Options Considered for City-Owned Property on Rensselaer in Farmington Hills

A new idea for a portion of city-owned property on Rensselaer in Farmington Hills has some neighbors up in arms. 

Chris Wright, who was invited to a meeting earlier this month about , proposes an "urban style mushroom farm" on the property's southern-most lot. Wright told city council members Monday that the mushrooms would grown on logs. 

A mycologist, Wright owns Easygrow Mushrooms, a company that distributes indoor and outdoor mushroom growing kits. He is a doctoral candidate at Michigan State University and presents workshops on growing mushrooms. 

He said local residents could be hired to run the farm, which could supply local restaurants with fresh mushrooms. Money that's generated could be put back into the neighborhood, perhaps to help fund a community garden. Wright believes the project could become a model for other cities. 

"I think it's something that could invigorate the local community, because that area is somewhat economically depressed," he said.

But while some neighbors did seem invigorated Monday night, it wasn't in favor of the project. 

Jeff Bunker, who lives on Ontaga St. and supported the proposed home building project, said he is "wholeheartedly not in favor of having a commercial composting operation" on the property. "I don't want a backyard full of mushrooms," he said. 

Bunker and his neighbor Marilyn Holt both expressed concerns about the possibility of extensive composting and use of fungicides on the site. Wright said his proposal calls for neither of those things. 

"The mushrooms that I propose to grow would grown on logs, there would be no composting whatsoever," he said. "Spraying fungicides would be counter to the operation."

City manager Steve Brock stressed that the city has not made a commitment to the project. He said the proposed sale of a lot to the LifeRemodeled home building organization would be on the council's April 9 agenda, and two other lots had been identified as potential community garden sites, although "there's still a lot of detail to be worked out."