Melvindale City Councilman Steven Densmore called for an update on the former trailer park site, for which he said the developer has not demonstrated adequate progress.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
MELVINDALE – As the City Council returned to live meetings for the first time since pandemic precautions began, Councilman Steven Densmore called for an update on the former trailer park site development.
Building official Brad Burns said he had not received any updates from developer Musa Shohatee of National Construction.
Mayor Wheeler Marsee said it may be time to do a bucket analysis in conjunction with the city’s master plan.
“In that are some benchmarks for our city, and what is best for the market that is out there right now,” he said.
Marsee said city officials should determine whether townhouses or single-family homes currently are more in demand among residents.
“So, the plans may change,” he said.
Marsee said he and city officials had contact with Shohatee recently to get him motivated to make some visible progress on the project, and if that does not occur, other options may be pursued, and the council may have an opportunity to say what it would like to have happen at the site.
“He was told that, and he is in violation of contract,” Marsee said.
Densmore asked for Shohatee to appear at the next council meeting to answer questions.
“What we are going to hear is, ‘It’s too expensive, I can’t afford to build it,’ and it’s been coming down the road for, like, two years now,” he said.
Marsee agreed.
“I am at my wits’ end, too,” he said. “We called and tried to have a heart-to-heart with him, but he must not be getting it.”
Burns agreed that the developer should provide an update at the July 21 council meeting.
The proposed development at the site, in the 17700 block of Dix Road, was first promoted to the council on Oct. 17, 2018, as a housing development, but by March 20, 2019, as a mixed development, with retail on the side facing Dix, and 11 houses on the side facing Clarann Street.
While the old boarding house, long known as “the white house,” was torn down, the property remains undeveloped.