It was another chapter in a years-long saga about the future of the area involving two proposed projects for the same site with the same owner – City Place and Heritage Row. [timeline] Now appearing imminent is construction of City Place, which would demolish seven existing houses and construct two apartment buildings separated by a parking lot. It was Mike Anglin (Ward 5) who pushed the historic district proposals forward.

An area in the same vicinity had previously been studied by a committee, which resulted in a recommendation to establish a historic district north of Packard on Fourth and Fifth avenues. However, on July 6, 2010, the city council rejected the historic district on a 4-6 vote. Voting for the district on that occasion were Sabra Briere (Ward 1), Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3), Carsten Hohnke (Ward 5) and mayor John Hieftje. Anglin was absent that evening, but his yes vote would not have been enough to achieve the majority it needed.

The original recommendation to establish a historic district had been made by a committee established by the city council on Aug. 6, 2009, along with a moratorium on demolition in the area to be studied. [For additional background, see: "S. Fifth Ave: Historic District Development"]

The council had established that study committee and a moratorium in an attempt to block the City Place matter-of-right project that had been considered by the council, but postponed until January 2010 under an arrangement with the developer, Alex de Parry.

When the historic district committee was established, the City Place project was then brought forward and ultimately approved on Sept. 21, 2009, about a month after the historic district study committee and moratorium had been established. At their Oct. 24, 2011 meeting, councilmembers cited a key difference between then and now: Two years ago, the historic district study committee was appointed before there was an approved project on the site.

The same night that councilmembers rejected the Fourth/Fifth Avenue historic district, now nearly 15 months ago, they reconsidered a vote on the Heritage Row planned unit development. In the version before the council at that time, Heritage Row would have constructed three new apartment buildings behind seven existing houses and preserved the houses to historic district standards. The July 6, 2010 vote on Heritage Row was 7-3 in favor, leaving it one vote short of the 8-vote majority the project needed for approval. The council had initially considered the Heritage Row project on June 21, 2010 and rejected it on a 7-4 vote.

With Heritage Row and a historic district both rejected, and the City Place project approved, a number of efforts have been made since the summer of 2010 to avoid the construction of City Place. Those efforts culminated most recently in a council decision reached on Oct. 3, 2011 to reconsider Heritage Row another time. That came shortly after the ownership of the City Place and Heritage Row projects changed. The Oct. 3 decision to reconsider Heritage Row was hoped by many to culminate in a final vote at an extra council meeting scheduled for Oct. 24. However, on Oct. 21 news emerged that the developer had pulled the item from the Oct. 24 agenda.

Voting for the establishment of a historic district study committee on Oct. 24 were Mike Anglin (Ward 5), Sabra Briere (Ward 1), Stephen Kunselman (Ward 3) and Christopher Taylor (Ward 3). Members of the committee would have been Ellen Ramsburgh, Tom Luczak, Eppie Potts and Susan Wineberg.

The proposed moratorium on demolition was withdrawn on failure of the establishment of the historic district committee.

At that Oct. 17 meeting, the city staff will have worked with the developer to incorporate the developer’s various requests into the site plan and zoning for the project. The last version of Heritage Row considered by the council would preserve the seven houses and construct three new apartment buildings behind them. The developers’ current requests include eliminating any on-site parking requirement, increasing the number of residents, relaxing the energy standards, and not making a commitment to the historical preservation of the existing seven houses. [.pdf of letter from developer]

If councilmembers give initial approval of Heritage Row at the Oct. 17 meeting, the council would then hold a public hearing and take a second and final vote at an additional meeting on Oct. 24. The council, as part of the set of resolutions passed on Monday in connection with the project, modified its calendar to add the extra meeting, calling it a “regular” meeting. The city charter requires that second and final approval of any ordinance be voted at a “regular meeting” of the council. Later in the Oct. 3 meeting, the council voted to suspend its rule on the scheduling of regular meetings, which specifies the first and third Monday of the month.

The most recent last-ditch effort to reconsider the Heritage Row project, after it was rejected multiple times in multiple versions, failed at the council’s Dec. 6, 2010 meeting. At that meeting, councilmembers seemed poised to suspend council rules to allow another reconsideration, but the vote to suspend council rules failed.

As of mid-September, the developer – previously Alex de Parry’s Fifth Avenue Limited Partnership, but now City Place Ann Arbor, LLC – was proceeding with pre-construction meetings for a different development that has already been approved by the council: City Place. City Place calls for the demolition of seven houses and the construction of two apartment buildings separated by a parking lot, with 24 total dwelling units – each with six bedrooms.

In other action by the council at its Oct. 3 meeting, councilmembers modified the original development agreement for City Place to relieve the timeline pressure on the developer to start utilities work immediately. The original agreement was standard for the city of Ann Arbor. It called for utilities work on water mains and storm sewers to be completed before construction could start.

The revised agreement on City Place doesn’t require the utilities work to be completed until later – before a certificate of occupancy is issued. So the revision gives the developer added flexibility to enter into negotiations with the city on the re-submittal of Heritage Row, which would require different utilities work.

This brief was filed shortly after the city council’s meeting concluded. A more detailed report will follow: [link]