Annexation Question

[RustTown]

I was curious if anyone knew when the areas that now comprise Celebration Village and Knapp's Crossing were annexed, and if there are any stories behind the annexations? I have an old map showing that the Knapp's Corner portion in the south was annexed in 1994, but don't have any information on the portion north of Knapp Street.

[destijl]

This is not the entire story, but I think this played into it:
I seem to remember that Meijer had initially planned to build a store a mile south on property they owned in Grand Rapids Twp. The township would not allow them to build the store on that site, so they built a store one mile north instead, on property within the city limits of Grand Rapids. I don't recall if the property had already been annexed prior to the plans for the store, or if it was part of the process to develop the land. The Grand Rapids Township property was eventually developed as Frederick Meijer Gardens.

[RustTown]

Thanks. I wonder if anyone has any accurate annexation maps for this area or articles, at least? I have one old map showing the entire area having been annexed in the big 1960 annexation. I have another showing the southern half of this area having been annexed in 1992. And I have a more detailed map of annexations through 1961 which would show there is no way this was annexed in 1960.

[joeDowntown]

That’s what I recall as well. I think the area that is now Meijer, Celebration Cinema and D&W were all annexed at (or around) the same time. IIRC, the Beltline had been recently widened and GR Township was super  strict about what they wanted built on the Beltline (hence, Meijer abandoning the project across from cornerstone and moving to Knapp). Grand Rapids was much more development friendly so they asked for annexation. 

Crazy to think, if Grand Rapids Township hadn’t put up a fight against a Meijer store, would the Meijer Gardens even exist? Fred Meijer approached the horticulture society after they secured the Knapp street property, knowing he had a vacant piece of property they wouldn’t build on. And now look at FMG. Wow!

Joe

[walker]

On 7/21/2022 at 12:36 AM, RustTown said:

. . . I have another showing the southern half of this area having been annexed in 1992. And I have a more detailed map of annexations through 1961 which would show there is no way this was annexed in 1960.

I dimly remember that the 1992 annexation was triggered by Spectrum Health when they were considering moving the Blodgett campus to out along the East Beltline and they wanted to have city services.  Obviously they later abandoned the idea of moving Blodgett but not before the land was annexed.  It seems to me a farmer (or at least someone who was a large land owner) got in trouble for not paying taxes on his capital gains from selling his property (I imagine to Spectrum) and may have gone to prison.  His defense was something along the lines that it was unconstitutional for the federal government to tax him.

But after a cursory search, I can't find anything verifying either of these stories using Google.   So either I'm imagining this which would be kind of strange but not impossible  or I'm confusing this with something else or I'm just not using the right key words in my search. 

   

[Raildude's dad]

On 7/23/2022 at 10:44 AM, walker said:

I dimly remember that the 1992 annexation was triggered by Spectrum Health when they were considering moving the Blodgett campus to out along the East Beltline and they wanted to have city services.  Obviously they later abandoned the idea of moving Blodgett but not before the land was annexed.  It seems to me a farmer (or at least someone who was a large land owner) got in trouble for not paying taxes on his capital gains from selling his property (I imagine to Spectrum) and may have gone to prison.  His defense was something along the lines that it was unconstitutional for the federal government to tax him.

But after a cursory search, I can't find anything verifying either of these stories using Google.   So either I'm imagining this which would be kind of strange but not impossible  or I'm confusing this with something else or I'm just not using the right key words in my search. 

   

Cecil Houghton.  Somehow, his unique tax views didn't make his obituary. 

https://www.sleddogcentral.com/obituaries/houghton_cecil.htm     

[walker]

22 hours ago, Raildude's dad said:

Cecil Houghton.  Somehow, his unique tax views didn't make his obituary. 

https://www.sleddogcentral.com/obituaries/houghton_cecil.htm     

Thanks Raildude's dad,

Armed with your new information I once again tried to find some annexation information by linking my Google search to Mr. Houghton.  Couldn't find anything except the Mlive obituary story includes the fact that:

      "He kept as many as 100 sled dogs at his Grand Rapids home near East Beltline Avenue NE and Knapp Street [the annexed area]  before moving to a log cabin in Rothbury in the 1990s".

MLIVE: Cecil Houghton

Sounds like he was well educated and an adventurer and had an interesting and respectable civic minded life.  And not at all what you'd expect from an old tax denier. 

 I remember the travelogues.  It's hard to believe now how big that business was back then.  They used to regularly fill the old Civic Auditorium with those travelogues. 

Sorry, RustTown for the topic drift.

Edited July 25, 2022 by walker

[RustTown]

Okay, was able to find passing mention in a 1997 article about planning in the area that 100 acres was annexed in 1995. I measured the portion north of Knapp St NE and it's 100 acres. So, I think I've cleared that up. Still wondering about the little "box" south of Knapp St NE, if that was part of the 1960 annexation or came later, too.

[Jonesey]

On 7/21/2022 at 12:36 AM, RustTown said:

Thanks. I wonder if anyone has any accurate annexation maps for this area or articles, at least? I have one old map showing the entire area having been annexed in the big 1960 annexation. I have another showing the southern half of this area having been annexed in 1992. And I have a more detailed map of annexations through 1961 which would show there is no way this was annexed in 1960.

There's one at the city archives.  The old ballots will have the legal descriptions on them, also at the archives.