MARQUETTE — The Marquette City Commission voted to approve a brownfield plan recently to develop housing at 710 Chippewa Square called the Chipp.

According to the plan, the housing will be 14 units and serve qualified families with incomes at or below 120% of area median income.

Marquette Mayor Sally Davis says this will be one way the commission is working to address housing needs in the city.

A brownfield plan is being proposed for the redevelopment currently being used as an office park, from commercial to residential use for workforce housing called the Chipp being developed by SLA Property, LLC, of Marquette. A public hearing was held by the city commission on Oct. 28, prior to approval of the brownfield plan.

Approval of the brownfield plan will provide for the reimbursement of brownfield environmental and housing development eligible activity costs, including environmental due diligence and the gap between development and rent revenues for units for qualified households with income of 120% of the area median income or less.

“We as a commission continually hear about the need for attainable housing in Marquette and how expensive it is to live in Marquette,” Davis said. “This is an opportunity for us to provide attainable housing for the workforce.”

An unnamed business owner in Chippewa Square spoke during the public hearing:

“I’m concerned about moving housing into a business area. I’m concerned for the safety of children playing in and around a busy parking lot. Also, we do snow removal after hours. I understand the need for housing in Marquette. But, we weren’t given any information about what this project will entail.”

An area resident also asked about the taxes for the brownfield plan project.

“I don’t know if this is true or just a rumor,” the unnamed person said, “but we’ve heard this project is getting a 20-year tax abatement. That’s too long.”

Commissioner Cody Mayer said that half of the tax capture is state taxes.

“And what we’ll be pulling back will help pay for the project. It’s an investment. We’re already collecting taxes, we’re not starting from scratch. The tax value will go up as improvements are made.”

Deputy City Manager Sean Hobbins explained that it is not an abatement.

“It is tax incremental financing,” he said. “Half of the capture is state taxes. We’ll be pulling back our portion to pay for due dilligence.”

Commissioner Michael Larson said a smaller 14-unit project makes sense as a first-step project for Marquette in this creative state-proposed program for affordable housing.

Mayor Sally Davis said, “I like that it’s a redevelopment. I wish we didn’t have budget issues. Fifty percent of our city land is not taxable because of water, the university, the DDA and low-income housing. We have a small portion of the city doing the heavy lifting on our services. In 10 years, we will be able to build bigger brownfield developments. I think our future is bright, but we still need to fix our streets.”

The Chipp brownfield redevelopment project was approved by the city commission by a vote of 4-2.

The mayor and Commissioner Jermey Ottaway voted no. Commissioner Paul Schloegel abstained due to a personal connection to the project.

In other business, the commissioners and some people from the audience gave best wishes to commissioner and former mayor Jenna Smith, who is retiring from the commission.