Representatives from Clark Logic and architecture firm AR Engineering review the proposed site plan of a Clark Logic
expansion at Maple Lane Plaza in Three Rivers with Planning Commission member Karl Armstrong (right) during Monday’s Three Rivers Planning Commission meeting.
By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
THREE RIVERS — An expansion for Clark Logic in Three Rivers has been given the go-ahead by the Three Rivers Planning Commission.
On Monday, planning commissioners approved a site plan for the company at 1170 N. Main St. in Three Rivers, which paves the way for a 40,500 square-foot warehouse addition on the north end of Maple Lane Plaza.
The Planning Commission in April approved a special exception use permit (SEU) for the addition, which was subsequently approved by the Three Rivers City Commission in May. The site plan approved by the Planning Commission will not have to go before the City Commission for final approval.
As previously reported by the Commercial-News, the company plans on providing the additional area for an expansion of their warehousing business, demolishing a small portion of the north side of the existing building and building the addition that would cover the remaining grassy area located behind Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. Mike Jaeger, director of maintenance for Clark Logic, said back in April there would still be 10,000 to 12,000 square feet of space still empty in the remaining portion of the building following construction of the addition.
According to the background of the site plan, it meets most of the requirements set forth in the city code, however there were 11 items outstanding in the site plan that needed to be addressed, such as more accurate delineations of the area, heights specifications and façade material/color information, light fixture specifications, stormwater line verification, floor elevations on the floor plan, and showing where the breakroom/office space would be in the existing portion of the building. Those items, Planning Commission Liaison John Beebe said, were “very minor” in nature, however.
“I don’t foresee any issues. … If you do approve it with any of the conditions in the remaining provisions, those would be tracked as needing to be completed prior to issuance of the certificate of occupancy,” Beebe said, adding later that the site plan approval was, more or less, “a formality.”
Planning commissioners had only a couple of questions for Clark Logic management in attendance at Monday’s hearing. Karl Armstrong asked if there were any plans for semi-trucks to be in the parking lot, to which Matt Conlee, the director of leasing and development for Clark Logic, said there was “no plan for that.”
“There’s no major storage trailer use like many of our other yards,” Conlee said.
Commissioner Natelege Zaritz said while she had plenty of questions about Clark Logic’s plans during the SEU part of the process, she said she was “comfortable” with the plan, due to the small amount of trucks that would be on site.
“Last time, I had a few concerns about where the trucks would be entering off of Main Street, but I’m comfortable you guys have a small amount and you’re going to improve that site, so I think that’s pretty responsible,” Zaritz said.
Conlee said he was looking forward to being able to fill up more of the plaza with the warehouse expansion.
“We’re excited to finish the plaza, and this definitely gives us reason to do so. Just meting our needs here in Three Rivers, we have a lot of customers that are expanding and needing additional space, especially on the warehousing front, so we’re just answering those calls and doing what we can to service our growing customers here in Three Rivers,” Conlee said. “We’re excited to continue developing, and we’re very excited about this project.”
There was no timeline presented as to how long building construction would take or when it would begin. Clark Logic owns Maple Lane Plaza, as well as a couple of other industrial buildings on North Main Street in Three Rivers.
In other business…
- The Planning Commission reviewed an updated economic development and marketing plan for the city. Commissioners voted to recommend approval of the plan by the City Commission.
- Commissioners reviewed a 2025 update for the city’s Master Plan, which included some grammatical corrections, factual updates, and minor revisions to some of the city’s goals.
- Commissioners received an update on the West Michigan Avenue corridor during discussion items, with Beebe saying that when it comes to the upcoming reconstruction of the corridor in 2029, MDOT is in the “data collecting phase” at the moment. Beebe added that the city will have a scoping meeting with MDOT about the overall project, which would be a total reconstruct of the entirety of Michigan Avenue and Main Street in the city, in the next couple of months.
- Beebe said during his report that he still has not heard back from the owner of the former KFC building on West Michigan Avenue, but that he hopes to hear back within the next month or so. He said there have been “ideas” discussed about what to do with the property, some of which involve the former KFC property and the neighboring parcel on the block.
- Beebe said the upcoming new Shoe Dept. store, located next to Marshall’s on Broadway Street, would be moving in “soon.” He also added that an unknown developer is looking to reach out to the current owners of a stalled memory care facility project on Broadway Road to take up the mantle of constructing the facility.
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
