The Muskegon City Commission voted Oct. 14 to extend the deadline for the park-like improvements at Hartshorn Peninsula related to the Adelaide Point (AP) development to May 1, 2026, and added a requirement that the developer submit a detailed written plan for those improvements by Dec. 1, 2025.

The extension follows months of public criticism and a May 2025 city letter that set an initial Nov. 1 deadline after staff concluded the developer had not completed certain promised public improvements. Several residents and neighborhood representatives urged the commission to terminate the cooperative use agreement (CUA) and force completion by other means; John Richard Allen and Jamie Cross were among residents who argued the developer repeatedly missed permit, environmental and contract obligations.

City Manager and staff explained that recent legal filings show Independent Bank has petitioned the Kent County court to appoint a receiver over aspects of the project, creating active litigation and complicating direct city enforcement. Staff said the extension is intended to allow the court process to play out and preserve options that could be less disruptive to the community than immediate termination of the CUA. The manager and legal counsel told commissioners the receiver, if appointed by the court, would become the decision-maker for the affected parcels.

Developer principal Ryan Liesma and operations leader Aubrey Glick addressed the commission. Liesma described the scale and complexity of the project, said he and partners have invested substantial private capital and asked for time to recapitalize and finish work. He said many parts of the campus are operational and that he has spent personal funds and effort on improvements; Glick said winter scheduling for contractors makes a spring construction window more realistic for completing remaining park and parking-lot work.

Commissioner German, who moved the extension, said she wanted the developer and city staff to provide a specific plan; commissioners amended the motion to require a written, detailed plan of the Hartshorn Peninsula park improvements to the city by Dec. 1, 2025 and a schedule that demonstrates delivery by May 1, 2026. The commission also added earlier deadlines that staff had referenced for survey recording and legal descriptions (recording of the updated legal description for the bike path and related deeds was discussed with a Dec. 1 target).

The vote followed extended questioning about safety, environmental violations and construction sequencing. Staff noted one recent EGLE (Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy) notice had been satisfied after remediation of an unpermitted dock modification; staff said other enforcement matters remain with EGLE and that a remediation estimate discussed in the meeting was approximately $5 million (staff said that number referred to work needed to address violations, not a city penalty).

Commissioners approved the extension by recorded roll call; several commissioners stressed that further extensions would be unlikely and that the Dec. 1 plan requirement must be met to keep the May 1, 2026 timeline in place. If the developer fails to meet Dec. 1 or May 1 milestones, the commission said it retains the option to pursue termination of the cooperative use agreement or other enforcement options.