Gotion Inc. has asked a federal judge to order the Michigan township where it was supposed to call home to repay the roughly $23.7 million it owes the state in taxpayer-funded incentives.

A group of residents on Holland Road in Taylor, Michigan, say they are now doing everything they can to keep their neighborhood the way it is after some of them received a letter saying the city is considering rezoning their neighborhood. 

“People across the street from me could have warehouse front property instead of woods and nice residential homes,” said Matthew Streicher.

Streicher, whose family has owned property on Holland Road for more than 100 years, says that has been his concern after he received a letter from the city about a proposed rezoning from residential to light industrial directly behind his home near Wick and Holland roads. 

“So that’s when I also decided to start knocking on doors around here and saying this is what is going on, we need to speak out and have a voice as to what happens in our backyards, literally,” said Streicher.

Streicher told CBS News Detroit that three of his neighbors received that letter, informing residents that there’s a possibility of a new cold storage warehouse development if this land is rezoned.

“Nothing that belongs in a neighborhood,” said Tim Adkins.

“Heartbreaking, heartbreaking, you know,” said Denise Haggadone.

Many who live on Holland Road say this possibility is even more disturbing because of how long everyone has lived on this quaint road. And these same homeowners say that an industrial facility would only bring in more traffic and take away natural green space, most likely hurting their property value as well.

“It’s nice to see the wildlife, you know, there’s so few places left,” said Adkins.

On Tuesday, CBS News Detroit spoke off-camera with City Council Chairman Charley Johnson, who also lives on Holland Road. Johnson says he understands all of his neighbors’ concerns and agrees with them. 

He says the company proposing this rezoning has every right to do so, and that the planning commission will vote on it Wednesday evening. 

“It’s sad, I raised my kid here, and he’s planning on having this home after I pass or retire or what have you,” Haggadone said,  

The residents hope to see a big turnout at Wednesday’s planning commission meeting at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 3, at Taylor City Hall. 

The Sterling Heights City Council is set to consider a resolution Tuesday evening opposing tax policy bills in Lansing that one councilmember contends put every municipality “at risk.”

The Michigan House voted in May to pass several bills that would slash property taxes across the state, but skipped a vote on a bill needed to replace some of the more than $5 billion in lost tax revenue.

At its Tuesday evening meeting, Sterling Heights City Council is slated to consider the adoption of a resolution opposing Michigan House Bills 5872 through 5879 due to “their potential negative impact on local government revenue, financial planning, and administrative operations,” a city document said. Sterling Heights City Manager Mark Vanderpool said the city would lose about $5 million in annual revenue from the bills. He said there’s no “guaranteed replacement” for the lost revenue, and the city would need to cut services, he said.

“So we’re deeply concerned about that,” he said.

The House’s sweeping tax cuts can’t be implemented without the passage of a separate bill levying a loosely defined 6% sales tax on services that has yet to be revealed. Republicans who control the House did not hold a vote on the sales tax hike bill, which remains in committee.

All combined, the four property tax cuts passed by the House are estimated to result in a tax revenue loss that could progress from $5.5 billion to $7.5 billion a year, according to a series of nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency analyses. 

Vanderpool, the Sterling Heights city manager, said he wants the state Legislature to work “hand in hand” with cities, townships and villages to come up with a solution for “guaranteed revenue replacement.”

“We are more than willing ― I think our reputation precedes us ― to work with our state legislators hand in hand to come up with viable solutions that … may reform property taxes without harming communities across the state,” he said.

Sterling Heights Councilwoman Barbara Ziarko said the legislation reduces the city’s revenue without a guarantee of what it will be replaced with. She said that in the future, the legislation could prevent the city from maintaining positions that it has promised residents it would maintain, including public safety roles.