Algonac officials renew focus on long-vacant school with zoning change

The old Algonac Elementary School has been vacant for more than seven years, but officials this month approved zoning changes they hope will make the property more developer-ready.

On Dec. 20, the City Council signed off on two zoning amendments — each lifting restrictions for what uses could occupy the site at 1102 St. Clair Blvd. — and establishing an overlay district around it.

Mayor Rocky Gillis said one of the biggest benefits of the changes is that they provide the public opportunities to offer input on any future development for the school property, in addition to providing the city a say in the uses that could be proposed by future buyers.

Gillis said the zoning changes weren’t necessarily fueled by any changes or particular interest in the property. The school building remains in the hands of Georgia-based National Christian Foundation which has held the property since 2017.

“The school has sat vacant since 2015. Now, we’re almost eight years in, and we would like to see that property get developed before the condition of it deteriorates or anything further happens,” Gillis said late last week. “Really, it was to give more flexibility for a developer and more control for the city.”

Changes to the central and general business districts, described in two separate resolutions, would accommodate more goals in the city’s master plan and add language to zoning rules to boost neighborhoods, retain attractive commercial centers, and encourage amenities that attract businesses and entrepreneurs.

The establishment of the Algonac Elementary Overlay District creates a regulatory tool to help support a broader vision for the former school and create special provisions, including a new review process, opening up consideration for more mixed uses – including retail, restaurants, hotels, entertainment, and health care facilities – and flexibility in the nature of site plans and use of recreational or public spaces.

“As it sat prior, the school was zoned R-2, which is just a residential zoning. So, any use of an R-2 would be acceptable. Say, a cemetery could go there,” Gillis said. “Now, the new ordinance, what it does is allow that property to be developed for multiple uses, but it has to go … to the planning commission twice and the council twice. So, the residents would definitely have input on what could go there. But we’re not just restricted to the R-2 designation.”

The zoning updates were first OK’d by Algonac planning commissioners in August and brought before council earlier this month.

Development Analysis Algonac School Building 6.6.22 by Jackie Smith on Scribd

There was no formal discussion before council's final reading and adoption on Dec. 20.

The zoning updates were introduced after the city in June received a development analysis, initially commissioned in 2021, for the elementary school building.

The 29-page summary breaks down potential concepts for the site for various residential redevelopment projects under the existing zoning that require razing the school structure, as well as mixed-use commercial and multi-family buildings with nearby parking lots and business, auditorium, and fitness amenities.

Algonac Community Schools sold the 67,000-square-foot school for $202,500 in 2015 to a private owner, who sought to donate the building to Woodside Bible Church for a community center. Those plans created controversy and pushback from residents for months until the owner donated the property to the National Christian Foundation to handle the sale of the property instead.

By 2020, the foundation hadn’t identified final plans for the site. As of Tuesday, which marked five years since the site’s transfer to the charity, representatives couldn’t be reached for comment.

Previously, a foundation spokesperson said they planned to evaluate potential buyers. Proceeds from the sale would go to the NCF’s Giving Funds.

In a memo to council this month on the overlay district, City Manager Denice Gerstenberg said “many parties have been interested” in the property but that none have committed.

In addition to a community center or facility with Woodside, previous uses identified in past discussions by officials included senior housing.

Contact Jackie Smith at 810-989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Algonac officials renew focus on vacant school with zoning change