By Jordan Wilcox
Assistant Publisher
After several years of fabricating raw steel into products and a few painful surgeries, Todd Bursma decided he needed a career change.
He and his family sold their home, farm, and twenty acres of land, and moved to Allegan County, to purchase the Dumont Lake Party Store in Monterey Township.
This was five years ago. Since then, the Bursmas have transformed the small-town liquor store into a community staple.
Many would say they’ve achieved the American Dream.
However, if a newly proposed Dollar General is constructed across the street, Todd Bursma fears his dream could be jeopardized.
In an interview with the Kalamazoo Gazette/MLive, he said that he’s worried Dollar General will undercut his prices drastically, which would drive him out of business.
“They can sell (products) at such a ridiculously low price… and that’s exactly what’s going to yank the rug out from me,” Bursma told MLive. “They sell three 12-packs of pop for the price of what I pay (the supplier) for one to sell.”
Despite selling items that Dollar General doesn’t, such as gas and lottery tickets, and trying to keep his prices as low as possible, Bursma says he couldn’t compensate for the anticipated loss of customers a new Dollar General would bring.
He also told MLive, that all of the store’s current profits either go towards maintenance or paying off the landowners – something he’ll be doing for the next ten years.
“We put products on the shelves and the next week, we do the same thing over and over again to try to make that little bit of money,” said Bursma to MLive. “Especially to make it through these winter months where we really don’t make very much money.”
Bursma is not alone in his concerns. Many township residents are similarly concerned about the effects of a big corporation moving into the township.
Social media posts on this issue are filled with comments about spending money locally, supporting family-owned businesses, and not needing another Dollar General in the county.
Commenters also question why Dollar General even feels the need to build a store in Monterey Township, when they already have two other locations in the 49010 zip code, both within a 12-minute ride.
As for the feeling on the Dumont Lake Party Store specifically, township residents have overwhelmingly rallied behind the Bursmas.
Two petitions, one in-store, and one online, have been created to save the party store and prevent the construction of the Dollar General.
Bursma created the in-store one and has gathered over 500 signatures. He aims to get the Michigan Attorney General involved and have new laws put in place to prevent the construction of any Dollar General within five miles of an existing business.
On the other hand, the online petition was created without the involvement of the Bursmas, just in support.
Tyler Foley is a five-year resident of Monterey Township and the creator of the online petition.
He too spoke to MLive, and when asked why he started a petition, he stated, “I’ve watched (the Bursmas) pour everything they have into the place, and they’ve improved every single thing about it. It would kill me to see them lose all five years of their hard work.”
Foley also stated that he dislikes the mess made by non-residents and unsupervised kids who leave their trash around the lake. The Bursmas take extra precautions to keep the area clean, but he fears Dollar General will just exacerbate the problem.
His petition aims to grab the attention of the Allegan County Planning Commission and the Allegan County Board of Commissioners and hopefully have them stop the construction. He told MLive that he doesn’t know if his petition will accomplish anything, but “trying to spread the word couldn’t hurt.”
Henry Reinhart, Monterey Township supervisor, was the third person MLive interviewed. He basically said that there’s nothing he can do and that the township’s hands are tied, because the lot that Dollar General is proposing construction on is already zoned for commercial use.
He told MLive, “We’re a very proud agricultural town, but the state says you need to have land available for some commercial use and that just happens to be one of two lots… If we were to go ahead and just rezone that back to residential, I pretty much guarantee you that the judge is going to laugh at us.”
Reinart added that even if they were to try, it would most likely involve an expensive legal battle that they’d “almost certainly” lose.
According to Reinhart, Dollar General’s lot was switched from residential to commercial zoning sometime in the 1980s because the owner wanted to open a hot dog stand.
Bursma was given the opportunity to purchase it before this mess, but passed because the asking price was six times greater than the parcel’s value, and he couldn’t afford it.
A representative from corporate Dollar General said they haven’t committed to building a new store on the property yet, but they expect to have a decision by summer.
The next Monterey Township Planning Board meeting is on March 10 at 7 p.m. at the United Methodist Church at 3022 130th Avenue. The next Township Board meeting is scheduled for March 3 at 7 p.m. at the Monterey Township Community Building.
Despite the township having few options, residents are encouraged to attend and voice their concerns about the situation.
Monterey Township residents who would like to sign Foley’s online petition, and have not done so, can do so at the link below. Foley is currently only looking for signatures from those who live in the township.
https://www.change.org/p/stop-dollar-general-in-monterey
EDITOR’S DISCLOSURE – Wilcox Newspapers is the parent company and publisher of the Allegan County News. Dollar General is one of Wilcox Newspapers’ largest advertisers and probably has ads in this very newspaper issue. The author of this story, Jordan Wilcox, is also Dollar General’s main contact at Wilcox Newspapers. However, this story was compiled completely independently of their influence and in no way was skewed by their viewpoint.
