How communities are breaking down barriers to drive redevelopment

CADILLAC — Since 2013, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation has been working with communities statewide through its Redevelopment Ready Communities program.

The purpose of this program is to help communities build a strong foundation of best practices when it comes to areas like economic development, planning, zoning and more. The idea is to make these communities more attractive to developers and remove barriers to make development projects easier to complete.

In the greater Cadillac area, several communities are engaged with the program and making their way through the different levels. Many of these communities have already seen the benefits of the program, and are hoping it signals to potential developers that they are open for business.

What is the Redevelopment Ready Communities program?

Dan Leonard is the Senior Redevelopment Services Director at MEDC. He has worked with several communities in the greater Cadillac area to assist them with the program, including Cadillac and Lake City.

He explained that the RRC program is a voluntary program that helps communities better utilize customer service and develop a streamlined development approval process. Communities also work with MEDC to ensure their zoning ordinances, master plan and other documentation align with their needs and goals.

Such documentation helps create a vision and framework for the future development of a community. By aligning different plans with each other, the idea is to remove barriers for developers and make the process of proposing, planning and constructing new projects easier and more transparent.

“RRC is a series of best practices that help communities reference their local plans, their local documents or local processes, versus all the best practices that the state has assimilated over the duration of the past dozen or so years,” he said.

There are six best practices tied to the RRC that the MEDC works with communities to achieve. These practices relate to topics like planning, zoning, economic development, marketing and boards and commissions.

Leonard said the best practices are things they’ve seen work globally that have positioned communities to be more attractive and inviting to those with development projects. The MEDC also ensures communities are meeting their legal requirements set by Michigan’s Planning Enabling Act, which provides the legal framework for local governments to regulate land use and development.

To officially become “engaged” with the program, communities meet with an RRC Community Planner to learn more about the program and determine if it’s the best fit for them. Leonard said the program takes lots of time and energy to complete the work that’s required, so it may not be for everyone.

Cadillac, Manton, Lake City, McBain, Reed City and Evart are all communities locally that are currently engaged with the program.

A community then passes a resolution of intent to engage with the program. He said the community must send at least one person to complete the training on all six best practices tied to RRC.

Once a community is formally engaged with RRC, an assessment is done to see where the community is at, and which of the best practices they’re adhering to, and which ones they’re not. A strategy is then put together on how to address areas that don’t align with the RRC’s best practices.

For example, a community may be required to update its master plan if its out of date, or bring its zoning ordinances that are out of compliance into compliance.

Since every community is different, Leonard said they work together to ensure everything aligns with their goals and vision for the future.

Taking it to the next level with RRC

“Essentials” and “Certified” are the two designations within RRC that communities can achieve. Leonard said communities can determine which level is most appropriate for their needs, goals and other factors.

Certified is the higher of the two designations. An RRC Certified community has integrated all the best practices into its local processes and proactively sought out community development opportunities while providing a predictable development experience.

Leonard said he’ll sit down with the community and evaluate underdeveloped sites and where redevelopment sites could be. The community also has to complete a marketing and promotional plan to engage with the community more and look into long-range visioning for capital improvements.

One of the communities that earned its Redevelopment Ready certification is Cadillac. There are around 80 communities statewide that have reached this status.

Cadillac City Manager Marcus Peccia said it took the city several years to achieve its current status, which happened in 2021. Cadillac is currently working to re-up its RRC certification, which includes modernizing its zoning code, followed by its master plan

He explained that the program provides the tools for cities like Cadillac to reflect on themselves and determine how ready they are to welcome economic development projects. While the process took Cadillac several years to work through, Peccia said it gave the city a more heightened level of awareness for how to create a friendly environment that invites economic development projects.

“It allows you to take a real deep dive into your codes, your programs, your policies, your procedures and your operations,” he said. “It gives you the best practices and provides you with the ability to essentially streamline your processes, so that when you’re working with a developer or property owner in terms of their economic development project, you can move things forward in a way where you’re limiting that proverbial red tape as best as possible.”

