Harbor Springs council updated on Redevelopment Ready Community progress

HARBOR SPRINGS — The Harbor Springs City Council discussed both the city’s marketing plan and the Redevelopment Ready Communities process during Monday’s meeting.

The Redevelopment Ready Community (RRC) is a statewide certification program based on helping communities prepare for development and become economically competitive.

The certification program, which is operated by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), allows the community to help create a straightforward development review process and help determine the best sites for certain developments.

Harbor Springs City Manager Victor Sinadinoski gave a presentation about the RRC program during Monday’s meeting and spoke about the city’s progress in becoming part of the initiative.

“A lot of people, rightfully so, get a little concerned with the word ‘redevelopment’ and ‘development,’ and a lot of the images people think of is overdevelopment — big buildings, someone coming to the city and tearing things down and putting new stuff up,” Sinadinoski said. “In the planning and zoning world, development is much more simple than that. It really means a change of use or an addition or expansion of structure on your property.”

Redevelopment could be anything from a home being rebuilt, a vacant commercial building being renovated, or a property owner changing the use of their site, for example.

“It’s a constant reality. Development and redevelopment is always happening,” Sinadinoski said.

In the presentation, Sinadinoski highlighted nearby local communities that are RRC certified, including Charlevoix, Petoskey, Boyne City and Traverse City. There are more than 200 cities in the state that are engaged in the RRC, and 68 that are certified.

Sinadinoski said the city is involved to help bring in best use developments to the community and to be proactive instead of reactive. The city has been involved in the RRC program since 2019, though paused in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The city reengaged with the program in 2021.

In May 2023, the city received funding for reworking the zoning code.

In the presentation, Sinadinoski highlighted the different areas in which the city is aligned with the plan, where it’s partially aligned and where it is not aligned.

He said the city is probably another year out from reaching certification, but just by being in the process the city is eligible for MEDC grant money. Sinadinoski said the grant money does come with specific instructions, but that the city looks to get grant expectations and requirements sent before the city spends time on a grant application that the city would ultimately reject.

“We ask for those agreements before we apply for a grant if they have them available,” Sinadinoski said. “So we know what the agreement is going to say before we determine whether or not it’s going to be worth us applying for the grant.”

During public comment, residents discussed their concerns about being involved in the program. Multiple residents said they want to see more communication from the city about the RRC program. Other residents spoke about their disinterest in being compared to other cities — such as Charlevoix and Petoskey — and want to keep Harbor Springs as it is.

In the public comment portion, council and Sinadinoski did answer a few questions posed. Parks and Recreation board chair Dana Mulder asked if the council would be comfortable saying no to things recommended to add through the RRC, to which Mayor Matt Bugera said yes.

"I don't have a problem with it," he said. "If it doesn't fit Harbor Springs, it shouldn't be there."

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Along with the RRC’s discussion, the city showed off the Strategic Marketing Plan, developed by Parks and Recreation director Rachel Roon.

The marketing plan highlighted local and regional stakeholders, branding consistencies for the city, as well as community assets.

Roon said that she worked with someone from the MEDC to develop the plan, and while the plan is less than 10 pages long, the comments they gave back to the city were that the plan was “simple but it fits.”

She said the marketing plan is an example of how the RRC works with communities to keep things working for their own communities.

— Contact reporter Karly Graham at kgraham@petoskeynews.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KarlyGrahamJRN. 

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Harbor Springs council updated on Redevelopment Ready Community partnership