Title
Resolution to Require Voter Approval for Any Agreement to Sell or Lease Development Rights to Any Portion of the Library Lot Site
Body
Whereas, The publicly owned Library Lot has been viewed as the future site for Ann Arbor’s 'town square' by generations of citizens, including those who participated in the 1988 City Council process that resulted in the 1991 Luckenbach/Ziegelman report;
Whereas, Fifteen years later, another City Council-led public process reaffirmed the goal of creating a central 'town square' on Library Lot as recorded in the 2006 Calthorpe Report;
Whereas, The Downtown Development Authority designed and built the Library Lane parking structure to include a public plaza on the ground level,
Whereas, A February 2010 Ann Arbor Democratic Party resolution stated, in part, “…the selling or leasing of the Library Lot to any private parties should not happen without approval of the voters of Ann Arbor;”
Whereas, The response to a public opinion survey in the Downtown Development Authority’s 2012 Connecting William Street process demonstrated a strong preference for a public open space on the Library Lot and the Connecting William Street report recommended a public plaza of 6,000 or more square feet on the Fifth Avenue portion of the Library Lot site;
Whereas, The 2013 Parks Advisory Commission public opinion survey received a 76 percent response in favor of more downtown parks and specifically identified the Library Lot as the best location, and the Parks Advisory Commission recommended a public park greater in size than the 6,000 square foot plaza recommended by the DDA;
Whereas, In 2014 City Council identified a specific 12,000 square foot location for a future urban public park on the Library Lot and initiated a process for the development of the rest of the site that stipulated design, maintenance and operation goals for future public open space;
Whereas, The City of Ann Arbor issued a 2015 Memorandum of Offering to solicit development proposals for the surface of the Library Lot that stipulated a commitment to reserving “12,000 square feet fronting the site for a civic plaza or other public space,”
Whereas, At the two October 22, 2015 public meetings the overwhelming negative response to the two resulting development proposals focused on their inadequate response to the requirements for the public open space component;
Whereas, City Council has repeatedly treated the publicly owned Library Lot site as the location for a future public park, and development of the Library Lot for any purpose must be undertaken so that it does not negatively impact this potential, long anticipated public park,
RESOLVED, That City Council shall submit the sale or lease of development rights to any portion of the Library Lot site to an advisory vote of the citizens of Ann Arbor to inform Council’s decision.
Sponsored by: Council Members Briere, Eaton and Kailasapathy