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Year in Review | January 2019
City discusses marijuana, completes Rising Tide program, marks sesquicentennial By Michelle Graves Managing Editor MANISTEE — Throughout 2019, recreational marijuana was one of the hot topics in the City of Manistee, as well as the city’s year-long participation in the State of Michigan’s Rising Tide program. Celebrating the city’s sesquicentennial as well as a world record are among the high points. However, the city continued to discuss housing issues throughout the year. In 2018, a voter approved measure decriminalized recreational marijuana use for Michigan residents ages 21 and over. This action left local townships and city governments with the responsibility to lay the foundation for the licensing and regulation of the controversial new industry. City of Manistee officials first moved
forward with a recreational marijuana ordinance that would allow establishments within the city limits in May. Council members voted 5-2 to introduce ordinance 19-14 Recreational Marijuana. Throughout 2019, City Council would introduce more ordinances concerning recreational and medical marijuana, including creating a Marijuana Sales Overlay district on Arthur Street. The City of Manistee Planning Commission approved 10 special use permits on Sept. 19 for potential marijuana businesses located in the district, and on Oct. 11 the city began taking recreational marijuana license applications. Lissette Reyes served as Manistee’s development fellow in the Rising Tide program, a statewide program in which the city was selected to participate for 2019. Throughout the year, Reyes gathered
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the area’s largest employers, institutions and governing bodies under one roof with community forums, informational sessions and other meetings. After working with Sarah Lucas, of Housing North, a a housing action plan and mission statement was proposed. Following several community forums, Joe Borgstrom, president of Place + Main Advisors, LLC, put together an economic development plan, which lists action items assigned to specific organizations, individuals or groups within the city. In August, Ben Muldrow, of Arnett Muldrow & Associates, who also worked with Project Rising Tide, proposed a branding package consisting of a new logo, slogan, city mission statement and color palette. The city completed the program in December. Manistee Forward, an organization formed from the steering commit-
tee, is intended to take over where Rising Tide and Reyes left off. Discussion turned to housing early in the year when City Council approved a 4% Payment in Lieu of Taxes in January for a development. The Hollander Development Corporation announced a plan for “workforce housing” at the former Washington Elementary School property, located on Ford Street bordering Short Street and Third Avenue in Manistee. The 3.5 acre site would support 50 units, at rental rates affordable to households with incomes from 30% to 100% of area median income. In June, the development — called Hillcrest Apartments — was awarded $1,091,745 in Low-Income Housing Tax Credits from Michigan State Housing Development Authority. The Hollander Development Corp. also was involved in discussions for