The fate of a once-popular country club and golf course is going to be decided next week.
St. Joseph Township has called a special meeting for Oct. 31 at 6 p.m. at the to consider whether or not to approve a proposed development of the former Berrien Hills Golf Club property along the St. Joseph River.
Last week, the township’s planning commission approved a plan presented by Southwest Michigan Coastal Ventures to transform the property into a Planned Unit Development featuring a variety of private residences, as well as public nature areas and commercial businesses.
The proposed development includes 22 single-family estate lots, 127 townhouse units, 40 row houses, 90 apartments, 20 senior cottage units and a 40-unit extended stay hotel. In a commercial area along Napier Avenue, there are plans for a brewpub and an event center.
Additional proposed features on the 100-acre property include a brewpub, restaurant, event venue, fitness center, rain gardens, outdoor recreation areas, trails and a lake. Developers said during the hearing that many amenities, including businesses, the lake and trails, would be open for public use.
Coastal Ventures Development Director Michael Wood said the developers plan to honor the natural beauty of the property by including a lake, rain gardens and leaving about 50 percent of the land as open space.
“This development is essentially nature-based,” Wood said. “We’ve done everything we can to honor the site. It’s obviously a wet site, so we have 60 acres of flood plain we have to fill. But, we’ve created this lake … we’ve taken the wetlands that were there and we’ve used the drain site and we’re connecting them to the rain gardens.”
Wood said they intend to plant extensively with native species to attract wildlife, adding they have the eagle’s nest clearly marked on all drawings.
“We intend on following all recommendations and regulations regarding eagles and migratory birds,” Wood said. “Any endangered species at all, whether it’s plant, or animal.”
One feature, which drew the ire of many members of the public, is a proposed roundabout at Miami Road and Napier that would need approval by the Berrien County Road Department.
To see the full development proposal, visit the St. Joseph Township website.
