ROGERS CITY — The Rogers City Community Development Authority has changed its name.

The organization voted Wednesday at their regular meeting to change its name back to the Downtown Development Authority.

City Manager Joe Hefele said it needs to change the name back to the DDA because of Michigan statute.

“The statute was created to overcome the phenomenon at the time that the downtowns were dying off and shopping malls were being created and strip malls and suburbia. So the state gave Michigan municipalities a tool to be able to prevent the erosion of downtowns. That was what (DDA) was primarily aimed to do,” Hefele said.

He said these downtowns are supposed to look like Rogers City with a historic commercial center with shared walls and living quarters above commercial space, and zero lot line where the buildings are right up to the sidewalk.

“Rogers City in the late ’90s said ‘We’re going to expand this we’re going out to Carmeuse, we’re going to these other neighborhoods and rename it the Community Development Authority.’ Every time I’m working with a grant agency and I say that name nobody knows what in the world it is,” Hefele said.

He said the name conflicts with the state statute.

Another reason the name needs to be changed is because City Attorney Mike Vogler was drawing up ballot language for local millages and ran into issues with the name.

“Back then it was done by simple motion,” he said. “The district has since been shrunk back up. It does include the highway and it does extend past Preston’s Motel. Truly for the most part it is our business community now,.”

Hefele said the vote was only to change the name, not to change the size of the district.

The board unanimously voted for the name change.

Jordan Spence can be reached via email at jspence@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5687.