Update: Thank you to everyone that is supporting this effort! We are not done fighting and need to get many many more signatures. We have a few residents on foot trying to collect signatures in the village.
We have been able to connect with 4 of 7 school board members to share our concerns and they were very receptive. We have a few more we’d like to speak with. Please reach out to the school board! This stops if the school board does not approve the use of their land!
Also, we were able to get the Village President, Manager and their 2 engineers out to walk the land with us. It was a rough start to the meeting, they were not open and defensive to our concerns, but eventually we felt like we were heard. We don’t know if the lot will stop, but it sounds like they are open to changing the design, however they are still applying the for grant with the full 24-spot design, we are also concerned that the minutes they are submitting do not accurately reflect the full breadth of the concerns that were shared by the community, hmmmm…. They are pretty adamant about using the space as long as the school agrees. One thing was clear and was mentioned several times, they do not believe the lot will cause SAFETY ISSUES for our children, students or residents that use the trail daily. It was CLEAR that safety of students was the major concern of residents during the March 10th meeting, yet that is not their concern. We understand the Village is trying to help with growth and that’s the direction we are going. We still very strongly oppose the lot as there are no parking issues 90% of the time. This is a 1 business problem that has outgrown their space which is causing the congestion on Main during peak hours. We are willing to work with the Village if we absolutely can’t stop this. BUT WE CAN STOP THE LOT AND CAN’T DO IT ALONE. WE NEED YOU! When asked, the village said they have only received one email in opposition. We MUST do better!
I encourage you to email the Village and oppose the lot. Blow up their inbox, get everyone you know in the village to send emails, same with the school board. Continue to get petition signatures by sharing this petition link with your neighbors or signing the paper petition that’s circulating.
- Petition Link: https://www.change.org/STOPTHELOT25
- Village email: vilofcal@villageofcaledonia.org
- Caledonia School Board: https://www.calschools.org/our-district/board-of-education/
Scroll down the page and you can either email the entire school board of individually. THEY ARE OPEN TO HEARING CONCERNS!
Go to village counsel meetings and school board meetings and voice your concern in person and send emails. Simply signing the petition may not stop this.
- Attend the Next Village Council Meeting – Monday, April 14, 7:00 PM Caledonia Village Hall, 250 S. Maple St. SE.
- Attend the Next School Board Meetings - Wednesday Apr 16 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM
- District - School Board Committee of the Whole Attend Apr 21 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM District - Regular School Board Meeting
The DNR grant was submitted today with a due date of April 1st. We can appeal this grant. We ALL need to appeal this grant!
- After April 1st send an appeal to Email both: dnr-grants@michigan.gov and our region’s grant coordinator: Riley Millard at millard2@michigan.gov
- Grant Information: https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/-/media/Project/Websites/dnr/Documents/Grants/FOD-Grants/2025-Grant-Workshop-Presentation-Slides.pdf?rev=4e89f88493be49f5bafaad1cb86de18e&hash=8B10BD73783FE69F6B007E73B3794EB5
Let’s keep fighting! We have time, so let’s get those signatures and reach out to the school board and Village.
We got this!!! STOPTHELOT25
Email STOPTHELOT25@gmail.com to get involved. We need more people to join us!
Exercise your rights and stand and be heard! I would have never thought I could be brave enough to do something like this, but I am passionate about this and I hope others will join us!