Number 10: March 7, 2002

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THE BIRMINGHAM BUZZ
-- "It's the 2016 Plan, stupid."
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Buzz # 10 -- March 7, 2002

Welcome to the 10th edition of the Birmingham Buzz. If you missed our first nine editions, check out our archives at http://www.bhambuzz.org/archives.htm.

Promoting intelligence and reason in city government. Our mission: To inform and involve all Birmingham citizens. Visit us at http://www.bhambuzz.org.

In this edition:

1) Buzz development forum is rescheduled
2) Barnum/Beaumont feasibility study is posted
3) Editorial: What is our Commission's plan?
4) Editorial from Eccentric: Show reason in building oversight
5) Letter to Eccentric: Thorsby needs redirection
6) Midtown dispute settled, cafe gets new lease
7) Our talk isn't just cheap, it's intelligent
8) Developers blend suburbs, downtown:
9) Buzz irons out kinks in new forum
10) City Attorney defends Willits process
11) To be removed


1) Buzz development forum is rescheduled

March 7, 2002

The second Birmingham Buzz Community Forum, and the first in a series on development in Birmingham, has been rescheduled for April 18. Mark your calendar, and watch the Buzz for the exact time and place.

In an editorial republished below, the Birmingham Eccentric joined the call for more reasoned and intelligent debate over development in town. "If there is any question regarding how the residents view development then call for a community forum to thrash out the issue in public," the editorial said.

The Buzz hopes to inform and involve all interested parties in the debate. The next forum will include a presentation on downtown building heights, a panel discussion, and will offer the opportunity for questions and comments from the audience. We hope to see you there!


2) Barnum/Beaumont feasibility study is posted

March 7, 2002

The Buzz has posted a study completed late last year on the feasibility of acquiring the former Barnum School property, which is currently owned by Beaumont Hospital. Click on the link on our home page, or go to http://www.bhambuzz.org/pdfs/Barnum_Feasibility.pdf. The 3.6mb file is in Adobe Acrobat .pdf format.

A Beaumont spokesperson said Thursday that most Beaumont operations at the facility would be moved to a new location in Royal Oak by the end of 2002, and that the hospital has made no decisions regarding the sale or future use of the site.

The special land use permit granted to the hospital by the city gives Birmingham a right of first refusal to purchase the property, should it become available. The city is moving forward with due diligence on the property, said City Manager Tom Markus.


3) Editorial: What is our Commission's plan?

By Jason Lewiston

In 1998 a house built in 1926 was sold in Birmingham, on Wallace Street. The home had been partially remodeled in 1989. As a builder and the owner of a historic home myself, I can attest that fully remodeling a 1920s home to present day standards is far more costly than building new.

In 2000, the 1926 home was demolished to make way for a new home. The seller in 1998 could have placed a deed restriction on the 1926 home forbidding its destruction by future owners; he could have asked for a historic designation; in fact, he even could have insisted that any new home cover only 20% or 25% of the lot.

Any of these restrictions would have lowered the property value, however, and no one can blame a man for wanting to do the best for his family. Nor should we as neighbors be upset that a new home will be built. The new home will add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the local economy, provide thousands in school taxes, provide funds to replace our aging infrastructure, and is a testimony to the desire of many to renew our neighborhoods rather than abandon Birmingham and start again elsewhere.

How profound that the seller of the 1926 home was Birmingham City Commissioner Gordon Thorsby, who is now a leading advocate of restrictions of all kinds to stop the renewal of our downtown and neighborhoods.

Surely Commissioner Thorsby and the other Commissioners will strenuously argue with the label of "obstructionist" to development. They claim to support "proper" redevelopment, yet no one has ever heard the definition of "proper" from them. They claim that the developers have entirely misunderstood the meaning of the 2016 Plan, yet they do not want to invite the authors of the plan to discuss it, even as they eviscerate it with new restrictions. They claimed that the Palladium and other downtown developments would harm our city, but have yet to demonstrate how. Worst of all, they seem intent on appeasing the crowd that is most susceptible to the fear, anger, prejudice and jealousy that change inevitably brings.

