Alpena council rezones former DPI site to Waterfront District after extended public comment

The Alpena City Council voted Monday to repeal and replace the city zoning ordinance and rezone all properties belonging to Decorative Panels International (DPI) from I-2 (heavy industrial) to Waterfront District, a move council members said would open the North Side lakefront to redevelopment.

The motion to amend the zoning map passed on a roll call vote. Council member Kane voted nay; Council member Mitchell, Council member Wolchak (also spelled Walczuk in the record), and Mayor Johnson voted aye; Mayor Pro Tem Nowak recorded a nay. The motion carried.

The vote followed an extended public-comment period in which dozens of residents, online petitioners and business representatives weighed in. Supporters urged the council to rezone the nearly 97-acre parcel to waterfront or mixed-use to reclaim lakefront property, improve quality of life on the North Side and attract tourism and small businesses. Opponents, including DPI president Darryl Clendenin, argued that keeping the site industrial increases the chances of near-term redevelopment because testing and remediation thus far assumed industrial use and rezoning could raise cleanup costs and reduce the buyer pool.

Residents who spoke in favor of rezoning recounted years of noise, odor and dust when the plant operated, and described an uptick in neighborhood quality since DPI closed. Julie Gondula, who said she organized an online petition, told council the petition had grown rapidly and that community sentiment favored rezoning. Darryl Clendenin told the council that remediation and due-care obligations created a financial burden for a buyer and that leaving the site industrial increases the pool of potential purchasers able to address cleanup.

City staff read scores of written comments and letters into the record from residents and stakeholders urging a change. Staff also summarized correspondence from residents and an assessor’s memo indicating potential property-value effects would depend on market forces and specific buyer behavior; the assessor told council that rezoning could increase nearby property values if buyers pay more for waterfront sites, but that any change would be market-driven.

Council members framed the choice as weighing near-term economic prospects against long-term quality-of-life and environmental goals. One council member said keeping the property I-2 preserves the possibility of industrial buyers and jobs, while others said the city should seize an opportunity to reclaim waterfront land, noting previous industrial waterfront transformations elsewhere in the city.

The council’s decision does not itself complete redevelopment; rezoning changes allowable uses on the map and will shape future proposals, variances and remediation standards. DPI or future buyers still must satisfy environmental remediation requirements enforced by the state and federal regulators. DPI’s attorney and property representatives appeared in earlier proceedings and warned of potential legal challenges; the threat of litigation was discussed in public comments but did not prevent the council from voting.

The council’s action is the latest step in a multi-meeting process that included planning commission recommendations, public hearings, and dozens of written comments. The council indicated it can consider future rezoning or variances if a buyer brings a specific proposal.

The council moved on to other business after the vote and later adjourned to a closed session to discuss water and sewer litigation.