More Neighbors say No to NeNo

David Santacroce: Let me begin by being clear that I do not oppose the project based on the proposed demographics it will serve. I spend my days teaching at the University of Michigan Law School, where, with the aid of students, I represent low income people primarily in housing matters. They, like all Ann Arbor citizens, deserve affordable housing in all parts of Ann Arbor. My opposition to the project is simply based on its size. As a matter of aesthetics, a building of the size and character proposed belongs downtown, not in a residential neighborhood.
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Rachael Seidler: I urge you to hold to the Central Area Plan’s commitment to protect, preserve, and enhance near-downtown neighborhoods by disallowing this project. The proposed scale and design would simply overpower the street and neighboring houses. This is a clear example of developers trying to recover from a bad investment - they admit that they can’t make money on any project that complies with the site’s zoning. Bailing them out would clearly come at the expense of this lovely, diverse, and friendly neighborhood.
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Ovide Pomerleau: The local residents and our neighborhood association have made repeated attempts to work constructively with the developers to re-scale their proposal to protect the residential character of the area as well as to be in conformity with Ann Arbor's development and zoning regulations. To date, despite numerous entreaties in well attended community meetings, the developers have ignored our suggestions and have chosen, instead, to submit a proposal that only minimally addresses the neighborhood's concerns.
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Julie Pomerleau: I am a resident of Chicago, but a frequent visitor to the neighborhood, where my parents have been living for the last several years. . . . I have been impressed most of all by the quality of this closeknit, multi-generational and diverse neighborhood. I would hope that any plan for development takes the special character of this neighborhood into careful consideration.
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John Hilton: Near North would demolish five . . . homes and replace them with a five-story, institutionally styled apartment building. Such a building would instantly and permanently reset the block’s “scale and character” to its own downtown scale. Once it’s built, it will be the houses that are “out of scale and character.” And the City would have accepted a precedent that would encourage similar developments all the way south to Kingsley.
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Share your own comments with the City Planning Commission and Staff by mail (PO Box 8647, 100 N Fifth Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48107-8647), or by email to planner Matt Kowalski. We'd appreciate a copy by mail (608 N. Main St., Ann Arbor, 48104), or by email to John Hilton.

Find Us on Facebook

It's true--the old folks really are taking over Facebook. Visit and join our Facebook group, "No Giant PUD."

Blaming the Victim

“these properties are unkempt and frayed . . . in poor physical condition . . . . This area of North Main has become increasingly blighted over the past 30 years…"

That's how the developers describe the neighborhood they want to destroy to build Near North. You'd never guess that the "blighted" buildings belong to the developers themselves.

I know that Mr. and Mrs. Cannon, who owned the house behind me on Main when I moved here, would have been angry to hear the developers suggest they neglected their carefully-tended home. So would Nina Gelman, who remodeled both the Cannons' house and the one next door to the north, and Joyce and her husband, whose home to the south I could only envy--it was better built and better kept than my own house on Fourth.

As a neighbor, I saw only positive changes for the first twenty-five years I lived next to this block of Main Street. In addition to many instances of good stewardship and remodeling, I saw several dramatic improvements: a historic home from Lower Town was towed down Beakes Street to replace an abandoned gas station, and a battered shelter beside North Main Park returned to single-family use.

Social services also found a permanent place: it was during this same period that Avalon Housing bought two houses on the block. Today Avalon operates one as "supportive housing" and rents the other to Dawn Farm.

So where's the "blight"? Unfortunately, it's all to easy to find: five years ago, the 3 Oaks Group bought the houses at the north end of this block on speculation, with the intention of demolishing them. They have since chosen to let most of the houses go vacant. Last year, they boarded up three of them.

In their presentations, the developers always point out that drivers arriving on North Main Street get a bad first impression of Ann Arbor. Well--no kidding. Their own boarded-up houses and the party store next door (which belongs to their prospective tenant) do indeed give a bad impression. But it's one that's entirely within the developers' control.

