Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


A potential land sale has been put on hold in the Village of Pinckney.

Superior Fine Furnishings, LLC is looking to purchase roughly six acres of vacant Village property for $25,000 – which would be split off from 1600 Patterson Lake Road.

A letter to Council from President Jeff Buerman states:

“We need to evaluate this proposal based on its total long-term benefit—not only the initial selling price. This vacant property currently produces no property-tax revenue for the Village. If we leave it undeveloped, that does not change. The Village will continue receiving nothing from it. Selling the property would provide $25,000 in immediate revenue. More importantly, the developer expects each of the three new homes to sell for approximately $375,000 to $425,000”.
Buerman told WHMI “I view this as a long-term investment in the Village. The proposal contemplates three homes. My recommendation is that any approval require all three homes to be completed within six months after closing, with enforceable protections for the Village if that commitment is not met”.

Meanwhile, correspondence to Council from former President Linda Lavey – who is running against Buerman this November – alleges the $25,000 sale price would be roughly 10% of its market value. She said some quick research showed the estimated average price for a 6-acre plot of land should be around $464,000.

Buerman reported during Monday night’s Council meeting that it came to their attention the site was cleaned up back in 2002 and the state of Michigan put a lien on the property. He said past president Rebecca Foster called to inform him of the lien. Buerman said they’ll need to do some investigation, noting the attorney is currently on vacation, but he’s glad they found it now before moving forward and appreciated Foster reaching out.

One member commented that if they do eventually decide to move forward with the sale, they should put it back out to bid for an extended period of time. He said looking at comments on social media, they need to give more time to prepare a proper proposal - noting the bid that was submitted had about a quarter of the requested information.

Council ultimately voted to table the sale.

The communications from Buerman and Lavey, along with more information, are available in the Council meeting packet.

That link is provided.