An unusual thing happened at Monday's Ann Arbor City Council meeting - a large, vocal group of mostly young people rallied to support the Moravian development.
It's unusual because such controversial projects normally only attract neighborhood activists and those who oppose the project for various reasons. A vast majority of the time, the developer is left to defend his project against a hostile crowd.
That wasn't the case Monday night. A large group of concerned citizens, residents and various other stakeholders came out to speak for and against the proposed dense, urban apartment development on Madison Street across the street from Fingerle Lumber Co. The two sides, which each rallied dozens of concerned voices, basically broke down to mostly older people mixed with a few younger faces opposed to the development and mostly younger people combined with a handful of older faces backing it.
The supporters were predominantly composed of twenty- and thirty-something professionals who said they wanted more options to live in and near downtown. They complained that student-oriented, sub-divided houses and downtown condos that were prohibitively expensive were their only options. To them the density offered by projects like the 62-unit Moravian provide them with an attractive alternative. They expressed a desire for newer, safer, more energy-efficient housing. Though the project's apartments would be more expensive than the block's current rental properties (mostly older homes), they expressed a clear preference for the Moravian.
The Moravian was to feature 4-5 stories (depending on which end of building you start at) with 160 bedrooms. The developer hoped to include geothermal heating system and attain LEED certification. Affordable housing units, about 19 percent of the units, would also be part of the mix.
A level of ground-floor parking (90 spaces) behind 3-6 units of ground-floor commercial space on Madison was also proposed. The ground floor retail units would be connected to residential units above. The retail spaces would measure between 600-1,500 square feet and would be available for the likes of professional offices (architects, attorneys, etc), a cafe or even art gallery.
Linda Foit, a research associate at the University of Michigan, spoke in favor of the Moravian. The 28-year-old originally from Germany lives a few doors down from the proposed site in an 100-year-old single-family house that was sub-divided into apartments long ago. A place she says is so energy inefficient that to heat it "is to heat the entire street in the winter."
"I found it devastating the condition of the housing that was available to us," Foit says. "It was a variety of rat holes really."
Tony Lupo's co-workers would love to live in a place so close to downtown. The director of sales and marketing for Salon Vox, a downtown business that employs 21 people, says he is the only staff member that lives downtown even though most of his co-workers would like to.
Lupo, a 20 something who had been living in New York City before coming to Ann Arbor, spoke out in favor of the development on behalf of himself, his company and his co-workers. He said he only managed to get a downtown apartment above an art gallery after months of searching and an extremely lucky break when someone broke a lease.
"It's a total game of chance," Lupo says. "For a city that wants to attract young professionals and people who want to be near a downtown environment it shouldn't be this difficult."
Those opposed had a sharply different view. They see the Moravian as out of character with a historic neighborhood they have lived and invested in for decades.
"The neighbors see it for what it really was, an attack on the downtown and the near downtown neighborhoods," Ray Detter, a downtown resident and local activist, said to City Council Monday night.
After nearly four hours of public comment (a supposed record), six of the ten members of Ann Arbor City Council present voted in favor of approving it. However, a petition from nearby residents forced a parliamentary maneuver requiring a super majority of eight votes for it to pass, so the proposal was defeated.
Jeff Helminski, the developer, is still weighing his options on what to do next. Normally, a lawsuit follows such decisions, but Helminski is conferring with his partners on whether it makes more sense to resubmit revised plans, appeal to the city's Zoning Board of Appeals, continue to negotiate with the city or call in the attorneys.
"It's our hope that this is not how it goes, but it's possible," Helminski says.
Source: Jeff Helminski, developer of the Moravian and Linda Foit, Tony Lupo and Ray Detter, downtown Ann Arbor residents
Writer: Jon Zemke
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