Oshtemo Township’s Planning Commission has begun a months-long process to modernize and consolidate its zoning ordinance, work that could affect how and where new housing is built, how the township handles energy development, and how environmental protections are applied across the community.
The commission kicked off the first of several work sessions at its June 25th meeting with consultants from Progressive Companies, which was hired through a grant to lead the effort. Jason Ball, a senior planner with Progressive, told the commission the process would carry through the remainder of the year and that no votes would be taken during the work sessions. The goal is to get commission feedback on larger proposed shifts before any formal action.
Housing and Zoning Districts
One of the most significant proposed changes involves residential zoning. The township currently has multiple separate residential districts that have created inconsistencies, redundancies, and gaps in what kinds of housing can be built where. The update proposes consolidating those districts into a more unified framework that would allow a broader range of housing types — duplexes, townhomes, and cottage courts — in neighborhood residential areas, either by right or with conditions, rather than requiring a separate special use approval for each.
Planning Director Jodi Stefforia described the goal as addressing the “missing middle” — the gap between traditional single-family homes and large apartment buildings that leaves few options for residents at different life stages or household sizes.
Short-term rentals, such as those listed through platforms like Airbnb, were flagged as a policy question the commission will need to answer before ordinance language can be drafted. The discussion included whether to allow them across residential areas or limit them to mixed-use or commercial districts.
Environmental Protection
Stefforia also outlined a parallel project to consolidate environmental protection language that is currently scattered across multiple sections of both the zoning ordinance and the township’s general ordinance. The plan is to pull all of it — stormwater management, groundwater and wellhead protection, natural features, tree cutting regulations, and soil erosion control — into a single article in the general ordinance.
The consolidation is partly driven by a 2021 water services agreement with the City of Kalamazoo that requires the township to have wellhead protection standards in its ordinance. Rather than simply add the required language, the township is using the opportunity to strengthen and expand its environmental protections township-wide, not just within mapped wellhead capture areas.
Energy System Ordinance
The third project running alongside the zoning update is a new energy system ordinance covering battery storage and related facilities. Stefforia told the commission the township has identified NFPA 855 — the national standard for the siting of battery energy storage systems — as the applicable safety framework, engaged a Michigan subject matter expert on that standard, and received 40 pages of suggested ordinance language from an outside consultant specializing in battery storage.
Staff are still reviewing that material and reconciling it with existing township ordinances. Stefforia said the goal is for Oshtemo’s energy ordinance to be comprehensive enough to serve as a model for other townships facing similar pressures.
“We hope it to be a model for other townships if they have to write language like we feel pressed against the wall to do,” Stefforia said. “They’ll wanna model after our ordinance.”
The ordinance is not ready for public circulation yet.
During public comment, several residents urged the commission to prioritize community interests — including environmental protection and groundwater safety — as it develops the energy ordinance language. One resident called on the commission to look beyond economic considerations when reviewing future energy facility applications.
