NOTTAWA TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Dollar General sued a St. Joseph County township to build a new location despite near-unanimous backlash from the community.
It’s David and Goliath: the small Nottawa Township versus a massive corporation. In this case, big business won.
Dollar General has about 20,000 stores across the country. As part of a huge expansion last year, the company wanted to open a new store in Nottawa Township east of Centreville. It’s a community of just under 4,000 people.
Merle Schwartz, a truck driver who owns his own trucking company, was part of the effort to keep the Dollar General out of Nottawa Township. He’s lived there since he was 2 years old.
“Just a real tight-knit community,” Schwartz said. “It’s a blessing to be here, in spite of disappointments.”
Schwartz lives near where the new Dollar General will be, replacing a cornfield off M-86 near Nottawa Road.
For Dollar General to build the store, Nottawa Township had to approve rezoning it from an agricultural property to a commercial one. In July 2022, the township’s planning commission recommended against rezoning the property. That left the store’s fate in the hands of the Nottawa Township Board of Trustees. During two public meetings, about 100 residents filled the township hall to the brim.
“Everyone that spoke was in direct opposition to it,” Schwartz said.
“I’d say there was a couple that were kind of neutral about it; I think everybody else was opposed to it,” Nottawa Township Supervisor Dave Peterson recalled.
Residents worried the new store would change the community’s rural character, increase traffic in town and hurt local businesses, like the Sand Lake Party Store right down the street. Its owner was among those opposing the Dollar General.
“If we run out of a particular item while we’re cooking dinner, we just run down there and grab it,” Schwartz said of Sand Lake Party Store. “(The owner) depends on the local community obviously to purchase products from him, be it gas, meat; they’re famous for their ice cream. We would hate for that to disappear because of a Dollar General taking too much business from them.”
“Several people spoke up that they felt it would be detrimental to his business,” Peterson said. “They didn’t want him to close.”
Other residents pointed out there’s already another Dollar General in Centreville, 3.5 miles away and a five-minute drive down the road. Several other locations are within 10 miles.
Nottawa Township is not alone in its pushback against Dollar General. Since 2019, at least 75 communities have voted down proposed dollar stores, according to a report by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.
“I've seen a lot of brand-new Dollar Generals go up in the last few years and sadly I've noticed a lot of them go up right across the road from a mom-and-pop store or even beside them,” Schwartz said. “I don't like that.”
Schwartz said he spoke out against the plan during both meetings.
“I was grateful the board heard my concerns,” he said. “I felt they listened, but clearly they didn’t act on that.”
Peterson said board members had two options. They could say yes to Dollar General by rezoning the property. If that happened, then the community could launch a petition for a ballot question that would allow voters to reject the rezoning and stop the project.
The board's other option was siding with the community by turning down Dollar General, risking a lawsuit. That's ultimately what it did.
“When people show up and have an opinion, it seems that the planning commission and the board should listen to that opinion,” Peterson explained.
The board was also considering implementing a mixed-use corridor along M-86, but the ordinance for that had not been developed yet, making it unclear what retail, industry or manufacturing would be allowed there. That factored into the decision to turn down the Dollar General development, Peterson said.
“Part of my thinking was since we don’t have that mixed-use corridor ordinance in place, we should wait until that’s in place before we grant any rezoning of that,” he said.
Other board members decided against the property because the township’s master plan includes “maintaining the rural character of the township.”
“Some of the planning commission and board members felt our development should be at a minimum, especially taking agricultural property and rezoning it,” he said.
Just a few weeks later, Dollar General’s developer responded in full force. The company filed a 111-page lawsuit against the township board, arguing it was denied due process and equal protection under the law.
“It was rather sad to see that,” Peterson said.
The board was immediately concerned about potential costs to the township and how much insurance could cover. The township's counsel raised doubts about the chances of winning the case. Board members were also worried how far Dollar General would press to open the store.
“Even if we won the case at the district court, federal court, would they appeal it and keep pressing it on to Cincinnati, to higher appeal courts?” Peterson wondered.
More troubling for Peterson: Dollar General wanted the township to reimburse its legal fees.
“We had estimates that could be $80,000, $100,000,” Peterson said.
The township board gave up its fight in January, agreeing to allow Dollar General to build the store. As part of the settlement, the township was not responsible for the company’s legal fees, Peterson said.
In hindsight, Peterson said letting the community vote “might have been a better route.”
“I think it would’ve been a difficult choice for us to vote against the 100 people and say, ‘Yeah, we’re gonna approve this,’” he said. “But it would’ve opened the door for them to have a referendum, so for simplicity’s sake that would’ve been a better route.”
Merle feels the township would have won its fight against Dollar General if the board allowed the community to vote in a special election.
“That’s what we were pushing for when it was all said and done, and we didn’t even get that chance,” he said. “The greatest disappointment was that the township board did not fight for what we the people wanted.”
Five residents later took matters into their own hands, filing their own lawsuits to overturn the settlement.
“It was the last swing,” Merle said.
Multiple judges shot their lawsuits down, clearing the way for the new Dollar General.
Dollar General did not respond to Target 8’s questions about the lawsuit against Nottawa Township. In a Thursday statement, the company did say “meeting customers’ needs” was a top priority when choosing store locations.
“We take a number of factors into consideration, carefully evaluating each potential new store location to ensure we can continue to meet our customers’ price, value and selection needs,” the company said. “We further strive to provide convenience for customers who may not have affordable nearby retail options.”
The company said the store will employ six to 10 people. Dollar General also said it is “deeply involved” in the community it serves, referencing its literacy foundation awarding grants to nonprofits, schools and libraries within a 15-mile radius of stores.
“Dollar General sells quality, name-brand and private brand merchandise such as foods, health and beauty products, home cleaning supplies, housewares, stationery, seasonal items and basic clothing,” the company added. “Dollar General gives its customers more than everyday low prices on merchandise as part of its mission of Serving Others.”
Construction on the Nottawa Township Dollar General is underway. The store is expected to open in the fall, the company said.
Peterson said the township's only option now is “to make the best of the situation.” The board has talked about launching a ‘buy local’ campaign to protect businesses already in town.
“Dollar Generals do not continue to thrive unless people shop there,” Peterson said. “They build in situations in which they think people are going to shop. It’s not like I’m against Dollar General. I do think they serve a purpose. It was just a concern that was so close to what’s already here in existence.”
Residents say their fight isn’t over, hinting they may direct their attention to board members who decided to settle with Dollar General.
“A heads up to township officials across the United States: when the people speak, pay attention to them,” Merle said. “Because you’re voted in and clearly there will be consequences for the elections that have happened here.”
