‘As a commissioner, I just can’t agree to do it’: Three Rivers commissioners narrowly vote for next Brownfield hearing

With a 4-3 vote Monday, the Three Rivers City Commission approved a Tuesday, November 19 hearing for Brownfield Redevelopment Plan #7.

Mayor Tom Lowry and Commissioners Chris Abel, Torrey Brown, and Carolyn McNary voted yes, while commissioners Lucas Allen, Pat Dane, and Steven Haigh voted no. Lowry confirmed the close vote immediately after it happened.

Brownfield Redevelopment Plan #7 concerns Allen Edwin Homes’ intended housing development at 611 Coolidge Place. Allen Edwin’s other properties include The Meadows. Since June, the Brownfield Plan:

• was voted down by commissioners
• was modified and presented again
• failed to have an August hearing scheduled
• was pulled from an October agenda

“I would strongly recommend that we set the public hearing,” Lowry said. “Maybe this will either pass or fail for the last time. I don’t know. But I think we need to resolve it.”

“I just really have to do some soul searching,” Dane said. “It’s hard for me, because I live in The Meadows. This is beyond that. I’m also a city commissioner.”

Dane said she has a hard time thinking it’s acceptable to provide the Allen Edwin development with city sewer, water, and law enforcement without receiving tax revenue from the company. The exact length of Allen Edwin’s tax abatement is still being negotiated. Monday’s meeting included comments that it could last as long as 16 years.

“I don’t know how the city thinks we can afford it. We can’t. We can hardly afford what we’re doing now. Two years ago, we had a hard time giving our firefighters and policemen livable wages so they would stay with us and not leave. And now we’re taking on (a new) burden,” Dane said.

Three Rivers needs more housing and she’s not against that, Dane said. She’s against the Brownfield plan. Even if the abatement was negotiated down to 12 or 15 years, she said it’s still a lot of time without income.

“As a commissioner, I just can’t agree to do it,” Dane said.

No one from Allen Edwin Homes attended Monday’s meeting. Watershed Voice has reached out to Director of Workforce Housing Brian Farkas for comments.

Sherrie Nowicki, RE/MAX Elite Group in Three Rivers, gave a “reality check” Monday about the city’s housing market. She also said the commissioners need to take a good, hard look at what they’re doing and what they’re providing.

“In 2024, from January until today – these are facts, this is right off the MLS – your average median sales price is $154,173,” Nowicki said. “That’s what a house sells for in Three Rivers. Last year, in the same time period, your sales price was $157,162.50. You’re down almost $3,000 in the year-end value.”

Nowicki said three condos on Bush Boulevard in The Meadows have active listings as of Monday. The current prices for two of those condos are $259,900 and $269,900. One has been on the market for nearly 150 days, another for nearly 180 days.

“They’re not selling,” she said. “That’s not reality. It’s just not reality. If you want to build homes that are for what people can afford in this town, then you better price them between $150,000 and $180,000.”

It’s not feasible and realistic to expect Three Rivers residents to afford the principal and interest, tax and insurance payments on a $280,000 residence, Nowicki said. Not when the median income is $52,000 and there are expenses including groceries, water, and sewer payments.

“That’s why people are building in the surrounding townships,” she said. “Because they don’t have to pay that water and sewer bill. They don’t have to worry about that. We pay half of the taxes you guys pay. You know how many homes were built in Lockport Township last year? Nineteen. Nineteen, compared to your seven. Working people can afford to go to the townships. That’s a fact.”

Frank Stanko is a staff writer for Watershed Voice.