Romeo school board has plans to sell vacant land - with potential for housing or green space

Romeo school board weighing new uses for vacant land

Historic land in the village of Romeo is sitting unused and just waiting for someone to turn it into something. There are two competing visions for the vacant land: turn it into housing or leave it as green space.

ROMEO, Mich. (FOX 2) - Residents of Romeo are asking themselves what they should do about four acres of vacant land sitting in the middle of their village.

Two competing visions of turning the land either into housing or green space are being considered as the school board considers how to best use the space.

Big picture view:

On Monday, the Romeo School Board took up the issue of what to do with four acres of historic land that was once the home of an old middle school.

The building was torn down and what remains is a large plot of vacant grass and only trees dotting its surface. 

The school board owns the land and wants to sell it. And two schools of thought are informing the debate around the property: sell it to a developer to turn it into homes, or convert it into productive green space.

Both bring benefits, but only one comes with a bigger price tag for the community.

Dig deeper:

The school that was once on the property carried the name of a man with the last name Dickinson, a reference to the famous author from the 19th century.

"In case you were wondering he is related to Emily Dickinson. They were second cousins," said Emily Malek, a community archivist.

Vacant since 2020, the school board sees fit to sell the historic property in hopes it can become something more productive. Some see the potential for 16 new properties, expanding the tax base of the community and maybe increase the number of pupils attending the local school. 

But others argue green space is a better use of the available land.

"Green spaces are vital to people‘s mental and physical health," said Elizabeth Miller of Romeo.

Miller has advocated for green space for years, even starting a nonprofit called Green Space on Prospect Street to preserve the land. Her group argues it's not just an individual's health that will improve either.

It may even raise the value of the surrounding property.

Local perspective:

Miller's nonprofit put in a bid for $525,000 - which wasn't as much as the bid that a developer put in following a request for proposal that went out as the community sought ideas for what to do with the land.

The one bid that came back offered to buy the land for $857,000.

Advocates argue that building new homes may not raise the tax base.

"They could also lose money too," Franco Folino said. "I have four kids in the school district. We can go somewhere else."

Even if the land sale is approved, building on the land would still require permission from the local municipality.