While attempting to put the HBA in its place during HBA’s October 2018 appearance at Call-to-the-Public, an elite spokesperson for the Township stated we at the HBA were “clueless’ regarding Menards. Now that the dust has settled, Menards is fully established in Wixom, and Ramco is exploring conversion of the previously-proposed Menards site to apartments – it would seem time to reflect on the entire episode.
Disinformation by the Township. Unwilling to admit that the Township drove Menards away, some members of the Township Board actually commented that “they never really wanted to come to Hartland!” We do know that Menards tried for over 8 years to come to Hartland, first on the Walden property (where it physically could not be done), and then on the Ramco property. Any company that tries for that long to come to Hartland was seriously interested. We don’t know any other company that has tried for such a long period to come to Hartland – before abandoning further efforts and going elsewhere. It is an interesting question why the Township is lying about this matter – unless they are just a bit embarrassed.
Burdensome Requirements. The imposition of additional requirements/restrictions not required for Health or Safety or Welfare are often perceived as detrimental to a business’s operating plan, especially; sometimes the result is to limit critical marketing requirements. Other times the result is to impose costly operating practices or restrictions, or to reduce flexibility. When such requirements are imposed, a strong message is delivered about whether or not the business is welcome. In some cases, this may not be the message intended; unfortunately, that clearly was the message heard and acted upon by Menards. This is not speculation by the HBA, but rather words directly from the Menard’s spokesperson – back in 2012 when Menards had just pulled out:
“We had wanted to build a store for many years in Hartland Township but were unable to come to an agreement with the Township Fathers about the site plan and fancy aesthetic improvements they were demanding that would have cost us huge dollars up front and more dollars down the road to maintain,” Abbott wrote in an email. “It’s disappointing because we felt that we gave it an honest effort but there were just too many obstacles.” “Abbott said that the company decided to terminate the contract on Hartland Township land and have decided to build new stores in Port Huron Township, Chesterfield Township and the City of Livonia.” (Thanks to the Hartland Patch)
Lack of Concern by the Township for Developer’s Success/Survival. Ramco agreed to huge upfront costs such as for widening of M59, relocation of Hartland Road, infrastructure investment, and subscription for sewer and water taps. And then the recession commenced in 2008, Ramco had an uphill battle even if Hartland had been cooperative regarding Menards. The carrying costs on millions of dollars of loans and special assessments had to be astronomical – and for many years all they had was Meijers, and later a tiny Taco Bell to help pay the bills. But costs continued. Finally, Ramco believed it had a breakthrough that would save the day – Menards. From all appearances, the Township was of no help. They didn’t want Menards – Fountain and Fox were overheard saying Menards was really not retail, but light industrial. One small problem – they are a retail store. They didn’t like the concept of outdoor lumber storage, of course a natural consequence of their phobia against any type of outdoor storage. They wouldn’t let Menards have a rooftop level sign that could be seen from the expressway. The Township never ran out of new requirements. If you can believe it, right now reports indicate that the Township is telling Ramco it cannot proceed with further development unless they agree to take on all maintenance of Hartland Road, a public road that Ramco was forced to relocate. So more expense previously paid by government is shifted to Ramco, making that project even less likely to prosper. Seemingly, the Township would seem to care less.
How do I know the Township has learned nothing? They are doing the same thing to Noble Appliance, and to Rural King which is attempting to sell the other half of their building to Noble. Did you know Hartland has a fully stocked appliance store – that is not allowed to open and which is being told that a COA is at least 6-12 months away?
The Real Losers Are… Unfortunately, chains of events like these have far reaching ramifications – the home improvement type of store may be one that will withstand “the Amazon Effect”; however, the opportunity to attract such a store likely will not come again. The raw power to regulate overcame allowing the owner/entrepreneurs to do their thing. The residents of Hartland will be the worse for it – long term. And if Ramco doesn’t end up making money – we may yet lose the entire shopping center. Quite apparently, our Township Board isn’t even interested in learning how to become “business friendly” – now that’s a bummer.