By a vote of 7-1, the rest of the commissioners agreed.Several commissioners made strong and cogent comments about the many problems with the project, but it was also clear that 3 Oaks' calculation in recruiting Avalon Housing as a partner paid off - several others quoted the developers' sales pitch word for word.
Derezinski in particular seems to be hoping the developers can use the time to fill out their "vision" for the neighboring properties - persuading the city to buy and remove the three houses on their own site as well as the Summit Party Store. Since the city, not the developers, would have to put up the money and create the park, it's hard to imagine how this could count as a benefit provided by the project.
At this point, however, the neighbors are essentially shut out of what's become a private negotiation between the developers and the Planning Commission. Planning staff has even refused to release the letter they sent to the developers following the May 5 meeting.
Hopefully, we'll at least have a chance to make these and other points in writing before the project returns to Planning Commission on Tuesday, June 16.
So the City is supposed to act as a guarantee on the developer's investment? Looks to me like the City would be providing the only net benefit from this project, and that benefit is outweighed by the negative impact on the neighborhood. Is this really how Ann Arbor should spend our tax dollars?
ReplyDeleteAccording to the developers' website, they'd sell the unbuildable lots to the city at "market" rates. I'm betting they actually mean their own "top of the bubble" price. The true market value is far less than they paid for the property.
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