Tecumseh adopts development plan for Evans Street

David Panian, The Daily Telegram
·3 min read

TECUMSEH — A new plan will guide future development along Evans Street in Tecumseh.

The Evans Street Corridor Plan was developed using focus groups, a public open house, a community survey and phone interviews with business or other entities in the corridor. The Tecumseh City Council gave the plan its approval with a 7-0 vote Monday.

City officials stressed no specific projects were approved Monday.

"Any improvements that would be made in this corridor would first have to come before the planning commission and they would have to approve any site plans that maybe come before them," Mayor Jack Baker said. "And then once that site plan may or may not be approved, it would come to city council and we would have to give the final decision."

The city has been making these kinds of plans for Evans Street since it was part of M-52 in the 1960s, Baker said. The plan replaces the South Evans Sub-Area Plan adopted in 2017.

"This is just a good way of saying this is (what) we want our Evans Street Corridor to look like," he said. "This is what we're hoping happens. And, boy, I think this is a great plan."

The city's planning commission recommended approval of the plan March 12 after conducting another input-gathering session, according to City Manager Dan Swallow.

North Evans Street at Logan Street in Tecumseh.
North Evans Street at Logan Street in Tecumseh.

Evans Street has been identified as an area for improvement and continued growth of the downtown district, Swallow said. The plan pays particular attention to the area near the former Hamblin Co. and the Market on Evans on North Evans Street and the former Tecumseh Products Co. on South Evans Street.

The city's planning consultants, Northville-based McKenna, conducted market research to aid in the creation of the plan.

The plan mostly envisions keeping the current land uses. The focus area between Logan Street and Shawnee Street would remain a mix of downtown mixed use, in-town residential and public use. The focus area near Cummins Street would be downtown mixed use and flexible development. The flexible areas would be for a variety of housing, such as townhomes, new apartments and adaptive reuse apartments.

The guide gives a conceptual plan for the Hamblin parking lot parcel and the parcel just to the north, next to the library parking lot. There would be two new, three-story buildings with 18 apartments and three first-floor commercial tenants.

Two new, three-story buildings with first-floor retail space and upper-floor apartments on North Evans Street are envisioned as part of Tecumseh's Evans Street Corridor Plan.
Two new, three-story buildings with first-floor retail space and upper-floor apartments on North Evans Street are envisioned as part of Tecumseh's Evans Street Corridor Plan.

Meanwhile, on the Products site, one portion would be industrial or commercial space; with other parts of the property dedicated to flexible development, downtown mixed use, public or quasi-public use; plus a small section of industrial or commercial use to the north of the fire station at Evans Street and Russell Road.

Lenawee County, which bought the 50-acre parcel in October 2021, has fielded inquiries from parties about developing parts of the property, including for industrial uses. The county board of commissioners voted 5-4 in February not to accept any industrial proposals for the site to address rumors about the county's plans and because of the city's new plan.

The county originally planned to build a recreation complex on the site, but shelved the plan due to opposition.

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In talking with potential developers, the city has learned size alone makes redeveloping the plot as one large project difficult, Swallow said after the meeting.

Commercial, light industrial, retail, housing, recreation and civic uses are envisioned in the redevelopment of the former Tecumseh Products.
Commercial, light industrial, retail, housing, recreation and civic uses are envisioned in the redevelopment of the former Tecumseh Products.

"This plan proposes looking at maybe subdividing the property into smaller pieces that could be more easily developed," he said.

However, before the property can be redeveloped for commercial or residential use, Tecumseh Products has to complete contamination cleanup.

"We do anticipate once they complete a majority of their cleanup, which is in four to five years, that new uses could be proposed and approved by both the state, EGLE, and the federal government, EPA," Swallow said.

— Contact reporter David Panian at dpanian@lenconnect.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter: @lenaweepanian.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Tecumseh adopts development plan for Evans Street