The Ann Arbor City Council will resume its May 6 meeting at 7 p.m. Monday night with its final consideration of the site plan for the 14-story high-rise building proposed for 413 E. Huron St. in downtown Ann Arbor.
Ann Arbor resident Widd Schmidt made this poster to show the proposed 413 E. Huron project -- identified by the light yellow building -- in relation to its neighborhood.
Courtesy photo
The council has delayed voting on the issue several times — once at the request of the developer, Carter, which is based in Atlanta.
The project is also before City Council without the endorsement of the city's Planning Commission. In February, the project failed to gain enough votes for the commission to recommend the site plan and the demolition of three buildings that sit at the corner of Division and Huron streets now.
The proposed high-rise building would take the place of a vacant 10,300-square-foot building, a former Papa John's pizza store and a house, and would sit next to the Sloan Plaza condominium complex.
The final vote on the issue has been dragged out through the council’s last three meetings, as lengthy public hearings on multiple topics, including 413 E. Huron prompted the adjournment of the April 15 meeting in the middle of the agenda at 3 a.m.
A rendering of the proposed building in relation to the existing neighborhood.
Humphreys & Partners Architects
At 11:30 p.m. May 6, the council moved to go in to recess right before it was set to take up the 413 E. Huron Site plan, with the contingency that the item would be the first on its agenda at a special meeting at 7 p.m. Monday.
Part of the public commentary at the May 6 meeting included a coordinated group of 15 residents who presented a booklet of ways they claim the 413 E. Huron project violated zoning ordinances.
Mayor John Hieftje and Council Member Christopher Taylor, D-3rd Ward, have previously said that the city attorney’s office has advised them that the developer would have legal justifications to bring a lawsuit against the city, should council vote down the site plan.
Neither Hieftje nor Taylor would elaborate on what those justifications would entail.
Similar public opposition to a downtown development project arose with the introduction of City Place apartments to South Fifth Avenue.
The Ann Arbor City Council heard from countless residents and some city officials who felt the development was out of character with the surrounding neighborhood.
Ultimately, City Council approved the development and City Place opened to residents in 2012. A row of homes on Fifth Avenue was demolished to make way for the project.
The Ann Arbor City Council will meet at 7 p.m. Monday in the second-floor council chambers at City Hall at 301 E. Huron St.
Amy Biolchini covers Washtenaw County, health and environmental issues for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at (734) 623-2552, amybiolchini@annarbor.com or on Twitter.