By James Windell
After a lengthy Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday, May 4, 2026, the members of the South Haven City Council faced a long agenda for its regular first-Monday-of-the-month meeting.
However, apparently the Committee of the Whole meetings are w working, or council members are too burned out after several hours of meetings because the agenda was dealt with in an expeditious and efficient manner.
When the item on the agenda called Old Business was reached in this meeting, the council had four consecutive “ordinance to amend” decisions to make. Among those items was consideration of an ordinance to amend the City’s zoning map by rezoning 241 Oak Street, South Haven, from R1-B Single-family residential to RM-1 multiple family residential.
The property at 241 Oak Street is the Victoria Resort and the owner of the resort was seeking rezoning to continue operating it as a resort. As found in previous City Council meetings, the owner’s plan is to maintain resort use and later seek a special land use approval to expand the existing structure or add an additional structure. The City staff emphasized this is a straight rezoning (not a conditional rezoning), meaning once approved, any use allowed in RM-1 would be permitted on the property.
The South Haven Planning Commission reviewed the required ordinance factors for map amendments in March and approved a resolution recommending the rezoning. When the council began discussing this rezoning request, councilwoman Mary Hosley raised a concern that because the request is not conditional, there is no guarantee the property will remain a resort. “Future owners could pursue other RM-1-permitted uses,” she said. She also said that rezoning does not fully align with the Master Plan’s tailoring toward a resort concept, and that language about “resort use will remain” was struck from the Planning Commission resolution.
Hosley made the argument that recent development and short-term rental density in the immediate micro-community around the resort is low, and that Planning Commission findings about “highest concentration” did not reflect that immediate area. Councilman David Flack stated that the Planning Commission viewed the factors differently (looking at the broader area), noted nearby condos and existing traffic and vibrancy, and he supported rezoning as enabling investment and preventing property erosion.
A motion was made to approve the rezoning. A roll call vote resulted in a majority of council members voting in favor of adopting the ordinance rezoning of 241 Oak Street from R1-B to RM-1.
All of the other three items related to ordinance amendments were approved without much debate or discussion.
Moving on to New Business, the City Council was asked to consider approval of a resolution to set a public hearing on the 2026-2027 Budget. That resolution, Resolution 2026-16, was approved and a public hearing on the proposed City Budget will take place on Monday, May 18, 2026, at the next City Council meeting.
Taking up consideration of Resolution 2026-17, the City Council had to decide whether to approve a ballot proposal for the renewal and increase of a controlled substance enforcement millage.
This issue had been discussed earlier in the evening at the Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting. At that meeting, Police Chief Adam DeBoer emphasized that keeping two detectives assigned to controlled substance enforcement is the most important use of the millage. DeBoer told city council members and staff that drugs don’t necessarily originate in South Haven, so interdiction work in places like Kalamazoo, Benton Harbor, and Grand Rapids is seen as a strong preventative use of funds.
DeBoer also said that his department had purchased drug testing equipment and canine purchases drew down the fund. The City’s Finance Director said the fund balance is now healthy and sustained, however, DeBoer said that canine restart costs, which include buying a pre-trained dog plus approximately six weeks of handler and dog training, could cost as much as $40,000.
At least one council member raised concerns about property tax increases and the overall tax burden on residents. Staff indicated that the City Council must make the decision at City Council meeting that followed COW in order to get it on the ballot. Several council members indicated support for putting the question on the ballot, with the view that voters can decide the issue of the millage.
At the City Council meeting, it was stated that the proposed resolution would renew the long-running millage (in place for more than 20 years) and reset the rate to 0.7 mills. The millage proceeds, if voted for by the public, would fund two officers who work with inter-departmental agencies to keep narcotics out of the community. The millage also would help fund a K-9 dog.
More than one council member suggested that placing it on the ballot lets voters decide whether to pay the additional amount. Council Member Mary Hosley noted that this was the first time council saw the specific ballot language, though they knew the request was coming. Hosley questioned the need for the additional amount of millage and stressed that small increases add up for City residents.
Council Jeff Arnold made the motion to approve Resolution 2026-17. The resolution was approved by all council members.
A final consideration for the council was whether to approve construction of a permanent access driveway to Blue Star Highway for the Public Works facility located at 1199 8th Avenue, South Haven.
City Manager Kate Hosier said that the driveway has been “a long time coming,” with earlier attempts to secure an additional driveway when the Public Works building was built. Both she and Public Works Director Dana Burd said the current 8th Avenue access to the facility is complicated because the road is shared with other businesses, including the Do-It Corporation and that deliveries and loading for those businesses can make the road partially or fully impassable.
Burg shared that in staff discussions over the past couple of years, secondary access consistently comes up as a safety and operations need. He said that access via Blue Star Highway would provide safer circulation for the team because traffic is only coming from one direction on Blue Star Highway. He also said that clearing and much of the gravel work were largely completed during the elevated tank construction. The cost of completing the new driveway would be about $406,000.
The City Council unanimously approved the staff to move forward and execute the necessary documents to proceed with the driveway.
