VBT board agrees to study plan for Sumpter Road Corridor change

“We had an opportunity and we couldn’t move fast enough to take advantage,” said Van Buren Township Supervisor Kevin McNamara during the April 6 virtual meeting of the township board.
He gave no details, but he said this explained why he thinks it is time to look at Sumpter Road zoning between the city of Belleville and Bemis Road, where Sumpter Township begins.
Supervisor McNamara said Belleville businesses are moving to other cities because they have no choice.
The board agreed to move forward with a plan to use the McKenna planning consultants to create a Sumpter Road Corridor Vision, future land use amendments, and an overlay zoning district.
Public Services Director Matthew Best presented the Sumpter Road plan to the township board.
He said in 2005-6 he was on an open space committee at Van Buren Township to devise the South Side Master Plan. He said he went to a school in the city of Belleville and spoke of great things in the South end.
Best said he didn’t work for VBT at the time. He was a resident, “and we wrote the South Side Master Plan” in 2007.
He said at the time they said they should talk about it in the future and now it’s the future. He said the original plan wanted to protect the rural character of the South Side.
Director of Planning and Economic Development Dan Power said in 2020 the board approved the township’s full Master Plan for the first time in 30 years. Now they will revisit the south side of the township and interface with the city of Belleville, he said.
“There are some factors that may cause businesses to expand or move,” Director Power said, not mentioning the marijuana industry that is starting up in the city that is causing displacements.
“Maybe the local commercial needs a new look,” Power said, adding they want to protect the rural nature of the south side.
He said a future land use amendment is needed and design drawings need to be put together.
He asked the board to enable the planning process. They would kick off with community engagement and public input efforts and propose rezonings or to go a different direction. He said they would give everyone a chance to buy into the project.
Power said they would talk to the supervisor, clerk, and treasurer and then look at the overall picture.
He said the first step is looking at the Sumpter Road Corridor.
In a memo he stated the township has expressed strong support for the maintenance of rural character east and west of the land immediately adjacent to Sumpter Road.
McNamara said when he came into office, Kroger was looking at building at the corner of Sumpter and Hull roads and then didn’t come in for various reasons.
“Now, Belleville has a shortage of land and people need someplace to go,” McNamara said. “Businesses could start flowing down that strip.”
“We need to look at that,” agreed Treasurer Sharry Budd. “Sumpter is looking for us to supply a supermarket.” She said there were sewer problems for Kroger. “We can reshape that to benefit Van Buren Township, Belleville, and Sumpter.”
Trustee Reggie Miller asked if they have taken the marijuana facilities in Belleville into account and no one replied.
“Everyone would love to have a grocery store,” said Best. “But that’s not why we’re doing this. Supervisor McNamara is right. It would take six months for a Kroger to rezone, but it had other challenges.”
Best said the township has received calls from plumbers, a sign company, bakeries, and other businesses who want to site in the strip along Sumpter Road.
“We are looking at commercial facilities with a shop in front and products in the back,” Best said, mentioning Ahearn Signs. He said they are looking at sit-down restaurants, not fast food.
He said they want to find out what this community wants in this corridor. He said they are not doing this for any particular business but to create the best economic conditions for someone to want to be here.
Trustee Miller said that strip along both sides of Sumpter is “run down. It needs some care. Then what? How long will it take to be planned out?”
McNamara said it would take six months to a year to come up with a plan.
Power said six months.
Miller asked if they have had meetings with Sumpter and Belleville.
Best said he had a preliminary meeting with the Belleville Downtown Development Authority.
He also presented this idea to the township planning commission at the end of a recent agenda.
“Even if the city wasn’t transitional, we’d still want to do this,” Best said. “This isn’t to take business away from the city … If they’re moving out, we could have a soft place to land locally.”