Benton Harbor City Commissioners have voted to partially lift a moratorium on the sale of city owned parcels so the owners of properties adjacent to city-owned lots can move to purchase them.

At a meeting this week, Mayor Pro Tem Shaquille Turner proposed the move. City attorney Sara Senica said lifting the moratorium doesn’t mean residents seeking to purchase parcels will automatically be able to do so.

“It would have to be on a case by case basis, no matter what,” Senica said. “Even if you vote to lift the moratorium generally, each individual property owner is going to have to come back to you and make the case, if you want to call it that, to buy the lot next to them.”

Senica said the city also needs a policy to determine the process and prices, and commissioners would need to approve each sale. Turner said Benton Harbor should look to the example of Detroit for positive uses of these excess parcels.

“They did it, and so can Benton Harbor. We’ve got to stop thinking small. Think big.”

Commissioner Sharon Henderson said the city already has an adjacent lot sale program, but commissioners still voted to lift the moratorium.

Mayor Marcus Muhammad said he’ll look further into complaints from Turner that the city manager recently sold a parcel without commission approval once the manager is available to explain. The city manager was not present at Monday’s meeting.