By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
BUCHANAN, MI – Buchanan City Commissioners learned about two new housing projects for the city’s northside neighborhood at their meeting Monday night. They approved the sale of eight city-owned lots and will approve the sale of four more lots at their June 22 meeting.
City Manager Tony McGhee told commissioners that the city had put the 12 parcels out for bid and received three bids. City staff negotiated with two of the companies to accomplish the sales. The lots will be sold for $6,500 each.
McGhee reported that the Allen Edwin company through the Michigan Housing Partnership LLC will buy eight of the lots and has an option for the other four if the other developer doesn’t buy them. Allen Edwin has developed several projects throughout the state including others in Berrien County.
The properties Allen Edwin is purchasing are at 405 and 420 Elizabeth St., 314 and 503 Arctic St., 418 Fulton St., 724 W. Roe St. and 907 and 1106 Victory St.
The other developer is AStrong Construction and the properties they plan to buy are at 411 Elizabeth St., 416 and 418 Bluff St. and 1104 Victory St.
McGhee said after the meeting that both Allen Edwin and AStrong plan to build duplexes on the lots they’re buying. He said he expects both companies to apply for housing brownfield credits that will allow them to get tax credits for building in an underserved market area.
The purchase agreement approved by the commission with Allen Edwin allows them to buy the lots in phases with construction beginning on two homes in 2026, two more by June 1, 2027 and the rest after that.
He noted that the sale of the lots will bring these properties back onto the tax rolls. “The goal with both transactions is to move these city-owned lots back into productive use and support the construction of new single-family housing in the community,” McGhee wrote in a memo to the commission.
“The development of infill housing is important to the future of Buchanan,” he added. “Like many communities, Buchanan has existing lots within established neighborhoods that already have access to nearby streets, utilities, schools, parks, and other public services. When those lots remain vacant, they do not contribute to the community in the same way they could if they were developed with quality housing.”
Monday’s meeting also featured public hearings on two proposed ordinances, introduction of another ordinance regulating bicycles, action to place the Dial-A-Ride millage renewal on the November ballot and approval of an application for a federal grant to pay for new parking lot at the former Nelson’s Transfer property on South Oak Street.
The first proposed new ordinance repeals the city’s old sign ordinance, while the second one would put the city’s brush pickup policy into an ordinance. McGhee said that sign regulations are handled in the new unified development code zoning ordinance approved last fall. The second hearings and possible ordinance adoptions will take place July 13.
The new ordinance introduced governs bicycles. McGhee and Police Chief Harvey Burnett said that the current ordinance does not cover e-bikes and scooters. McGhee noted that many communities around the state are developing updated bicycle ordinances.
McGhee said the current ordinance does not allow people to ride bicycles on sidewalks and the new one won’t either-but will include e-bikes in that prohibition. The first of two public hearings on the bicycle ordinance is set for the July 13 meeting with the second public hearing and possible ordinance adoption set for the commission’s Aug. 11 meeting.
People can learn more about the proposed new ordinance on Burnett’s “Chief’s Corner” report on the city’s website.
Relative to Dial-A-Ride, the commission not only put the millage renewal on the November ballot, they also extended the city’s service agreement with Niles Dial-A-Ride which operates the Buchanan system through 2030.
The current Dial-A-Ride millage expires this year. The millage renewal proposal would reduce the current one-mill levy to 0.80 mill. The levy would run for four years, from 2027 through 2030. It is expected to raise $96,039 in the first year.
The Nelson Transfer grant application is to the USDA Rural Business Development program. The city is applying for $203,142 and matching it with $71,375 in local funds. McGhee said the city received a grant for engineering work on the project last year.
If the city is successful in getting the new grant, he said work will likely occur next summer. He said there is space on the lot for 22 to 25 parking spaces. The land is located south of the city’s fire station at Front and Oak Streets.