A Dollar General developer sued a Michigan town after it said 'no' to one of the chain's stores

A Dollar General developer sued Nottawa Township, Michigan, after residents killed a proposal for a store there. Now, the dollar store is opening.

• Residents in Nottawa Township, Michigan, prevented a Dollar General store from opening in their town.
• But Dollar General is opening the store anyway after its developer sued the town.
• Dollar General is one of the fastest-growing retailers in the US and on track to have 20,000 stores.

A small Michigan town found itself on the receiving end of a lawsuit from a developer after it pushed back on a proposal to open a Dollar General store there, according to a new report.

Residents of Nottawa Township, located in Southern Michigan near the state line with Indiana, opposed a rezoning proposal last year that would've brought a Dollar General store to town, MLive reported Monday. In August, Nottawa's board of trustees voted against a zoning change request from a developer working on the project after residents voiced their objections at public meetings.

But the developer, Midwest V LLC, who was working on behalf of Dollar General, responded by suing the town. It worked: In January, the town signed off on the store as part of a settlement. The new store is slated to open this fall, MLive reported.

The development has Nottawa residents worried, according to the report. Many opposed the Dollar General store because it would take business away from local retailers, such as a nearby shop that sells fresh produce and meat. Others pointed out that there are already two Dollar General locations within 10 miles of the town, making a third unnecessary, MLive reported.

"They bully their way, and they get what they want," Nottawa resident Galen Geigley, who built a house next to the future Dollar General location, told MLive about the retailer. 

Dollar General did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on the report. The retailer told MLive in a statement: "Our customers are at the center of all that we do, and meeting customers' needs is Dollar General's top priority when choosing store locations."

Dollar General is among the retailers opening the most new stores in the US. The company is nearing its 20,000th store opening. In March, it also unveiled its first-ever store abroad in Mexico. The chain argues that many of its stores bring food and other essential goods to small communities that would otherwise have no reliable source for these products.

But many of the stores are overrun with merchandise and understaffed, which employees and customers say make them impractical — and even potentially dangerous — places to shop and work.

Dollar General and other dollar store chains have also played a role in pushing local retailers, such as grocery stores, out of business, according to a February report from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Ousting local retailers can creates food deserts in communities, especially those that are rural or have residents who are low-income or minorities, according to the Institute.

Dollar General told MLive that it disagrees with the Institutes' findings.