DOWAGIAC — As the city of Dowagiac continues to pursue a Redevelopment Ready Communities certification from Michigan Economic Development Corporation, another box is waiting to be checked off.

At the planning commission meeting on Monday, the board unanimously passed a resolution to set a public hearing on the city’s community engagement statement presented to the commission by Assistant City Manager Natalie Dean.

The community engagement statement outlines the city’s objectives, key stakeholders, state and local regulations, processes for development, methods for community participation, open meetings procedures and development review bodies.

“I always thought RCC was a good program because it puts your ducks in a row,” Dean said. “Now the RCC and the MEDC have said, ‘If you want to be considered for money in the future, then you are going to become engaged in this program and become certified.’”

Dean said almost every community in Michigan by now has jumped to become RCC certified because of its benefits.

“Aside from needing and getting grant money, I do stand by the program,” Dean said. “Especially for the planning commission, because RCC has to do with a lot of what you do.”

Redevelopment Ready Communities is a statewide certification program created to help promote redevelopment strategies through sets of best practices. The program also measures a community’s transparency, predictability and efficiency into their daily development practices.

Next, the planning commission will need to work on an economic development marketing strategy, a downtown plan and corridor planning before it can become certified.

The community engagement statement will move on to the city council for approval.

Also on Monday:

• The planning commission approved zoning ordinance changes suggested by Dean at the commission’s previous meeting. Upper floor residential will change to a permitted use in the C-2 and C-3 districts. An update will also be made to include modular housing as a permitted use in all residential districts. Lastly, breweries, distilleries and wineries will be added to the zoning ordinance under industrial use if they require extensive producing facilities. Tap houses, micro-distilleries and micro-wineries will be added under commercial use in C-1, C-2 and C-3 districts.

• City Manager Kevin Anderson said the city has been working with the Dowagiac District Library on the site plan previously approved. The city is speaking with the Library about sharing parking spaces where the city currently has a parking lot. Anderson said this would help open up green areas surrounding a possible concert pavilion to be used for the city’s Thursday night concert series and other library activities. Anderson said the city would see a revised plan coming to the commission within the next couple of months.

“I think it looks like it’s going to have some really positive benefits,” Anderson said. “Sharing some parking with the city gets some folks closer to the door than where [they] would be by extending further into the green space.”