Rebuilding Oakland County from the Ground Up: The Oakland Brownfield Initiative

By Barbara Merryfield
Marketing Intern

Communities across Oakland County are rediscovering parcels of land once thought lost to environmental contamination, with assistance from the Oakland Brownfield Initiative. 

Southeast Michigan’s long manufacturing history has left  several brownfield sites in Oakland County.  A brownfield is an abandoned or underused site where hazardous waste complicates a redevelopment process, by adding cost, time and uncertainty to the project. 

More than just artifacts of a by gone era, these sites impede economic growth and compromise a community’s natural resources. For mature communities, brownfield redevelopment is a viable tool in economic revitalization.  By using vacant land a community can attract new business while preserving untouched land. 

“The brownfield program is a great economic tool,” said Bradley Hansen, Oakland County Environmental Program Coordinator.  “It allows for contaminated and underdeveloped land to be placed back on the tax rolls and to create new jobs.”

Oakland Brownfield Initiative and its administrative branch, the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority, which was established in 2001 to aid in obtaining Brownfield incentives from both Federal and State agencies, and to assist communities and developers identify, clean up and redevelop contaminated land.

The Oakland Brownfield Initiative provides support by:

• Offering Educational workshops
• Facilitating application process
• Disbursing Assessment grants
• Providing access to tax credits
• Assisting with Tax Increment Financing (TIF) – a form of financing where the difference between pre-development and post-development property tax, known as the tax increment, are used to repay the cost of redeveloping a contaminated site. 

 To date, the program has assisted 40 projects by awarding over $350,000 in grant money and providing access to over $11 million in TIF dollars.
 
For almost two decades, an empty lot stood on Pontiac Trail in Wixom; once home to a railway line and a gas station, the land was unsuitable for redevelopment due to petroleum contamination. After contacting Oakland County, the developer was able to secure over $500,000 for site clean up.  Today, the property is an impressive 17,000 square-foot shopping facility included in Wixom's new downtown district.

Oakland County’s Waste Resource Management is a division of Oakland County Economic Development & Community Affairs. This division facilitates the Oakland County Solid Waste Plan and coordinates programs that support the environment, local municipalities, residents and businesses.

For More information about this program, contact Oakland County Environmental Program Coordinator,  Bradley Hansen   at 248- 858-8073.