If the developers really cared about the city's image, they could improve it overnight by repairing these houses and allowing people to live in them again. Evidently they feel they've got more to gain by creating the false image of a "blighted" neighborhood.

To Be Continued . . .

Thanks to everyone who spoke at the Planning Commission public hearing on Tuesday. We were able to cover many of the key issues, and I'm hopeful the commissioners gained a better understanding of the project's history and just how comprehensively it violates the city's zoning and planning.

A special word of thanks to Michael Brinkman for finding the metaphor that caught the ear of the Ann Arbor News: Near North really would be "a whale in a swimming pool."

As usual, the pro-NeNo position boiled down to "anything for Avalon." While that's a good policy for us as individuals when it comes to contributing time and money, it's a terrible basis for a Planning decision of this magnitude.

3 Oaks recruited Avalon as a partner only after their own City Hall-sized condo project, the Terraces on Main, was laughed out of City Hall. They figured out that telling the City "We want to build affordable housing" would get them more sympathy than saying "We spent too much."

They figured correctly, as we saw at the public hearing. But violating planning and zoning is never a one-time thing. The precedent created by Near North would effectively move the boundary of Downtown. And if Downtown doesn't stop at Kingsley, where does it stop?

Near North will be back on the Planning Commission agenda for discussion and action on Tuesday, May 5. We're sorry to lose the momentum gained during the public hearing, but are hopeful that time is on our side. Because the longer you look at NeNo, the worse it looks.

Planning Staff says No to NeNo

The City's Planning Staff issued their report on the Near North project Friday. They are recommending that Planning Commission DENY the Near North PUD and site plan.

The full report is available in the planning packet for Tuesday's Planning Commission meeting, but here's the key paragraph:

"The length of the proposed building (210 feet), its height (ranging from 30 to 50 feet), and overall massing are inconsistent with the goals of the Central Area Plan (CAP) regarding neighborhood preservation, infill development, out of scale construction, and historic preservation. The proposed PUD zoning significantly exceeds the area, height, and placement standards of the comparable R4C zoning district in this neighborhood. Furthermore, the public benefits provided by the project are not substantial enough to justify the resulting impacts on an intact, traditional neighborhood and streetscape."

"I know there is a long way to go," says NCPOA president Tom Fitzsimmons. "But Round One goes to the neighborhood (or is at Round Three, counting the developers' earlier plans since 2004?)."

The next round will be at the Planning Commission Public Hearing on Tuesday, April 21.

Petitions Oppose NeNo

Volunteers from NCPOA are circulating petitions opposing the Near North development.

Since defeating a destructive urban renewal plan fifty years ago, we have worked to improve our neighborhood. As YIMBYs, we've welcomed thirty-seven new homes, condos, and apartments since I joined the group in 1981. In recent years, we've seen more families choose to raise their children here.

But five years ago, at the height of the real estate bubble, a group of novice developers paid too much for a row of homes along North Main Street. Now they're going to lose a ton of money--unless they can get the city to approve a supersized building there.

NeNo is the third plan they've presented for this site. And like the Terraces on Main and "NoMa," it violates almost every aspect of the city's plans and zoning for this block. The only difference is that this time, the developers have cut a deal with Avalon Housing to make it affordable housing.

That's an important goal, and one that we support. But it shouldn't trump the city's entire planning and zoning process--and that's exactly what the developers are trying to do.

Five years ago, we told the developers that we would support tripling the density on this site. They never replied--but we still would support such a project for Avalon. To get there, though, we first have to stop this cynical and the destructive plan. To sign the petition, or to help circulate it, please email John Hilton or Tom Fitzsimmons.

