Big Rapids to sell off surplus property
BIG RAPIDS – A 15-acre vacant lot on West Madison Street, west of Highlandview Cemetery, in Big Rapids Township, owned by Big Rapids City, will be available for sale shortly.
The city commission agreed to a listing deal with Joe McNally of ReMax Together to put the property up for sale during a recent public meeting.
“There is no public use for the property, so it makes sense to give it into private hands, for whoever would like to try it there,” said City Director Mark Gifford to the board of directors. “I recommend pushing sales.”
The board agreed to a recommendation by the planning commission to declare the property surplus during a meeting earlier this month. Excess property is owned by the city and is not in public use.
Community Development Director Paula Priebe stated that in 2010 the city did a thorough review of all city-owned properties to see if they were redundant and should be sold or if they have future public use that is worth to keep them.
In 2013, she said, the city decided not to declare the property on Madison Street as surplus, but rather to set it aside in the event of future cemetery expansion.
“It was eight years ago, and the planning commission felt it was time to take up this discussion again,” said Priebe. “It’s a large, mostly wooded piece of land that has been vacant since the city bought it in the 1970s. It was earmarked for future cemetery use, but the cemetery has shown no interest in it.
“We reached out to both Big Rapids Township officials and the cemetery board of trustees and they both said they were not interested in the property,” she added.
During a public hearing to determine the land surplus, neighboring property owners expressed reservations about a possible sale and how this could affect their properties if there were major development on the property.
The result of the public hearing was a recommendation by the planning commission to offer the property to neighboring property owners before it is publicly offered for sale.
Big Rapids attorney Eric Williams said it was not a legal option for the city to offer it to other property owners first.
“I think the planning commission’s intention can be fulfilled without this condition,” said Gifford. “There’s no reason Joe (McNally) or any of his employees can’t reach the neighbors and make them feel like they’re part of the process.”
The city has also approved a listing agreement with McNally for the sale of the city’s property on 18 Mile Road near the airport.
“It (the property) has been identified by airport engineers as an area that is not needed for airport operations and should be cleared,” Gifford told the board. “We went through the red tape that comes with the FAA designation to get them out of the program and evaluated.”
McNally said it is listed as a commercial property and since it is in the city they reserve the right to determine the usage and ensure that this is what the city wants to see there.
“It’s a beautiful piece of land,” he said. “I think it makes a lot of sense to list it.”