Flint Township View

City awards Woodland Ponds property to low bidder

High bidder voices dissent with decision



FLUSHING — A large parcel of vacant city-owned land is now on its way to being sold and utilized as a single-family residence.

On Dec. 13, Flushing City Council voted unanimously to award the Woodland Ponds property to Dr. Mazen Najjar and Hana Sankari for the price of $85,000.

Woodland Ponds, an 18-acre parcel located on the city’s northeast side near Coutant Street and Sunnyside Drive, was listed for sale in October at an initial listing price of $89,500. Three offers were made for the property, including Najjar and Sankari’s bid (the low bid); an $87,000 bid from John Davidek; and a $90,000 bid from Sam and Gywn Dyka.

The city’s bid awarding decision, however, has not been well-received by Sam Dyka, a 20-year Flushing Township resident who made the high bid on the property in early December.

In an interview with “The Flushing View,” Dyka described the bidding process as “shady” and “underhanded” and said that he plans to pursue legal action against the city.

“This was a cash deal, not subject to financing, and I had the high bid,” he said. “How can the city just funnel this property to whoever they want to give it to, when I was the high bidder? It doesn’t make sense to me that the city would turn down money and award the property to someone who had a lower bid. This was not handled appropriately.”

Dyka, who was unable to attend the Dec. 13 meeting, said that he was planning to build a house and a pole barn on the property had he been awarded the bid.

In a statement to “The Flushing View,” city administration defended the bid process, saying that “the Flushing City council, its administration and legal counsel (city attorney) stands behind its Dec. 13, 2021 decision made on the record at the council meeting.”

Sankari, the winning bidder, told the city council on Dec. 13 that her family is planning to build a home on the Woodland Ponds property—across from where her mother lives in the subdivision on Woodland Ponds Drive. Sankari said that her family originally tried to buy the property in 2014 after her father died but couldn’t secure a purchase from the city.

“After my father passed away, I made an offer in 2014,” she said. “The city said that we had to make a larger offer. After that time, they said the property was off the market. So literally, I’ve been planning to build a house there for seven years now.”

Mayor Pro Tem Edward Sullivan, who made the motion to award the bid to Sankari, said that Sankari and her family approached the city this year to see if they could purchase the property—which at the time was off the market.

“I do think that the people who started this whole process…deserve some consideration,” he said. “They came to us first and said they wanted to build their house there because their mom lives close by. That was the impetus for us to even look at selling (the property).”

Prior to being put back on the market, Woodland Ponds was the focus of intense controversy for several years after locals voiced opposition to the city’s vision plan for the property. At the time, many residents accused the city and the Neighborhood Improvement Authority (NIA) exploratory committee of trying to develop a large-scale housing project on the property—a claim that was denied by then-City Manager Brad Barrett and the city council.

Both the NIA and a special tax district encompassing the Woodland Ponds area were later dissolved by the city.

As part of its recent marketing process for Woodland Ponds, the city included a deed restriction on the property that will limit development to “one place of residence” and “one accessory building.”

In a letter to the city, former Flushing City Councilman George Gray stated his opposition to the deed restriction on Woodland Ponds, saying that it would limit property tax revenue. He also criticized the city for not listing a higher bid price.

“The City has an obligation to taxpayers under appraisal standards to put city property to its highest and best use,” Gray said. “Besides being marketed for only 16 days, the property was priced far lower than comparable land in Flushing at only $4,600 per acre. Nearby properties of comparable size are priced from $7,200 to $17,500 per acre.”

Flushing Mayor Joseph Karlichek responded to Gray’s letter by saying that the city is following the wishes of residents who don’t want to see large-scale development on the Woodland Ponds property.

“In a recent survey conducted by our city Planning Commission (in the redevelopment of the City’s Master Plan), citizens overwhelmingly made it clear: no large development,” Karlichek said. “Second, the council, since June 2021, made it clear and widely known, the land known as Woodland Ponds and various other properties of the city, were placed on the market and done so in a manner consistent with the city charter and the values of this council and administration.”

Several city council members, including Sullivan and Councilman Dan Fralick, expressed some reservations about the deed restriction but said that the city needed to accept one of the three offers at the Dec. 13 meeting.

“Is selling that property and limiting it to a single-family home the best use of Woodland Ponds? In my opinion, no,” said Sullivan. “I would love to see it turned into an area where people can walk, bike and fish and have access to it at every time. But the only opinions that carry weight in this matter are the opinions of the residents who live near there.

“That leaves us with a choice,” Sullivan continued. “Do we cling to our opinions because we know better than our residents that elected us, or do we find a fiscally responsible compromise?”

The city council will consider adopting a resolution to complete the sale of the Woodland Ponds property at its Jan. 10 meeting.