HOLLAND — Holland City Council voted to rezone six properties — including the Old Wing Mission — on Wednesday, helping pave the way for LG Energy Solution’s third phase expansion project.
The move was approved unanimously at a July 17 meeting and rezones 5320, 5304, 5298, 5266 and 5252 147th St., along with a portion of 5260 147th, from Low Density Residential to Industrial zoning.
Holland Senior City Planner Steve Peterson presented the rezoning project to council, explaining three of the included properties recently came into the city as part of a conditional property transfer agreement with Fillmore Township.
Peterson said turning the properties into Industrial zoning makes sense, especially as the city’s Future Land Use Map designates them as such. The rezoning was recommended by the city's planning commission in an 8-0 vote.
“There were some folks at the planning commission public hearing, but the comments they made were really all site plan related,” Peterson said. “We spent a lot of time working through the site plan, there wasn’t any comments in regards to the rezoning ordinance request.”
While no residents were present Wednesday night for public comment, citizens have used past meetings to address their concern for the future of the Old Wing Mission, along with concerns about possible runoff into local streams and drinking water, the safety of children in the area and the impact on local roadways.
Peterson reiterated LG’s stance that they have plans for the Old Wing Mission that mean it will not be torn down.
"That parcel would be rezoned to Industrial," Peterson said. "They have indicated that they still have a process they want to go through to determine what they might want to do with that property.
"They have indicated that their intention is to preserve the Old Wing Mission. Rezoning it to Industrial does not prevent that from happening."
Conversations surrounding the properties have been ongoing as LG works towards building a new 1.7 million-square-foot, $2.5 billion project across 15 new buildings. The new main building will be approximately 1 million square feet.
The latest expansion news comes after the announcement of a $3 billion partnership between LG and Toyota. While the third phase means a third major building on the campus, no new jobs are being created.
The buildings are meant to accommodate the continued expansion of the company’s battery manufacturing program.
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LG Holland, located off 146th Avenue near I-196, opened in 2010. In early 2022, the company announced a $1.7 billion, second phase expansion meant to create 1,000 skilled, well-paying jobs by 2025 and over 1 million square feet of new space.
While construction on phase two is nearing completion, and plans for phase three are underway, the company is also starting another major project — renovations to its original 240,000-square-foot building. That project would introduce new technology and increase production capacity, for a total investment of $81,898,076.
LG will continue to work with city leadership to move forward with the third phase planning and will be included in future meetings in the coming months.
— Contact reporter Austin Metz at ametz@hollandsentinel.com.
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