More Letters to City Hall

John Beranek: I moved into the North Central neighborhood 17 years ago, as a young, single professional, renting half of a house. Nine years later I bought a house on North Fourth Avenue. A few years later I met Karen, who also lived in the neighborhood. Karen and I have now turned that 100+ year old home into Michigan’s first (and the nation’s fifth) LEED Platinum certified house remodel. We both chose to stay and invest in North Central because of its unique position as a true pedestrian scale neighborhood with a sense of community that also provides great access to the Downtown Area. But we also chose it because it is not downtown Ann Arbor.
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Karen Park (to City Councilmember Sabra Briere): Soon after I moved here from the D.C. area in 2002 to work as a physician at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, I discovered the Farmer's Market and Kerrytown. I originally lived in what is/was called a "Doctor's ghetto" subdivision over by King Elementary. I did not have any sense of neighborhood there, everyone pretty much kept to themselves, driving their cars into their garages and going into their homes. When I was looking to move I knew I wanted to live in the district you represent.
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Gene and Nancy Eavy: We were surprised and greatly disappointed to see the plans that Three Oaks and Avalon shared with North Central residents at the community center earlier this year. . . . they completely disregarded the zoning restrictions within the area and suggestions from the residents to stay within scope and build homes that complement the existing housing in the neighborhood. Three Oaks stated that they needed to expand the size of the building in order to meet the return on investment for the property, as they were limited in their development options. Furthermore, Three Oaks openly shared that with Avalon’s backing and acceptance in the community as a capable property manager, they could finally recoup their investment.
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Kathleen Baxter: At first glance this proposal meets an important community goal - more supportive and low cost housing. Our community supports this goal, and so do I. BUT, this project has a scope entirely out of scale to our neighborhood (52,000 square feet, isolated in design, one major entry, 5 stories + stair and elevator towers, 37 1-bedroom apartments, to be built upon 4-5 lots). This project would overwhelm our neighborhood of 1 and 2-story single and multi-family homes and rooming houses. The proposed building would be a visual signal and planning precedent that tilts this block irrevocably toward institutional buildings, taking what is now a neighborhood and making it esthetically and economically part of downtown.
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Share your own comments with the City Planning Commission and Staff by mail (PO Box 8647, 100 N Fifth Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48107-8647), or by email to planner Matt Kowalski. We'd appreciate a copy by mail (608 N. Main St., Ann Arbor, 48104), or by email to John Hilton.

Public Hearing: Tuesday, April 21

It's official--just four months after the developers went public, the Ann Arbor Planning Commission will hold its public hearing on the "Near North" project on Tuesday, April 21.

We need to submit as many letters and petition signatures as possible before that deadline. Please contact John Hilton or Tom Fitzsimmons if you haven't yet signed the petition, or can help circulate it. And we'll all need to be there to make sure our voices are heard--this is our only chance to speak directly to the Planning Commission before they vote on the project.

Public hearings are scheduled at the start of the meeting, at 7 p.m. But another controversial development also is on the April 21st agenda: a large apartment project on North Fifth that's opposed by our friends in Germantown. They're well organized and are likely to make good use of their opportunity to speak.

The Near North hearing is up second, and even after we talk, we'll need to keep a strong presence in the room until the commission votes. So it's likely to be a late night. I'm an early-to-bed guy, but I'll be there--because if we lose this one, some day soon soon we'll all wake up downtown!

Click here to read the meeting agenda.

Germantown Fights Back

North Central isn't the only neighborhood that's under attack from developers trying to make an end run around the city's zoning and planning. The Germantown area just south of downtown also is threatened by a supersized PUD.

Like "Near North," the "Moravian" would grossly violate the scale, height, and setback requirements for its site. And its developers, too, are trying to persuade the City to ignore the downtown boundary. They claim that because big buildings are permitted nearby, they should be allowed in R4C areas, too.

If City Council buys that argument, its review of R4C zoning will be over before it begins. And the city's near-downtown neighborhoods will be annexed to the urban core.

North Central and Germantown are fighting the same fight. Learn more at the Germantown website. To join the list of people opposed to the Moravian, click here to email Germantown association president Tom Whitaker.