Council Member Lashes Out at Residents: You’re “Afraid of Tall Buildings….”

by P.D. Lesko

At the Jan. 5, 2015 Council meeting, speakers at two public hearings urged officials to lower the maximum height in a zoning change proposed by city staff to accommodate a property owner whose 1.6 acre parcel borders a residential neighborhood on Fourth Ave. between William and Packard.  

AT THE JAN. 5 meeting of Ann Arbor City Council, members of the public used a pair of public hearings to urge Council to think carefully before making a one-off zoning change to accommodate a property owner. Citizens who spoke at two public hearings said that the zoning change, which was ultimately approved, would impact the look and feel of Main Street. Speakers also pointed out that the parcel in question adjoins a near downtown residential neighborhood on Fourth Avenue, between William and Packard.

In response to the speakers, during discussion of the proposed zoning ordinances, Council member Julie Grand (D-Ward 3) said that rather than listen to individuals who spoke at the two public hearings, she felt it necessary to consider the opinions of members of the public who had not spoken at the public hearings. Grand, in her third month in office, went on to say that public hearing speakers who’d raised questions about the proposed zoning ordinance changes were “afraid of tall buildings.”

When asked if she stood by her statement or wished to expand on it, Grand did not comment.

Ted Annis is the retired founder of NanoBio, and the founder of SupplyTech, an electronic data interchange firm acquired by Harbinger in 1997. A resident of a 122-foot highrise on Main Street at the corner of William, he came out to City Council to speak about the two proposed zoning ordinances:

“An Ordinance to Amend Chapter 55 (Zoning), Section 5:10.20.A Downtown Character Overlay Zoning Districts Building Massing Standards.”

“An Ordinance to Amend Chapter 55 (Zoning), Rezoning of 1.1 Acres from D1 (Downtown Core Base District) to D2 (Downtown Interface Base District), 425 South Main Street City-Initiated Rezoning, 425 South Main Street.”

When asked about Grand’s comments, Annis said in an email message: Grand’s “flip, snotty comment indicates her contempt for the public and the public process.  Shades of Lowenstein and Greden.”

“Lowenstein” is former Ward 2 Council member and current DDA Board member Joan Lowenstein.

In April of 2010, when Lowenstein spoke in support of a development project, she stepped forward to urge City Council members not to give in to the 5th Ward “sulkers.” In Dec. 2011, Lowenstein published an opinion piece in  The Ann magazine in which she lambasted Ann Arbor voters as old, stingy and Republican

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In July 2014, Lowenstein wrote another opinion piece in which the DDA Board member described multiple candidates running in the City Council primary election as “prissy”; she touted an anti-choice, anti-marriage equality candidate.

On her campaign Facebook page, Grand called that opinion piece “some thoughtful analysis.” Lowenstein donated to both of Julie Grand’s City Council campaigns.

“Greden” is former Ward 3 Council Leigh Greden. Greden lost his seat thanks to a 2009 email scandal which triggered an Open Meetings Act violation lawsuit that Ann Arbor City Attorney Postema settled.

Greden hoisted his own petard when damaging emails he’d sent during open meetings were made public by the former Ann Arbor News in July 2009. Those emails included one in which Greden wrote to his colleagues (including the city’s present mayor): “I focus on money and buildings. You guys can wear bandanas made from hemp and sandals with socks while you make Ann Arbor a nuclear free zone!”

In her 2013 run for City Council, for a short time Julie Grand listed Leigh Greden as an endorser, but later removed his name from a list posted to her campaign website.

No Plans Yet

The owner of the rezoned 425 South Main said he has no immediate plans to redevelop the property, but asked for the parcel to be rezoned to allow for taller, denser development. The parcel backs up to a near-downtown neighborhood and those who spoke at the Jan. 5 public hearings said they are concerned about what they perceive as a lack of sound judgement on the part of political appointees to the Planning Commission, closed door decision-making, as well as Council members who are pushing height and density regardless of the impact on near downtown homeowners and renters.

