EAST GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — East Grand Rapids will let a judge’s ruling against the Gaslight Village development stand. The City Commission voted unanimously Monday, Oct. 19, not to ask the Michigan Court of Appeals to review the case, after spending about half an hour behind closed doors with the city’s lawyers.
The six-building mixed-use plan, proposed for property near the D&W grocery store, won concept approval on a 4-3 commission vote in October 2025. Residents had filed a protest petition hours before that vote, arguing the plan needed five votes. The city attorney told commissioners the petition did not apply, and the vote went ahead.
A resident group sued in November 2025, and the developer, Gaslight Investors, later joined the city as a defendant. Circuit Judge George Jay Quist ruled on Aug. 10 that the petition was valid and the approval was a legislative act requiring a two-thirds supermajority, which voided the 4-3 vote and every approval that followed it.
Several residents at Monday’s meeting asked the commission not to spend more taxpayer money on legal fees, and commissioners said ending the fight would help rebuild trust in a community divided over the project’s size. Commissioners also asked for a policy or ordinance spelling out how future protest petitions will be judged.
The project’s future is still unsettled. A spokesperson for Gaslight Investors said the developer plans to appeal and has until Oct. 28 to file. If the ruling holds, the developer would have to restart the approval process with the same plan or a revised one, City Manager Shea Charles said.
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