The Ann Arbor Chronicle | Fourth Avenue

DDA Floats Idea for Fourth Avenue

Typically on the last Wednesday morning of the month, two committees of the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority meet back to back – transportation and operations. This past Wednesday was no different.

At Fourth & William streets in downtown Ann Arbor. The view is looking to the north. At right is an AATA bus shelter – further in the background on the same side of the street is the Blake Transit Center. Opposite the AATA facilities is a parking deck. (Photos by the writer.)

At the transportation committee meeting, Susan Pollay, the DDA’s executive director, floated an idea for partnering with the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority on improvements to the South Fourth Avenue corridor, between William and Liberty streets. The partnership would include a grant to the AATA in connection with the reconstruction of the Blake Transit Center. No numbers are yet attached to the concept, which Pollay described as a possible “transit mall” – she was checking with the committee for their basic reaction to the idea. That reaction could fairly be described as warm, with some caution expressed by DDA board member Leah Gunn, when she arrived for the operations committee meeting.

Starting last month, the last half hour of the transportation committee’s meeting has been configured to overlap with the operations committee’s meeting, so that the two groups can meet jointly to discuss a directive from the city council to the DDA to deliver a parking plan to the council by April. A preliminary outline of that plan was discussed on Wednesday. [Full Story]

The 100 Units of Affordable Housing

Sites A, B, C, identified as possible locations to build affordable housing units. The image is linked to a higher resolution file in which dimensions are legible.

Ann Arbor City Council Working Session (Dec. 8, 2008) At a council working session on Monday evening, attended by all councilmembers including the mayor, one option (consisting of three different sites) was presented for how to replace the 100 units of affordable housing previously provided by the YMCA building at Fifth and William streets.

The three sites that were offered by city staff to council for consideration have some different constraints, but the proposed construction on each site is similar. All three sites are located along a roughly one-block long stretch of Fourth Avenue from the south side of Ann Street to the north side of Catherine Street.

Based on official council action to date, this set of three sites can be fairly seen as one option of three still under conceptual consideration for a replacement location for the 100 affordable units: (i) the old YMCA site, (ii) an alternate downtown location, and (iii) a location outside of downtown.

We begin with some brief background of the history of these 100 units before December 2007, trace the interaction between council and the Housing and Human Services Advisory Board between December 2007 and May 2008, and finally summarize the presentation and council discussion from the council’s working session on Monday in customary Chronicle meeting-watch style. [Full Story]

Civic News Ticker

Brown Recommended for N. Main Group

At its May 23, 2012 meeting, the Ann Arbor public art commission (AAPAC) unanimously recommended that Connie Rizzolo Brown be nominated for a position on a task force to study the corridor along North Main Street and the Huron River. That recommendation will be forwarded to mayor John Hieftje.

The task force was established by the city council at its May 7, 2012 meeting, with membership to include the following: one member of the park advisory commission, one member of the planning commission, one resident representing the Water Hill neighborhood, one resident representing the North Central neighborhood, one resident from the Old Fourth Ward, one resident representing the Broadway/Pontiac neighborhood, two business and property owners from the affected area, and one member of the Huron River Watershed Council.

At its May 21 meeting, the two sponsors of the resolution that created the task force – Ward 1 councilmembers Sabra Briere and Sandi Smith – proposed adding three additional representatives: a member of the city council, someone from the boating/fishing community of river users, a representative from the Huron River Citizens Association. Tony Derezinski (Ward 2), who also serves on AAPAC, then proposed an amendment to add an AAPAC member to the task force. The AAPAC addition was passed by council on a 6-5 vote. [See Chronicle coverage: "Positions Added to North Main Task Force"] Appointments are expected to be made at the council’s June 4 meeting.

At AAPAC’s May 23 meeting, Derezinski told commissioners that “basically, we need someone at the table.”

The task force is charged with delivering a report to the city council more than a year from now – by July 31, 2013 – that describes “a vision to create/complete/enhance pedestrian and bike connection from downtown to Bandemer and Huron River Drive, increase public access to the river-side amenities of existing parks in the North Main-Huron River corridor, ease traffic congestion at Main and Depot at certain times of a day and recommend use of MichCon property at Broadway; …”

Earlier than that – by the end of 2012 – the task force is to make recommendations on the use of the city-owned 721 N. Main parcel.

Brown has served on AAPAC since early 2009, and has chaired the commission’s projects committee. She is a principal of Rizzolo Brown Studio, an Ann Arbor architecture firm.

This brief was filed from the basement conference room of city hall at 301 E. Huron, where AAPAC held its meeting. A more detailed report will follow.

Annexation Rezonings Get Final OK

Water, Sewer Rate Bumps Get Initial OK

Ann Arbor Accepts Sustainability Grant

Allen Creek Preschool Site Plan OK’d

Positions Added to North Main Task Force

Council Gives Initial OK for Sidewalk Repair Law

Old Media Watch

A2: Race for the Cure

The Detroit News published a column by Jenn McKee, entertainment writer for AnnArbor.com, about why she’s not participating in Saturday’s Race for the Cure, a fundraiser for the Susan G. Komen Foundation: ”This past February, when news broke about the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s decision to pull grants from Planned Parenthood – grants that fund breast cancer screenings for low-income women – I felt angry, betrayed and disappointed by an organization I’d supported for years. Even though Komen eventually reversed its decision, after days of heated debate and pushback, I didn’t feel elated about, or even satisfied with, the reversal. Not because I suspected that the fight wasn’t over for good but because I lost my innocence regarding an organization that has had great personal meaning for me.” [Source]

Scio: Camp Take Notice

Pittsfield Twp.: Plane Crash

A2: Restaurant Review

Serious Eats reviews the burgers and patty melts at Zingerman’s Roadhouse. The reviewer praises both, but writes: “As good as the burger was, the gut-busting patty melt was better. …The thick slices of rye bread, which naturally comes from Zingerman’s Bakehouse, is simply the best I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating. It’s loaded with flavor, has a particularly thick and chewy crust around a soft interior, and will make virtually any sandwich ever invented taste better. The mountain of grilled onions and wild mushrooms add a sweet and juicy umami bomb to the patty melt, and the baby Swiss from Deppeler Cheese Factory in Monroe, Wisconsin, brings a nice coating of creaminess.” [Source]

Washtenaw: Skunk Rabies

A2: Music

A2-Ypsi: May 8 Election

Coordinated Funding Clarified

An article about the May 16, 2012 meeting of the Washtenaw County board of commissioners included a mention of the coordinated funding model – a partnership of the county, city of Ann Arbor, United Way of Washtenaw County, Washtenaw Urban County, and Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation. We clarify here that the funds are not “pooled” together in a way that makes it impossible to associate funding from a particular agency with a particular nonprofit. Rather, the coordinated funding model allows for each of the funding partners to make specific allocations to specific nonprofits, at the discretion of the funding partner. We note the clarification here, and have changed the wording of the original article.

His Name is Ralph

2008 Ward 5 Was Hohnke vs. Floyd

UM Parking Structure: 700 Spaces

Current 618 S. Main Proposal Clarified

Name Spelled Wrong

City Council Approval Not Required