VBT warns real estate agents to do due-diligence on Martinsville

Van Buren Township Supervisor Kevin McNamara said the township has sent a letter to real estate agents in the area telling them to do their due-diligence before selling a house and setting off the 30 days to closing.
At the regular meeting of the township board of trustees on May 21, he said there have been several homes sold on Martinsville Road that have needed rezoning because they were on land presently zoned M-1, light industrial.
He said it takes 60 to 90 days for a rezoning and this is holding up a lot of sales.
Ron Akers, VBT director of planning and economic development, said he looked into the situation and found that in the past, in the 1980s or 1990s, apparently an industrial developer planned a project and an area of land was rezoned. The project did not move forward.
He said people now trying to sell their homes in that area find the banks won’t loan to the buyers because the houses are in industrial zoning.
“Can’t the township change them all?” asked Trustee Sherry Frazier, who is a real estate agent.
“Rather than mass rezoning, we are having them do it individually,” Akers said, explaining some people have industrial uses on their property.
Supervisor McNamara said the township is going through a Master Plan update and it will be looking at the situation there.
“We could send letters to those in the M-1 zone with a house on it and ask if they want rezoning at a reduced rate,” Akers said.
Trustee Reggie Miller asked if someone could build a factory there on the present M-1 zoning and Akers said they could.
She said those trying to sell their homes are losing time with the rezoning. She asked if that is costing them money.
Akers said the mortgage company could renegotiate the time and there is no money lost there.
“Is there any other area with this challenge?” Trustee Miller asked and Akers said he didn’t know.
Akers said Haggerty Sub has a problem because some want to build additions, but there are not any other areas with the problem on Martinsville.
He said there were plans for an industrial development at one point and it is Master Planned residential.
Trustee Paul White said there is a small machine shop on Haggerty Road, near Bemis, with 150-foot frontage mixed in with residential uses. He said also Draw Tite on Martinsville is in a residential area.
Trustee Frazier said banks are requiring property zoning because it affects the property value. She said a parcel on Belleville Road, near Ecorse, has been for sale for two to three years that is advertised as “zoned industrial.”
In other business at the 43-minute regular meeting on May 21, the board:
• Approved the second reading and approval of an ordinance rezoning 1123 Savage Rd., at the corner of Martinsville, from M-1, light industrial, to R1-B, single family residential;
• Approved the second reading and final approval of an amendment to an ordinance that codifies park rules and gives township police the ability to enforce park rules. When asked about the park rules, Supervisor McNamara replied, “If you act like a human being, no problem”;
• Approved the second reading and final approval of an amended ordinance exempting adjoining property owners from having to remove snow from the Iron Belle Trail, which is a sidewalk under the law;
• Approved the second reading and final approval of an amended ordinance exempting adjoining property owners from having to maintain the Iron Belle Trail, which is a sidewalk under the law;
• Approved naming Zambelli Fireworks Company for the 2019 fireworks show at Beck Ball Fields on June 29 with a rain date of June 30 at a cost of $10,000. Zambelli does the Detroit Tigers fireworks show. This is Zambelli’s sixth year doing the VBT show. There will be a DJ before the show;
• Approved granting DTE a 193-square-foot easement on township property located at 6920 Morton Taylor Rd. The easement is being created to allow burying the line to provide electric service to the new cellular tower that is almost complete on Morton Taylor at Ecorse. Supervisor McNamara said the tower will improve Verizon service along Belleville Road from Yost to Tyler and west to the middle of the airport, filling a gap for Verizon; and
• Heard Supervisor McNamara say the lease of the Woodlands golf property, which the board plans to accept for a year per the fifth amendment to the Host-Community agreement with Waste Management, has been sent to township attorney Patrick McAuley for a review. He said he will be contacting Waste Management to let them know the township’s plans. He said the subject will be brought before the board in the future. Waste Management offered use of the property until 2040 and would pay $5,000 a year for maintenance. The township is considering using the golf cart building for storage, along with the asphalt for storage of salt and gravel, with no plans for the golf club building.