Council members, including Julie Grand and Kirk Westphal (D-Ward 2) countered that there had been a robust public process and large sums spent on consultants.

In June 2014,  City Council mulled over a proposal to rezone the parcel located at 425 South Main Street (where the DTE building sits) to establish a 100-foot height limit. Council members gave initial approval, but amended the height limit to 60 feet. The property owner submitted a letter to the city on June 25 in which he objected.

In Nov. 2014, three new Council members, all of whom favor dense development and taller height limits on downtown buildings, took office: Kirk Westphal, Julie Grand and Graydon Krapohl (D-Ward 4). Shortly thereafter, city staff initiated a proposal to double the maximum building height limit for the 425 South Main Street parcel from 60 to 120 feet.

 

Ongoing Debate

The Jan. 5, 2015 zoning ordinance public hearings struck at the heart of what has been an ongoing debate about the character of downtown Ann Arbor and whether buildings as tall as 180 feet should be allowed to over-shadow nearby neighborhoods.

It has been a bitter battle. Last summer angry residents booed, hissed and yelled “Shame on you!” at Council members who’d voted in favor of a highrise project currently under construction at 413 E. Huron Street, between Division and State Streets.

In May 2014, Council members grappled with a proposal from a developer to build a 14 story apartment building on that Huron Street parcel. Residents, including Ray Detter, Chair of the Downtown Citizens Advisory Commission, whose members had openly supported similar developments elsewhere, turned out to public hearings and urged Council to reject the project. Critics, including Detter, said it would over-shadow their historic neighborhood to the north.

The 413 E. Huron public hearings were preceded by months of intense back-channel lobbying of mayor and Council members by Detter and others, resident protests, public debate and, at times, raucous public hearings. Council members’ failure to stop the project—several of whom said they didn’t want to approve—fueled debate about the city’s downtown development and whether such decisions were being made in the best interest of developers or the city’s residents.

While still a member of the city’s Planning Commission, Council member Westphal was a staunch supporter of the controversial 413 E. Huron development. Similarly, Westphal argued in favor of the 425 South Main Street zoning ordinance changes.

At one point, Westphal argued that City Council was duty-bound to follow the recommendations of the mayoral appointees on the Planning Commission, as well as the advice of consultants who had worked on the city-initiated zoning ordinance amendments.

Council member Jack Eaton (D-Ward 4) disagreed.

“It don’t have any problem disregarding the advice of the Planning Commission,” Eaton shot back.

While running for office in 2013, Eaton repeatedly said that advice offered to City Council from political appointees was just that, advice. Eaton, an attorney, also said that he considered advice from the City Attorney just that—advice.

It was, in fact, advice from City Attorney Stephen Postema that several Council members hinted had frightened them into voting in favor of the 413 E. Huron proposal. Council members repeatedly said that failure to approve the 413 E. Huron project could result in legal action against the city and that the developer would win any lawsuit.

At one of the 413 E. Huron Public Hearings, Ann Arbor resident Peter Nagourney chided council members: “Why does Ann Arbor pay over $400,000 annually for insurance premiums, but it’s reluctant to face down a developer with only threats but not case law on its side? How did Ann Arbor let an out-of-state developer outsmart us if no one on council wanted this project to go forward?”

Unlike the 413 E. Huron project, which was proposed by a developer,  the 425 South Main Street zoning ordinance change was city-initiated. It was, however, in response to the property owner’s desire to raise the height limits placed on buildings which may be built on the parcel. Higher height limits make a property more valuable.

During debate at the Jan. 5 meeting, Council member Jane Lumm (I-Ward 2) said: “We do not want to repeat the mistake of 413 East Huron, creating a massive building that overwhelms the residential neighborhoods next to it.”

Council member Stephen Kunselman (D-Ward 3), who voted against the 413 E. Huron proposal but in favor of the amended zoning ordinance on Jan. 5 said: “Height limits create blocky buildings. I want to see something different, something more palatable to this community.”