Progress reported on Lakeview residential project

A special meeting of the Rogers City CDA last week produced several new steps in the process to come up with a developer for the residential Renaissance Zone property on Lakeview Boulevard. Chairman of the CDA, Richard Long, met with several of the members to discuss where the process lies. The CDA now has a bid from Rogers City Group, Inc. to consider. Another developer from the Bloomfield Hills area has shown an interest in the project if all else has been explored.

The downstate developer decided there was not enough time available immediately to put together an actual bid. On a third front, the Lakeview Builders, consisting of Jim Fleis and Dan Gabara, submitted a letter explaining they were still interested in the project but would decline to submit a proposal.

?We?ll have an interview first (with the interested developers),? said Long, ?then, probably by late March a decision will be made.? Long said the city is still on a ?dual track,? meaning if all falls through in finding a developer, the city will proceed with the development process on its own.

THE DEPARTMENT of Environmental Quality (DEQ) still had not signed off on the property, but has indicated there would be one blanket environmental assessment for the entire project instead of one for each lot. ?What that means,? said city manager Rob Fairbanks, ?instead of four or five parcels (within the development) it will be one Baseline Environmental Assessment (BEA) which includes the Rasche, Darga, Storms, and Kiwanis properties.?

Fairbanks believes the time is getting closer to a signoff by the DEQ and he was assured by Bob Wagner of that organization that he would do as much as possible to complete his review within a month of a February 12 meeting date. According to Fairbanks, the problem has been the change in the state agencies and early retirements, leaving Wagner with more responsibilities and less staff. Fairbanks will begin a ?squeaky wheel? campaign via e-mails and phone calls to prod the issue to the forefront.

IN THE SCHEME of the process, Wagner must first complete his review, then EC&S, Inc. (the environmental firm handling the project) must then write a ?generic? BEA (generic, meaning the name of the developer would be left blank until one is found). The BEA protects the eventual landowner within the Ren Zone development from being responsible for any environmental contamination. ?In the case of the Ren Zone, the end user, the owner who buys from the developer…would not be required

to obtain a BEA each time the property is bought or sold…it ends with the developer,? Fairbanks said. The only contamination found on the Ren Zone property was some groundwater about 16-20 feet deep that is slightly above drinking water criteria. But according to Fairbanks, the issue is somewhat moot, as the development will be using city water and sewer hookups.

?There will be a deed restriction that says, ?you cannot have a well? in the Ren Zone property,? Fairbanks added. Fairbanks said the timing is crucial to get the performance completed from the DEQ and he fully expects that will be the case soon.

In the next meetings, the CDA will undergo a scrutiny of potential developers for the Ren Zone properties.