14-story Huron Street high-rise expected back on Ann Arbor City Council agenda tonight
Due to a technicality, the controversial 413 E. Huron St. high-rise development is expected back on the Ann Arbor City Council's agenda at tonight's meeting.
The City Council meets at 7 p.m. on the second floor of city hall, 301 E. Huron St.
When the City Council approved the project last week following months of debate, it did not update the site plan date in the adopted resolution, according to city staff.
As a formality, city staff now recommends council members go back and re-vote on the project tonight to include the correct date of March 28 instead of March 5.
A rendering of the 413 E. Huron project from April.
Humphreys & Partners Architects
Wendy Rampson, the city's planning manager, explained the issue in a memo shared with council members on Monday afternoon.
A plan set dated March 28 included in last week's council packet incorporates a reduction of floor area and massing changes presented by the developer on March 18.
In addition, a perspective drawing dated April 4 was provided to council in a communication from the developer dated April 11.
Rampson said staff recommends the council adopt a revised resolution that notes the correct site plan date of March 28 and the perspective drawings dated April 4.
The 14-story apartment project, proposed for the northeast corner of Division and Huron streets downtown, won approval in a split 6-5 vote last week despite concerns by residents and city officials that it might not be appropriate next to a historic residential neighborhood.
Concerned there's potential for the same issues to surface in other areas of downtown that are zoned for tall developments, the city is now reviewing its downtown zoning.
Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529. You also can follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's email newsletters.
Comments
Vince Caruso
Tue, May 21, 2013 : 9:54 p.m.
Insult to injury.
Dirty Mouth
Tue, May 21, 2013 : 1:40 p.m.
Goodness, just love the rendering. All trees with this looming monolith from 2001 Space Odyssey. You City Council folks should be ashamed of yourselves!
Andrew
Tue, May 21, 2013 : 3:54 a.m.
It's a great-looking building, and it will be exciting to watch it go up. New buildings and changes to the skyline are inevitable. If everyone got irritated and voted down large buildings in NY, Boston, Chicago, etc. then those cities wouldn't be where they are today. In a hundred or so years, some of these buildings just now being built will be considered historic buildings. Basically... change happens, get over it.
Gerry
Tue, May 21, 2013 : 4:50 p.m.
Support downtown development, believe it's better to grow up than out, but this truly is not a good looking building.
Brad
Tue, May 21, 2013 : 1:27 p.m.
Change does happen. Just watch city council.
ChrisW
Tue, May 21, 2013 : 4:04 a.m.
It's an ugly building, but we need more housing downtown.
Kafkaland
Tue, May 21, 2013 : 3:41 a.m.
We hear quite a bit lately about city staff errors. Like the loss of state funding for the demolition on N. Main, where apparently someone want paying attention to deadlines and the order in which things had to be one, now he inadvertent approval of a worse site plan than the already awful one they intended to approve. I'm sure there are more examples. Can anyone venture a guess as to where this sloppiness comes from, and what is our city manager doing about it?
Ryan J. Stanton
Tue, May 21, 2013 : 12:49 a.m.
Yep, vote stayed 6-5 tonight without debate. Just changed the site plan date. "I think it's a shame this kind of error creeps into human behavior but it does," Council Member Sabra Briere, D-1st Ward, said of last week's mistake.
kittybkahn
Tue, May 21, 2013 : 12:25 a.m.
Although they had this unusual second chance to vote the monstrosity down, the vote did not change. Shameful!!
hail2thevict0r
Tue, May 21, 2013 : 1:31 a.m.
As I said above, it's what the site is zoned for unfortunately. Voting it down would mean nothing more than spending millions of taxpayer dollars in court with the ultimate ending of it being built anyway.
JRW
Mon, May 20, 2013 : 11:04 p.m.
It's hard to believe that these City Council members get anything done! A technicality?
David Cahill
Mon, May 20, 2013 : 10:58 p.m.
This is truly bizarre! What poor staff work. I wonder what other "technical" problems there are with what Council passed. Doesn't anybody read this stuff?
Classof2014
Mon, May 20, 2013 : 10:40 p.m.
This could be good...The council could shut it down like they should have done in the first place
hail2thevict0r
Tue, May 21, 2013 : 1:29 a.m.
And then they'll get sued, spend millions of taxpayer dollars, end up losing and the building will be built anyway. That's the way the site is zoned and there's not much they can do. Not that I agree with another mega building...but it is what it is.