One of the major projects the city’s Certified status may have helped with is the Cadillac Lofts. Peccia said having the certification can help when being considered for funding or loan assistance for building projects like phase two of Cadillac Lofts.

The certification shows a community is willing to put in the work that’s required to complete a project, giving them a better chance at securing funding.

“It adds a little more credibility and a little more punch to projects that are being pushed forward for consideration,” Peccia said. “It doesn’t mean that you’re going to automatically get it, but it adds a little more credit to your name, in a sense.”

Cadillac has also been able to assist property owners with their own projects thanks to programs and connections they have access to, Peccia said. This allows residents to improve their own properties within the city.

Leonard said Certified communities have access to monies from MEDC that can help with pre-development work, site investigations, architectural and engineering design drawings and more.

The RRC program also has its own grants that it can award to communities through MEDC.

Lake City is one of the communities that has reached the program’s Essentials status. This means the city has all the key documents and practices in place to provide a predictable development experience and meet local planning and zoning responsibilities under Michigan law.

Lake City became the 33rd community to reach the Essentials designation statewide earlier this week.

The designation came after years of work dating back to 2017. Lake City Mayor Craig Ardis said the city had to update its master plan, parks and recreation plan, capital improvement plan and its zoning ordinances. The city has added more members to its planning commission, so it could address more issues.

The work Lake City put in opened the city up to grant opportunities.

The city received a $935,000 matching grant to construct its Grand Central Park, which broke ground on Sept. 2. Ardis said they hope the park will stimulate more development by bringing in more businesses, festivals and people to visit and live in Lake City.

Lake City also secured a DNR Waterways grant for $150,000 to cover engineering costs for its dock project. Ardis said the city wants to install an attenuator to protect the dock and users from waves created by strong winds.

Other improvements to the dock include putting in additional boat slips and making it more handicap accessible. The city plans to seek out additional grants for the construction potential of the project.

Ardis said without those grants, the city wouldn’t be able to move forward with those projects.

Updates to the city’s master plan also allowed Lake City to host visioning sessions for its M-66 corridor, a three-mile stretch of road within the city limits. These sessions were organized by Networks Northwest and allowed residents to share what type of development they’d like to see happen, and the issues they want to be addressed.

Ardis said they are currently applying for a pair of grants that would address some of the issues brought up during the session, including pedestrian safety improvements and housing.

“Everything is connected,” he said. “Everything is driven with the same strategy, the same purpose. That purpose is, how do we improve our community and the lives of the people in our community without raising taxes and without changing our footprint?”

While Lake City has reached the Essentials status, Reed City is close behind them.

City Manager Rich Saladin said the city is creating a new master plan and parks and recreation plan. The next step will be to present those plans at a public meeting to receive community input.

“Our master plan is dated in 2005, so it’s 20 years old,” he said. “When I became city manager in 2021, that was one of the things that we looked into and said, OK, we really need to look into this and create a plan for the future. This redevelopment-ready community process helped us do that.”

Reed City has also looked at all the processes it has in place, specifically for its planning commission. Saladin said that when people visit the city’s website or office, they can receive a development plan.

This plan includes how to get a building permit, what to do if a zoning change is needed and other information they may need. He said the city has been able to put everything in one place, so when people need to apply for something, they can do it more efficiently.

“It’s made it more uniform and it’s easier to follow the process for both our staff and for the community,” he said.

Reed City hopes the work it’s doing will help it bring in more business, address housing needs and expand recreational opportunities in the future. Saladin said the goal is to make it a place people want to work and live in.

How communities can feed off each other

While the different communities are working through the program at their own pace, they can still benefit from each other.

Leonard said communities within the same region can share ideas and learn from each other. While they may have different needs and issues, he said they may share some things in common, too.

He added that it could also attract more businesses and encourage them to expand within the region after seeing multiple communities in the area working toward making development easier for outsiders.