A previous version of this story characterized City Council’s motion as a tabling, rather than postponement. The article has been updated to reflect this distinction.

ANN ARBOR, MI - While Ann Arbor City Council members moved forward swiftly with plans to bring a development and affordable housing to its former Y Lot site, the debate over what to do with another downtown site that’s been vacant for more than a decade continues.

City Council postponed a vote at its Monday, April 20 virtual meeting that would initiate a pre-entitlement phase for the city-owned property at 415 W. Washington St., after it was determined there wasn’t sufficient community input gathered from the Treeline Conservancy.

Ann Arbor moves forward with development plans for Y Lot site

The resolution will come back to City Council in July, after postponing the pre-entitlement phase was supported by a 7-4 vote. Council members Zachary Ackerman, Julie Grand, Chip Smith and Mayor Christopher Taylor voted against postponing the vote. Pre-entitling the property would allow the city to mitigate risks by having a site plan pre-approved that the private sector can buy and get permits for from the city.

The site poses a number of challenges for redevelopment. And some council members believe the preferred option for the site, a five-story building and parking lot with 210 one-bedroom housing units, might be too dense for its surroundings.

“The height is a huge concern,” said Ali Ramlawi, D-5th Ward, who voted in favor of tabling the pre-entitlement phase. “Some of the proposed projects (for 415 W. Washington) were just focused on density and packing in as many units as possible. I don’t think that’s going to fly over there.

“I am disappointed that the preferred option was probably the least liked among the neighbors. This notion of preferred option, frankly, is not driven from council and not driven from the residents.”

The site currently is zoned as D2, which allows approximately 5 stories of height. Because it sits within the floodplain and is adjacent to railroad tracks, state and federal subsidies for affordable housing are unlikely.

The D2 zoning classification allows a mixture of uses, including residential, and will allow flexibility in parking provided on site, Lenart said, with a Planned Unit Development providing the best opportunity to “box in the parameters of site development that are really critical to us.”

A look at housing options for blighted Ann Arbor historic district property

Because 415 W. Washington St. is in a floodway and floodplain, any housing built on site needs to be elevated above the floodplain, Ann Arbor Housing Commission Executive Director Jennifer Hall previously noted. Portions of the buildings currently are used to store City of Ann Arbor and Republic Parking Services materials and equipment and may have environmental concerns.

Residents have indicated remediating potential environmental concerns on the site at 415 W. Washington St. is a top concern, while maximizing affordable housing units on the site is also a key priority, according to feedback gathered by consultant SmithGroup, Inc.

While environmental contamination doesn't disqualify a project from as affordable housing or market rate housing, methods and costs associated with environmental remediation could result in limitations, Hall said.

Many of the concerns about public input, however, surrounded the city’s engagement with the Treeline Conservancy group, even though the city had previously provided opportunities for community input for the site.

The approximately $55-million Treeline urban trail project includes an anticipated 2.75-mile paved path for pedestrians and cyclists beginning at the Huron River by Argo Pond and continuing south past the University of Michigan Stadium.

From the outset, all of the scenarios for the 415 W. Washington St. property incorporate the Treeline trail traversing the site, near the railroad right of way, City Planning Manager Brett Lenart said.

Prior to the pre-entitlement vote, Treeline Conservancy Executive Director Nan Plummer said while the group supports the development of affordable housing downtown, the resolution advances the site’s use for housing without a process for exploring additional uses for the site, like the Treeline trail project.

“We’re concerned that without a more inclusive assessment of this site, the full potential of the Treeline and other desirable uses of this parcel could be automatically precluded,” Plummer said.

The buildings at 415 W. Washington have been approved for demolition except for the existing chimney, which currently serves as habitat for a threatened bird species known as the chimney swift.

Ann Arbor City Council directed the city administrator to explore the possibility of saving the chimney in 2018 as the city considers demolishing other blighted structures on the city-owned property on the west edge of downtown.

Considerations for the Treeline trail, chimney swifts and its location in the historic district further complicate plans for affordable housing on the site, some council members argued.

Jack Eaton, D-4th Ward, made the motion to postpone the vote on pre-entitlement, stressing that the city staff conclude conversations it started with the Treeline Conservancy group, while collecting more input from neighbors.

“It seems like we’re going forward with a pre-conceived notion that should’ve tapped into the neighborhood sentiment much more than this preferred option seems to,” Eaton said. “None of those early discussions conceived of anything like this. That’s exactly why public input needs to happen before the entitlement stage of the process.”

Other council members argued the decision to postpone moving the project site forward is another example of indecision surrounding the property, which currently is occupied by a parking lot and U-shaped buildings.

“This site has been vacant, abandoned, neglected for 13 years,” Smith said. “Let’s either make a decision or cut bait - it’s one of the two.”

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