Wixom awarded MEDC Redevelopment Ready Community certification

The City of Wixom received Redevelopment Ready Community certification from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, a designation MEDC officials said recognizes city efforts to modernize planning, zoning and economic-development processes.

The designation was presented at the council meeting by Stephanie Pena, senior community planner at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. Assistant City Manager and Economic Development Director Drew Benson described the certification as the culmination of several years of work, including updates to the city’s planning documents and permitting practices.

The RRC program is a voluntary MEDC technical-assistance framework intended to make municipalities more attractive and predictable for investment by documenting best practices, clarifying review processes and improving access to public-facing resources. Pena said the certification signals to developers that Wixom has procedures, plans and tools in place to support redevelopment and reinvestment.

City staff told council members the city first authorized participation in the MEDC program in 2017 and has since taken several steps to meet RRC best-practice criteria. City accomplishments cited during the presentation included an updated master plan adopted in 2020 (with a 2025 update process underway), a newly adopted economic development and marketing strategy, a formal guide to development, a public participation plan and website improvements to centralize business resources.

Pena highlighted several locally implemented changes as examples of the city’s RRC work: a 2023 VCA ordinance that lowered the minimum dwelling unit size to 600 square feet in the core district and allowed certain front-yard variances when used for public spaces; and a 2024 change allowing credit-card payments for development-related fees to improve accessibility for small-scale developers. She also noted the city’s business resource web page as a practical improvement that other Michigan communities often lack.

Assistant City Manager Drew Benson and MEDC staff said the certification gives Wixom access to MEDC redevelopment services, including the agency’s redevelopment team and real-estate technical assistance aimed at catalyzing priority sites. Council members and staff posed no substantive questions during the presentation; the council accepted the award, posed for photos with MEDC staff and thanked city staff for their work.

Council member Christopher Magacchio publicly thanked Benson and staff for leading the multi-year effort to achieve certification and for the practical steps taken to make the city more development-ready.

Moving forward, city staff and MEDC representatives said they will coordinate on potential activation of priority redevelopment sites and be available for follow-up technical assistance.