By Megan Kelley
Staff Writer
LAKE ORION — It may be the end of the road for residents hoping to get a question on the ballot regarding the current Downtown Development Authority Tax Increment Financing capture.
During their meeting on Oct. 10, the Lake Orion Village Council discussed a request from village resident Harry Stephen to either take affirmative action on the petition or agree to hold a special election.
The council made no motion to do either of those things, effectively putting the matter to rest, for now.
In recent months, residents have circulated a petition that would repeal the ordinance that allows the DDA to capture taxes in the village but not fully disband the DDA.
The petition was filed by Stephen, who has been vocal at meetings regarding the status of the petitions and has continued to fight for the issue to be either handled by the council or have the question placed on an upcoming ballot.
It was an uphill battle for Stephen and his fellow petitioners with the original petitions circulated being rejected by the township after not meeting the proper number of signatures.
Another attempt ended in the petition being rejected by the county after missing the filing deadline by just two days. Because of this, despite now having enough signatures, the measure would not be able to appear on the ballot this November.
This means there are only a few options moving forward if residents would still like the opportunity to vote on the measure: wait until 2024 and file another petition or the village can hold a special election next year, one that village tax payers would have to foot the bill for.
Stephen spoke at the meeting and requested that the village either take action on the petitions or vote to hold a special election next year.
Stephen noted that he takes responsibility for missing the Aug. 16 deadline but states that because village offices are closed on Fridays, he lost roughly four days and should the offices have been open, he would have made the deadline.
Stephens also stated he felt the forms were confusing and he also had a lack of guidance from government officials in his attempt to get the measure on the ballot.
“I feel that because of confusing and lack of guidance, petition form and poor instruction and loss of three and a half days, that I should have some consideration,” Stephen said. “I respectfully call on the village council to enact the ordinance and call for a special election or (I) offer this as the opportunity to make a decision.”
Several residents and business owners spoke to show their support for the DDA, including longtime residents Stan and Rosemary Ford, as well as Oat Soda co-owner Dan Fox and owner of 120 South Broadway Jeff Schmitz.
Fox expressed his concerns about what would happen with their redevelopment liquor license should the DDA go away.
“The reason we have these licenses is because there is a DDA in effect. What we’re worried about is that we will lose the ability to renew our liquor license and maintain a future liquor license if the DDA is dissolved,” Fox said.
Schmitz, who has invested millions of dollars into the downtown, was vocal about his support for the DDA, encouraging members of the council to try and think of a single business community that is successful without a DDA.
Schmitz also reiterated that development within the village is due to having a successful DDA.
“Why did we invest in this community? It was welcoming, we believed in it and we believed in it long-term. So did the DDA. They believed in us and as a developer, long-term, in creating what we would call, or I call, a ‘culturesphere’,” Schmitz said. “One of the members of the community that came out and spoke, they said they could ‘shoot a cannon through the streets’, now on Thursday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday night, we have a vibrant community. If that’s not what you want as a board, let us know. We’ll go somewhere else. But please let us know and stop wasting our time.”
During council discussion, Councilmember Theresa Rutt gave a brief overview of what the village council and DDA joint committee have been working on, stating that they meet again on Oct. 21 and are expected to review future numbers and projections so they can later look at the potential options going forward.
Several other members spoke up to give insight into their own thought processes on the matter, most of which stated that they felt there wasn’t much they could do about the petitions because of how the process played out.
Council President Ken Van Portfliet added his support behind the DDA, listing off some of the many good things the DDA has brought to the area.
“I am not in favor of just saying that we are not going to fund the DDA or to de-fund the DDA. I will never be a supporter of that. There’s been too much good,” said Van Portfliet.
The joint committee of the village council and the DDA is expected to continue to meet at 1 p.m. on Oct. 21 at Village Hall.