Orion Township trustees still haven’t made up their mind on a request to establish an Industrial Development District for Ashley Capital on Silverbell Road.
After a motion to deny Ashley’s request, made by clerk Jill Bastian, was withdrawn, the board voted to postpone for the third time a decision until the June 20 meeting.
Several board members felt Ashley should have the opportunity to review criteria set by the township for establishing an IDD.
That criteria was set by the board at the May 17, 2004 meeting. Susan Harvey, Ashley Captial Vice President of Leasing and Acquisitions for the Midwest Region Detroit office, said Ashley had not had the opportunity to review the four criteria points.
‘No one ever called my office to request it,? said Bastian.
The board has debated establishing the IDD for Ashley’s Orion Commerce Center, to be located on Silverbell Road across from the Eagle Valley Landfill.
When the request was first brought before the board in April, Harvey said the complex would most likely have three-four tenants, but would be built to accommodate up to six.
She said establishing an IDD would allow Ashley to draw in tenants that would stay longer, and offer more high paying jobs.
‘This has to be approved before the foundation of the building goes in,? Harvey said.
At the last meeting in May, the board asked Harvey to address some of the questions the township had. She said one of the most often asked was what the benefit to the township was.
‘In brief, it is that granting an IDD affords the developer and the township to be able to attract a certain kind of business,? she said.
Some of those businesses could qualify to apply to the township for a tax abatement. Harvey said establishing the IDD in no way required the township to grant those abatement requests, if and when they are made.
?(The IDD) is an economical tool to attract and keep those businesses in the state,? she said. ‘You can attract a tenant who invests more, employs more people and pays more.?
‘What’s the incentive for us not to just wait until (those businesses) are already here?? asked trustee Matthew Gibb.
Harvey said the IDD, along with the incentive of a possible tax abatement, was the key to attracting those businesses to the community in the first place.
‘Different communities make tax abatements very easy, or very difficult,? she said. ‘Van Buren Township, for example, hardly ever grants them.?
Harvey brought to the meeting Jim Elkhorn, director of the facility for Technicolor Michigan, located in Livonia.
Technicolor is one of Ashley’s tenants there, and Elkhorn said getting a tax abatement was very important to the company’s decision to do business there.
‘We had just under 3,000 employees,? he said. ‘We decided to consolidate in one building. We started looking in state, as well as out of state.?
Elkhorn said the company partnered with Ashley Capital, which already had a relationship with Livonia.
‘This is really 800 completely new jobs in Livonia,? Harvey said. ‘We will be building in Orion regardless (of the IDD). The difference in the tenant might be 3-year leases instead of 10, with union jobs.
‘Those are what we want to attract,? she said. ‘It’s very significant, not just for us but for the township.?
Harvey said other communities Ashley had worked with had granted the IDD just so the possibility would be open.
‘So they have the discretion to yes or no, rather than not even having companies knock on the door,? she said. ‘Granting the district in no way binds you.?
Trustee John Steimel said it seemed like if the township granted the IDD, they were ‘tipping? things towards giving abatements.
‘It’s very hard not to defend giving someone an abatement,? he said.
‘I believe people out here should be on a level playing field,? said supervisor Jerry Dywasuk, adding that it seemed like the IDD would provide something of an ‘upper hand.?
‘You’re not giving us a tax abatement,? Harvey said.
Dywasuk said he was not sure the IDD would be in the best interest of Orion Township.
Township assessor John Attwell said that both real and personal property could be included in a tax abatement.
‘Once you grant the district, it stays with the dirt,? he said. ‘It’s there forever.?
Township attorney Kristin Bricker Kolb disagreed.
‘IDD’s can be terminated, as long as there’s not lasting abatements,? she said.
‘Then there’s been a real recent change in law,? said Attwell.
Gibb said he still wasn’t sure the IDD would be ‘advantageous? to Orion.
‘I think there’s a difference of opinion on the type of environment we’re trying to create,? he added, adding that the township was focusing more on research and development type of business, rather than those just hoping for a tax abatements.
‘Why would we do it? I haven’t seen that,? he said.
Harvey said the township zoned the property light industrial.
‘It’s across from a landfill, it’s next to an assembly plant,? she said. ‘This would never be a world headquarters.?
Gibb said the IDD seemed more of a benefit to Ashley to get better tenants then to the township.
‘I think a community is better off attracting companies that want to be around,? Harvey said. ‘They become a corporate citizen rather than just a tenant.?
Dywasuk said he couldn’t justify bringing in more traffic concerns when the township ‘can’t deal with what we have now.?
‘I think we’re doing a disservice,? he said.
Harvey said Ashley ‘just spent a lot of money on a piece of property,? and would be building there.
‘You do have some obligation,? she said. ‘The township has given permission.?
Dywasuk said the township would have a lawsuit on its hands if they now said they didn’t want Ashley to build in Orion.
‘I think that’s what you just said,? Harvey responded.