Coming Soon in 2012: Decisions, Changes on Northville Township-Owned Properties

There are a number of decisions upcoming about what to do with large properties in Northville Township such as the Robert Scott Prison and the former Psychiatric Hospital.

There have been recent discussions by a number of public and private officials to attract new development on about 1,000 acres along Five Mile, near the prison. State Rep. Kurt Heise and township Supervisor Mark Abbo confirmed the talks, which would include installing more infrastructure and attracting more businesses.

“We’re hoping to get some unified development efforts in concert with Plymouth Township, Wayne County and property owners,” Abbo said. “The long-term objective is to diversify the tax base, probably with more research and development, and light industrial.”

Two buildings at Seven Mile Property likely to come down

On Dec. 1, the township Board of Trustees held a meeting with Stantec, the company hired to create a master plan for the 332 acres at the former Psychiatric Hospital. The company presented the results of an almost 1,000 resident survey answers about the property – mostly which requested the site stay passive instead turning it into ballfields or covering it with large playscape-type equipment.

Stantec promised to bring a final master plan recommendation back to the board at its 7 p.m. Jan. 26 meeting.

“I’m fully supportive of passive recreation,” Abbo said. “Low maintenance cost seems to be the way to go.”

However, even if the board approves a master plan, nothing can be done until some of the polluted property can be cleaned up. The site, with 20 vacant structures as old as 63 years, has a number of contamination problems, including asbestos, oil, mold and chemicals such as mercury.

The township is now considering what to do with about $200,000 in pollution by the Environmental Protection Agency for the site. It’s clear that this amount would not remove all the contamination, but a study done by Plymouth-based Conestoga-Rovers & Associates, hired by the township for $49,650, .

“The solid-steel powerhouse has a very high salvage potential, we could recoup funds from the sale of this steel,” Chip Snider, township manager. The township board will consider the powerhouse removal plan in early February, Snider said.

Cleanup of the rest of the site won’t start until a joint venture of REI and Schostak Bros. brings forth a plan for commercial development for its 82 acres on the northeast corner of the property, Snider said. Both Snider and Abbo said they’ve heard talk about big-box type retail, but there has been no plan put forward by the companies. Spokespeople for the firms did not return requests for comment.

Commercial development, including retail, has been very limited in Detroit since the recession, with many large projects throughout the tri-county area postponed or canceled. “We have no reason to believe there will be any proposal from them anytime soon,” Snider said. “But once a development is brought forward, we can start work on a total site cleanup plan.”

Robert Scott Prison Legislation

A House bill to allow the state to sell the former Robert Scott Prison was approved in late September, and now awaits a vote from the state Senate. The bill has been held in the Senate Appropriations Committee since Oct. 4.

Heise, the sponsor of the House bill, said he knows at least one committee member has some questions about the bill, but he believes it should get through the Senate and approved by the governor soon. “I’ll certainly answer any questions,” Heise said. “I’m not terribly worried about it. This should get moving again once we reconvene this week.”

The township board and residents have talked about getting the barbed wire and guard towers taken down on the site as soon as possible, preferably before the site is sold. However, language to require the state to pay roughly $450,000 to remove the wire and towers, and keep the site maintained, was removed from the House bill before it was approved. “We support the bill in its current form,” said Russ Marlan, public information officer for the Department of Corrections.

Though it’s unclear how long it would take to sell the site – years, possibly, if the Psychiatric Hospital property is any indication – there is other planning going on for that south part of the township. The Scott prison, along with the Detroit House of Corrections property directly across Five Mile Road in Plymouth Township, could be just the beginning of a new high-tech jobs corridor, Heise said. He said the two townships, Wayne County and the state have started discussing joint development efforts for the road.

With the state cutting back on the handout of economic incentives, Heise said the group will evaluate how the area could be redeveloped for light industrial uses. ““We need to show the state that this is a viable corridor, and how we could attract international companies,” the representative said.