Cascade's Zoning Vote Passed by 167 Votes. The Real Story Is Who It Wins For.

On August 4, voters in Cascade Township decided the fate of a zoning ordinance by the narrowest of margins: 3,727 in favor, 3,560 against. A 167-vote spread in a township of roughly 20,000 residents is close enough that either side could plausibly claim the community agreed with them. Both did. Township Supervisor Grace Lesperance called the result proof that "the community's goals and leadership's goals are aligned." Resident and board of review member Sara Fazio, who opposed the ordinance, described a township that's "kind of stagnant" for lack of new housing inventory.

They're both right, and that's the point worth sitting with if you're weighing a move to Cascade. The ordinance that just survived a referendum doesn't pick a single direction for the township. It splits the map into two zones with two different futures, and understanding that split matters more than knowing which side got more votes.

What the Ordinance Actually Does

The new rules replace zoning code written in 1989, back when the township's priorities were big-box retail and heavy industrial growth. Cascade has since become something else: an established residential township bisected by the Thornapple River, with a commercial spine along 28th Street and a growing push to turn its village core into something walkable. The new ordinance, adopted by the Board of Trustees on a 4-3 vote in February and then challenged by a resident petition that gathered more than the 1,799 signatures needed to force a public vote, tries to formalize that split.

Here's what changed in the parts that matter most to buyers and sellers:

Two of these deserve more attention than they got in the campaign fight.

The Density Bump Comes With a Catch

The village core's new 16-units-per-acre ceiling sounds like a straightforward win for anyone hoping Cascade builds more housing. It isn't quite that simple. The bonus units above the base density are earmarked for ownership housing, not rental. That's a policy choice with a direct consequence: if you're a buyer hoping to purchase new construction in a walkable setting near Cascade Road, the incoming supply is being engineered with you in mind. If you're looking for a rental unit in that same walkable core, the ordinance quietly worked against you.

This is the tension resident Tyler Johnson raised when he spoke in support of the new rules. He pointed to a real gap in the township for "a young professional, a teacher, a nurse, a police officer" who need housing that fits "real life and real budgets." The ordinance he was defending, though, steers new density toward ownership rather than the rental stock that would most directly serve that group. The new zoning doesn't resolve that gap. It reroutes where new supply lands and what form it takes.

The Private Road Rule Is a Quiet Trap for Land Buyers

If you're looking at acreage in Cascade with an eye toward eventually subdividing, the 8-home private road cap is the fine print you need before you write an offer. Under the new rule, once a private road serves nine or more homes, the developer has to bring that road up to public street standards, at their own cost. That's not a hypothetical line item. Public-standard conversion means grading, drainage, and paving work that can run into six figures depending on road length and existing condition.

Glenn Turek found this out the hard way. He'd spent two years working with multifamily developers on a plan for his seven-acre property in Centennial Park, envisioning four three-story buildings that would serve both empty nesters and young professionals. The new density and road standards changed his math enough that he described the project as feeling "squashed." If you're evaluating a similar parcel, that's the exact calculation to run before you assume a private road gives you flexibility to add homes down the line.

The East Side Gets Protection. The Village Gets Density.

Zoom out and the ordinance reads less like a single policy and more like a trade. The township's rural east end gets stronger protection against incompatible development and a new voluntary tool, the Purchase of Development Rights program, that lets farmland owners lock in agricultural use permanently in exchange for compensation. Kent County opened applications for that program on February 9 and kept the window open through May 8 of this year.

Meanwhile, the village core, the stretch running along Cascade Road toward the Thornapple River, gets the density bump and a design mandate built around walkability. Township officials describe this as the plan all along: preserve what's rural, concentrate what's new.

"This entire process, and one of our top priorities throughout this entire process, has been to enhance, increase, and preserve residents' property values."

That's Lesperance's framing from the FAQ document the township circulated ahead of the February vote, and it's worth taking at face value. Cascade already holds the highest State Equalized Value in Kent County by the township's own accounting. The zoning fight wasn't about whether Cascade is desirable. It was about whether new development gets absorbed at the edges, near the river and 28th Street, or pushes outward into the acreage and single-family neighborhoods that already carry that valuation.

Watch the Village Core, Not the Whole Township

The clearest evidence of where this is headed is already under construction, sort of. The township's Tassell Park redevelopment, part of a larger "Village Reimagined" plan, is converting the former Tuffy Tire site at Cascade Road and Thornapple River Drive into an expanded public space with a tree bosque plaza, a fishing pier, a kayak launch, and a relocated parking area along Thornapple River Drive. The design team, which includes Troyer Group, OHM Advisors, and Fleis & Vandenbrink, is targeting a spring 2027 construction start, pending environmental review since the site sits in a floodway.

That timeline matters because it lines up almost exactly with when the new zoning's ownership-oriented density bonus will start showing up as actual listings. If you're house hunting for new construction with walkable amenities and you want to time a purchase near the amenities Cascade is building, the village core over the next 18 to 24 months is where to watch, not the township as a whole.

What This Means Depending on What You Want

If you're drawn to Cascade for space, mature trees, and distance from your neighbors, the new ordinance is good news. The rural east end now has clearer protection against the kind of multifamily density that worried Turek and others, and the tree replacement standard adds a modest check against clear cutting on larger lots.

If you're hoping to buy new construction with a walk-to-everything setup, the village core is where the next wave of ownership product is being funneled, and Tassell Park's redevelopment gives you a concrete landmark to track.

If you're searching for a rental in Cascade specifically because you want that same walkable setting, know that the ordinance's density bonus was written for buyers, not renters, and that gap isn't likely to close on its own.

And if you're eyeing acreage with plans to eventually add homes on a private road, run the 8-home threshold and the developer-funded conversion cost before you assume flexibility that may no longer exist.

A Few Questions Worth Answering Directly

Does this ordinance change anything for homes that already exist?

No. Officials have said existing businesses and residential properties can continue operating as they are. The new rules apply to new development and redevelopment going forward, not retroactively.

Is the vote actually final?

Yes, as of the August 4 results. The petition process gave residents the final say, and the ordinance passed. Barring further legal challenge, this is the zoning framework Cascade will build under going forward.

Will my property taxes change because of this?

Zoning and property tax assessment are separate processes. The township has directed residents with valuation questions to the Township Assessor's Department rather than tying tax changes to the zoning outcome itself.

Cascade didn't just settle a zoning fight in August. It set the terms for who gets what over the next decade: preserved acreage on one side of the river, ownership-focused density on the other. Which side of that split makes sense for you depends entirely on what you're trying to buy.

If you're weighing Cascade against other West Michigan communities and want help reading a market like this one past the headline numbers, Liz Rhoda & Co Real Estate can walk through what a specific property or neighborhood actually means for your situation. Get Started when you're ready to talk it through.