Aug. 19—ACME — Plans by a developer to build apartments and reuse two empty retail buildings in Acme are the center of debate as neighbors, prospective tenants and others weigh in.

Acme Township planning commissioners will meet Monday to consider the request by East Lansing-based Strathmore Real Estate Group. The company proposes building 186 apartments in nine buildings outside the former K-Mart and Tom's Food Market on U.S. 31, north of M-72.

It also has plans to use the former K-Mart for a variety of purposes, while the former Tom's is set to become the home for a Traverse City-based cleaning products company.

Jacob Chappelle, principal and attorney for Strathmore Real Estate Group, said he sees the uses working together well. Playgrounds and walking paths are planned and apartment tenants could use amenities inside the repurposed K-Mart, such as six pickleball courts, a fitness center, office space for rent and a potential future coffee shop.

They also could rent indoor self-storage planned for the vacant big-box store, Chappelle said. That would be offered as an option on their reservation forms.

"These uses we feel are very strong community uses — not only in their own right, but they really complement the housing," he said.

For the former Tom's Food Market adjacent to the empty big-box retailer, Truly Free Home is leasing the building after outgrowing its existing home, Chappelle said.

The company sells eco-friendly home cleaning products and recyclable, refillable bottles, plus subscriptions for refills, according to its website. Submitted plans show the company would have some retail space in the former grocery store while using much of the rest to pack mail orders.

There's more: Inside the former K-Mart would be warehouse space, plus a spot for the Grand Traverse Men's Shed.

Jim Novak, the nonprofit's president, said the group aims to give men a place to go. It's aimed largely at retirees, who could keep busy with woodworking projects like Little Free Libraries and wooden crosses for the Onominese Cemetery. They also would volunteer at festivals and other events.

Novak said he reached out to the developer when he heard of the company's interest in the former store and, for $1 a month for 10 years, the developer offered the club a workspace for its tools.

"And we're young yet, so money is a huge concern for us," he said, referring to the local nonprofit.

It's not the pickleball courts, fitness center and nonprofit space that have drawn criticism. It's the planned 35,800 square feet of self-storage space and 22,000 more square feet of warehousing.

Several critics, some stating they live nearby, have written and spoken to planners since they began discussing the proposal earlier in the year. Many of them balked at the self-storage, a use they say shouldn't be allowed under township zoning and one that seems a poor fit for such a prominent commercial site.

Jim Goran, who owns a self-storage business in Acme Township, said he also believes the building could be put to a better use. He acknowledged he has a business interest at stake, but said his misgivings about the plan go beyond that.

For one, he wants township officials to challenge the developer to come up with a better use, one that would add more vitality to the township, Goran said. "It's like, why not take a certain part and say, 'Hey, we challenge you to find something that's conforming, whether it's more residential,' " he said. "This commercial flex district is pretty wide open, except light industrial."

Goran also wants assurance that the developer will build everything it proposes, expressing doubt that the self-storage space in the building would ever be used for anything else.

Objections from township residents opposed to the plans have some similarity to those concerning since-withdrawn plans from Lormax Stern, which called for even more storage inside the former K-Mart. Those plans were the second latest in a string of proposals for the vacant building that didn't come to pass.

Township Planner Lindsey Wolf said she's been facilitating the review by planning consultant Beckett & Raeder. She acknowledged there's some resistance to the proposal, and said township planners have requested the developer find another use that would cut back on the amount of storage.

"So the planning commission has asked them to decrease the storage and, if possible, if they could obtain an occupant that would lessen that space, they've been hoping that this will kind of transform over time — but we haven't seen that quite yet," she said.

Chappelle said revised plans already shrunk the amount of storage a few times, and the extent that's still there would only be what's necessary to finance the rest of the building. He also believes much of it would be used by the apartment tenants.

Others have voiced support, especially for the pickleball courts. Phil and Carol Heles of Rapid City told planners as much in an email, as did Karen Somers of Kewadin. Others said they were glad to see the vacant buildings repurposed, meeting minutes show.

Some commenters, including Goran and a group called Acme Strong, pointed to an ongoing criminal case involving some past company filings that court records identified as the development company's onetime president, Scott Chappelle.

Jacob Chappelle said Scott is his father, and said that case has nothing to do with the project; Jacob and his brother now run the company.

Scott Chappelle pleaded guilty in April to a single charge in a case involving allegations of tax fraud, court filings show. Federal prosecutors agreed to drop several other charges in exchange for the plea.

In the plea, Scott Chappelle admitted to not giving the IRS employment taxes he withheld from company employees' paychecks, according to a Department of Justice release. He also admitted to making false statements to IRS employees, those included concealing a home in Harbor Springs and the source of mortgage payments for an East Lansing condominium.

During the investigation he also filed a false tax return claiming his company had no employees or income, according to the release. The allegations date between 2007 and 2018, according to the plea agreement.

Court documents show Scott Chappelle is scheduled for sentencing Sept. 12 before U.S. District Judge Jane Beckering in Grand Rapids. The maximum sentence is five years in prison, according to the release.

Timothy Belevetz, Scott Chappelle's attorney, declined to comment when asked about the case. Jacob Chappelle said his father is retired and has no vested interest in, nor authority over, the Acme Township project.

The comments about his father's case seemed unfair to Jacob Chappelle, he said, adding he believes they're made by people who oppose the project for other reasons. "I would ask that we be judged by our submission and what we've done to facilitate this project," he said. "I think we've done an outstanding job working with the awesome people in Acme to create a project."

Karly Wentzloff, the planning commission chair, declined to comment on the criminal case, nor did she want to discuss her thoughts about the submission ahead of Monday's meeting. She was unsure if planners would have the information they need to vote, but added it's possible.

That vote, if commissioners agree to the project, would set up a final decision by township trustees at a later date, Wolf said.