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Lapeer commission approves renewal of downtown development authority 10-year plan, removes White Junior High 'brownfield' language
Summary
The Lapeer City Commission approved a renewed 10-year Downtown Development Authority (DDA) plan June 16, voting to remove language identifying White Junior High as a Brownfield to avoid future complications if the property’s status changes.
The Lapeer City Commission approved a renewal of the Downtown Development Authority's 10-year development and TIF plan on June 16 and amended the document to remove wording that described White Junior High as a brownfield.
The amendment came during a public hearing on the DDA plan. James Paul, executive director of the Old Green Main Street DDA, described the renewal as an update rather than a rewrite and said the DDA updated projected spending and listed anticipated partnership projects with the city. "Since the plan is a renewal, the nuts and bolts are essentially the same," Paul said.
Commissioner Petrie moved to approve the plan with removal of the paragraph that identifies White Junior High as a Brownfield, explaining the parcel "is no longer the Brownfield" and that keeping the language could create future risk to the DDA. The motion was supported on the floor and carried after discussion.
Why it matters: DDA development plans guide use of tax increment financing (TIF) and public-private downtown investments for a decade; labeling a property as a brownfield in the plan can affect prospective buyers' perceptions and tax capture language tied to redevelopment financing.
Details of the renewal and the amendment: Paul told commissioners the DDA and its legal counsel updated the plan and collaborated with the assessing office to revise projected captured value for the next 10 years. Paul said downtown vacancy has fallen from about 46% when he started to roughly 4% vacancy today ("now at 96% occupancy"), a change he attributed in part to Main Street designation in February 2017 and DDA activity. The city attorney (name not provided in meeting minutes) confirmed the only explicit reference to the White Junior High brownfield appears in a paragraph concerning exclusion of captured assessed value for property "eligible for capture under the Brownfield Redevelopment Act." The attorney said removing the descriptive paragraph poses no apparent legal problem and recommended preserving a record of the deletion for historical purposes.
Commission discussion focused on whether retaining the historical reference provided value for records or whether removal was preferable to avoid implying the site remains a brownfield. Commissioner Petrie said, "I'm actually removing anything that says brown...because it's not brownfield." Another commissioner suggested adding a footnote recording that the language was removed to preserve historical context.
Outcome and next steps: The motion to approve the DDA 10-year plan with the brownfield language removed passed by voice vote. The renewed plan, as amended, will guide the DDA's TIF capture and downtown initiatives for the next decade; the commission did not vote to reinsert any historical note at the meeting.
Context: The DDA director said the plan continues funding for downtown marketing, staff, a loan program, facade and infrastructure support, and alignment with the city's master plan. The DDA board and counsel updated the revenue and expenditure projections in coordination with city assessing staff.
