Contrary to what was originally believed, the Village of Oxford has had complete control over the historic Oxford Savings Bank building for the last 10 years.
A copy of the Quit Claim Deed and an opinion from Oxford Bank’s legal counsel indicated that when the financial institution deeded the building over to the village in January 1972 there was a ‘specific restrictive covenant? that the property only be used for a public purpose.
The intended public purpose in this case was the creation of the Northeast Oakland Historical Museum.
‘In the event that it was used for any other purpose, the title of the land would revert back to Oxford Bank,? according to the Jan. 16 legal opinion from the Auburn Hills-based Kus, Ryan, Schluentz and Brown
However, this restriction was only valid for 25 years from the date of the deed.
‘This covenant would have expired in 1997, thus the bank can no longer prohibit the transfer of the property by the Village of Oxford to be used for any other purpose or to be sold to a third party,? the opinion stated.
In other words, the village is free to do anything it wants with the building.
But if the municipality wishes to sell the property, it must first obtain voter-approval.
The village charter clearly states, ‘The council shall not have the power to sell any property of value in excess of five dollars per capita, according to the last preceding U.S. Census . . . unless approved by a majority of the electors of the village.?
Given the 2000 U.S. Census listed the village’s population at 3,540 residents, any public property worth more than $17,700 is subject to a vote of the people if council wished to sell it.
Even a land swap appears to require voter approval as evidenced by the March 2004 village vote which allowed the municipality to trade an alleyway it owned for a piece of bank property, which later became the new portion of Mill St. between Stanton and Broadway streets.