Comments on: Finding a Path to Geddes Ridge

By: John Floyd

John Floyd — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 06:30:37 +0000

Stewart, if these homes do generate more tax revenue for the city, they will be more productive than any development in the DDA zone. All revenues from new development downtown go to the Downtown Development Authority, not to the city’s general fund. Residents are funding the basic services of downtown developments (police, fire, etc). It is a great irony that in-fill single family homes produce more tax revenues than downtown highrises.

By: Stewart Nelson

Stewart Nelson — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 19:10:46 +0000

I eagerly attended the meeting at Angell School. I was impressed that Mark Lloyd the Planning Manager was present as well as Connie Pulcipher, A Senior Planner, in addition to Alexis Marcarello, Planner, Councilmen Joan Lowenstein and Stephen Rapundalo. Ethel Potts a member of the Planning & Zoning Commission was present also but not in an official capacity. City staff outnumbered the residents. These meetings are potential powder kegs that can quickly get out of hand and the fact that Mark Lloyd was there alerted me that the City sensed some trouble brewing.

Two major issues emerged from the meeting. The first was that the developer appeared to be insensitive to the surrounding residents and callous when he or she “clear cut” the swath of trees as shown in your picture without any warning to residents. It turns out the developer went way beyond what was required by the current law and that plenty of forest remained to maximize the value of each of the eight parcels of land. After we observed aerial photos of the project most felt satisfied that our quality of life was not jeopardized.

The second issue was more problematic as neighbors envisioned major traffic snarls with the traffic exiting from Geddes Ridge at the base of the hill and pedestrian entrance to Gallup Park. After letting us all “vent” our safety concerns, it was decided that additional hearings would be held to discuss optimizing motorized and non-motorized transportation on Geddes Ave. from Riverview Dr. to Huron Parkway. Most of the attendees including myself were satisfied with this solution.

The unanswered issue is why these “public hearings” have to be held after the fact when we are almost powerless to affect any change in the plans? Ann Arborites are smart and want to be involved in the development of our City. As most new new development will be infilling inside the existing City boundary we need to get better at working together to promote development that that does not jeopardize our quality of life or environment.

As a parting comment, Joan Lowenstein commented to me that this project will generate tax revenue to help pay for road and bike improvements that will benefit us all and help fill Angell and Tappan Schools with students that will insure that they remain open. She is exactly right. We can have our cake and eat it too.

By: Edward Vielmetti

Edward Vielmetti — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:51:39 +0000

I updated Arborwiki

http://arborwiki.org/city/Dina_and_Reuben_Kahn_Memorial_Pathway

so that this is incrementally easier to find next time.

By: Dave Askins

Dave Askins — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:15:16 +0000

Morton’s comment got my morning off to a pleasant start, because it will help me document when exactly my mental slide started. I knew I had collected that information at some point, but could not find it on any of the hard drives here at home. I’d completely forgotten leaving that 2.5-year-old comment on AAiO.

A tip of the hat to you, Morton, for tracking that, plus the photo down.

By: Morton

Morton — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 12:31:10 +0000

There is a posting by HD on Ann Arbor is Overrated, http://www.annarborisoverrated.com/2006/02/21/pedal-power/, where the Dina and Reuben Kahn Memorial Parkway is mentioned.

The Grex website has a picture on the sign, http://www.hvcn.org/info/grexwalk/ (scroll down to the bottom of the page), but does not mention its exact location.