JEVONA VOTE AUGUST 6
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JULY 31, 2024 Vol. 35, No. 16
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Sterlingfest offerings extend beyond festival/18A Photos by Patricia O’Blenes
FOR PROBATE JUDGE FAIR, COMPASSIONATE, HONEST Paid for by the CTE Jevona Fudge, P.O. Box 541 • Mt. Clemens, MI 48046
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Image provided by NF Engineers
LEFT: The Chaldean Community Foundation’s “phase one” project to construct a fourstory apartment complex is already underway just a bit to the south along Van Dyke. The CCF’s latest proposal, which the City Council discussed July 16, is being called “phase two.” ABOVE: This rendering shows what the Chaldean Community Foundation’s “phase two” apartment proposal might look like.
TIED COUNCIL VOTE DELAYS FATE OF CHALDEAN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION APARTMENT PROPOSAL A proposal that city officials say could add around 80 rent-controlled apartment units in the north Van Dyke Avenue corridor faced a temporary impasse due to a 3-3 tied Sterling Heights City Council vote at a July 16 meeting. The vote was to consider the Chaldean Community Foundation’s proposal to build a mixed-use planned unit development on around 2 out of 10.34 acres of land at 43934 Van Dyke Ave. The address, located on Van Dyke Av-
enue’s east side, north of Riverland Drive, used to be the site of the former Riverland Amusement Park, according to Sterling Heights senior economic adviser Luke Bonner. City officials say the property is in a floodplain area. This is not the first time the CCF has planned apartments in the north Van Dyke corridor. The foundation already has a “phase one” four-story apartment complex under construction just a bit southward, and it expects that project to be complete in 2025. The latest proposed apartment project is considered phase two. The city says it has acquired the 10.34
acres and closed on the purchase in early 2023 by spending around $640,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds. As part of an associated purchase agreement, the city would sell a part of the land to the developer — CCF Development Grillo Limited Dividend Housing Association LLC — for around $60,000, or $30,000 per acre, Bonner said. While the developer would at one point during the development process take liability for the entire 10.34 acres, it would eventually give the city around 8 acres back, Bonner said. The city could then keep that land as open or recreational space, or for trailway
amenities, according to Sterling Heights City Planner Jake Parcell. Parcell said the city’s Master Land Use Plan originally designated the property as office, park or open space, but he added that the city’s 2021 North Van Dyke Avenue sub-area plan says the land could be used for multifamily residences. He also said the proposed apartment complex on that site would contain an estimated 80, possibly 82, one- or two-bedroom units, with each unit being around 750 to 900 square feet in size. Balconies or patio space would be incorporated into the design, See APARTMENTS on page 21A
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BY ERIC CZARNIK eczarnik@candgews.com