Dillon town council has voted to redraw the boundaries of a downtown metro district, where Detroit developer Jake Porrit plans to build a parking structure, condos and more.
Council approved the updated metro district, 5-2, at the regular meeting on March 11.
This week’s vote was the final action by three recalled councilmembers: Renee Imamura, Dana Christiansen and John Woods. All three approved the district when it was first created. This decision, and the controversial development plans by Porritt’s group, JGJP Dillon, eventually led to the town’s historic first recall election on March 4. Residents accused those three of ignoring the public.
The recall was successful and three new members – Barb Richard, Linda Oliver and Josh Samuel – take office on March 25.
Richard admits even she was confused about the transfer of power, telling Krystal 93 she assumed it took effect immediately after the recall election. She and Oliver publicly opposed the metro district in the months before the recall, which they orchestrated with three others.
The metro district, dubbed Triveni Square, was created in 2023 by another split vote.
The newly redrawn district now includes several town-owned parking lots clustered around the Pug Ryan’s building and neighboring Payne building. Those two are key to Porritt’s vision for downtown, although he does not own either property.
This district is a public-private partnership, described as “a group of special taxing districts created to support redevelopment of Dillon’s town core area,” according to the district website. The district board of directors has been meeting at least twice a year since it was created and regularly fighting against claims made by district opponents, including