By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent
BUCHANAN, MI – Buchanan City Commissioners got some good news Monday with reports about two new business ventures in the city. Monday night’s meeting also featured the introduction of three zoning ordinance amendments, a new economic incentive policy, and the setting of several public hearings.
City Manager Tony McGhee reported that the Terrracon company has relocated its local facilities from Niles to a location on Post Road in Buchanan. Terracon is a nationwide company that handles a variety of services including concrete and asphalt testing as well as soil analysis engineering.
“They just opened here last week and they have 50 employees working here in Buchanan already,” McGhee told commissioners. “They’re also still hiring.”
The other piece of business news is about the future of the former Electro-Voice building on Cecil Street on the city’s south side. The L&L Air Trim company owns the building and serves manufacturers nationwide with material handling equipment and service. The company has plans to rehabilitate the property and lease out the space they’re not using.
The commission set a public hearing for their Sept. 14 meeting to consider establishing a plant rehabilitation district for the property. McGhee said establishing the district is the first step toward the company getting tax breaks for expenses related to rehabilitating the facility.
The commission approved a new economic development incentive policy for the city. McGhee said the new policy outlines the process the city will follow to review tax incentive assistance requests related to things like tax abatements, brownfield redevelopment, obsolete properties and payments in lieu of taxes.
“The purpose of the policy is not to make these tools harder to use or discourage investment in Buchanan,” McGhee wrote in a memo to the commission. “It is to make sure assistance remains available when it is needed, while also making sure it is provided in a measured and responsible manner. How these tools are ultimately used remains a policy decision of the City Commission.”
Five other public hearings were set for the commission’s Sept. 28 meeting. The first will be a second hearing on the proposed ordinance to allow for Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) financing for developments promoting workforce housing.
McGhee said last month that government financing available for new projects that support workforce housing typically come from the land having either a brownfield designation or a PILOT plan in place. He said that the Allen Edwin developers who purchased city lots earlier this summer is interested in pursuing a PILOT agreement with the city.
The PILOT plan allows a developer to pay a certain of percentage of gross annual rent income as a service charge to the city in lieu of paying property taxes. McGhee said that percentage is generally around 10 percent. It also requires the developer to provide housing to families with income at 120 percent of the area median income.
The other four public hearings are related to changes to the city’s Unified Development Code zoning ordinance. All of the changes have been reviewed and recommended by the city’s planning commission. These will all be first public hearings with second hearings and adoption coming in late October.
Planning and Community Development Director Kristen Gunderson said the first public hearing is map amendment to rezone a section of the old Clark property on East Third Street and Skyline Drive from Natural back to the intended Industrial designation.
Gunderson said the other three public hearings will amend the zoning ordinance to allow for a downtown overlay district, set sign standards, and set standards for fencing, lighting, screening and landscaping. She said the overall goal for the three amendments is to set down standards and review processes as well as setting down clear definitions.