GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The rezoning of land for the proposed downtown soccer stadium was approved by the City of Grand Rapids in a unanimous vote during a meeting on Thursday. The proposed 8,500 seat soccer stadium is planned to be built downtown near the YMCA.
Organizers and the community have raised concern over a few different elements which were discussed at the meeting.
These include heavy traffic, impact of noise on neighboring properties, parking accessibility and ticket and concession affordability.
Feedback sessions and studies have been conducted by Grand Action 2.0 and MDOT over the last few months.
The Secretary of the board of West Grand Neighborhood Organization, Kennedy Fitzgerald, said businesses should be listed for stadium use.
"Grant action should enlist businesses with large lots that are unused during events to help ease the burden of parking for stadium event attendees, including lots which would feed dash bus use. In general, the city of Grand Rapids needs to amend their parking strategy. Availability of parking is never guaranteed and accessibility to public transportation is limited. At this time, grand action has stated that they are not pursuing direct investment in public transportation" said Fitzgerald.
The city could see an economic impact of over $400 million once the project is complete.
An expected 330 jobs will be created with the soccer stadium. Developers next have to go through the permitting process before construction can begin.
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