinance to allow farm stands to operate in commercial districts zoned C-2 was brought before the commission by attorney William Sikkel on behalf of Visser Farms, which briefly operated a farm stand at 461 Chicago Drive last spring.
In May 2020, the township sent a cease-and-desist letter to the farm, saying it was in violation of zoning rules, which only allows farm stands to operate in agricultural zones.
Macatawa Marketplace returning to Holland Town Center in 2021
HOLLAND TWP. A popular marketplace will return to Holland Town Center in the coming months.
Macatawa Marketplace, also known as The Market at Holland Town Center, launched in July 2020 with a couple dozen vendors and a single food truck.
In the six months that followed, the monthly event grew to over 70 vendors with live music, pumpkins and several hundred customers.
The market began a three-month hiatus in January, but will return Saturday, April 10, and continue the second Saturday of each month from there. It s probably going to look the same as last year, said organizer Ruth Doane. But we re expecting more vendors. We ve made changes to give them more opportunities and we re planning cool events to run alongside the market.