By preventing the redevelopment of our neighborhoods and our downtown in accordance with market demands and the 2016 Plan, the current Commission essentially designates 1950 as the year Birmingham reached its planning and architectural pinnacle. This being the case, we could have saved the $400,000 we spent on the 2016 Plan and merely taken pictures of the Crowley's building and some post World War II homes, and stated that this is what Birmingham should resemble forever. In deferring to 1950, the current Commission likes to scold modern builders and developers as being over-aggressive in their actions, yet if you added up all of the new homes built in the 1980s and 1990s, the sum would be less than the 717 homes built in the year 1950. Present-day builders could learn a lot about clearing trees and "occupying green space" from the past generation.

Of course, as Commissioner Thorsby recently pointed out, even the handful of houses now under construction can create debris. Birmingham currently requires fencing around building sites, which helps a great deal. More importantly, the presentation made recently by Commissioner Thorsby regarding the supposed lawlessness of builders is part of a petty campaign to have our building official, Mary Ferrario, fired. Mrs. Ferrario's crime is that she actually issues building permits to builders who are in compliance with current zoning ordinances. The Commission would like a building official whom they can control and who will reject all building applications regardless of compliance. This would lead to lawsuits, right?

Unfortunately, the Commission does not seem to care about lawsuits. Last year, the Commission refused to grant a demolition permit to the owner of 543 Vinewood on the pretense that the home was somehow connected to Elijah Willits. That "fact" was never proven, the owner of the lot sued the city, and a mediation panel has recommended an award of $500,000 to the homeowner. That's in addition to the demolition permit. And it is also our tax money, yours and mine.

If Mrs. Ferrario has taken a bribe, issued permits in significant noncompliance with current law, or otherwise exercised malfeasance, then present the evidence in an open meeting, and have the City Manager remove her that night. Otherwise, if she is to be part of whisper campaign to remove her so that someone under the Commission's control can be appointed, we are simply going to be the recipient of yet another costly lawsuit, in this case for wrongful termination. Maybe the City can foolishly waste yet more of our tax money on a case it deserves to lose.

Even worse, we will soon have a "tree ordinance" which is yet another method to remove our property rights without simply saying so. Commissioner Chafetz was quoted in the Birmingham Eccentric as saying, "If you can't build a house and keep the trees on your neighbor's yard alive, then maybe you shouldn't be building that house." Commssioner Chafetz is a very intelligent and friendly person, but because he is not a lawyer, nor a developer, nor does he have any experience whatsoever with real estate, he does not realize that under centuries-old common law it is already unlawful for a builder to damage a neighbor's trees. The Commission should find a better excuse for a tree ordinance. Further, if tree preservation trumps all property rights, we should no longer honor our city's founders, or the owners of the 1950s houses. Likely if you added up the number of trees cleared by people whose names are on streets in Birmingham, it would be 100 times more than the number of trees cleared by builders in the last three decades.

As part of this all-out battle against redevelopment, none of the changes to the 2016 Plan or to the zoning code are being conducted with the advice of real estate professionals. And a member of any city board who is not of a like mind with the Commissioners is being replaced. What is the harm of asking professionals for their advice before making these major changes? When was the last time a developer burst into an ice rink to tell Mr. Chafetz how to teach figure skating?

Further, if there is a mandate from the last two elections to simply throw away the 2016 Plan, why was that intention not stated in the campaigns? Why did the districts closest to town vote 60-40 for the moderates in the last election? Do the people on 40-foot-wide lots realize the implications of 30% total coverage? Do the people on sloping lots yet realize the implications of the grade-plane ordinance, which would preclude Allen House from being built? If we are not implementing the 2016 Plan, what is the plan for the future? If we are not going to allow any redevelopment, what will that mean for our tax base and the competitiveness of our schools?

For the sake of our city, we need to answer these questions.

Jason Lewiston is a resident of Birmingham, and a builder.


4) Editorial: Show reason in building oversight

From the Birmingham Eccentric

A little reason, please, in the ongoing battle of the buildings in Birmingham.

The current city commission has made it quite clear it is opposed to further development in the city and does not want to see any more large buildings downtown or Bigfoot houses in the neighborhoods. That's understandable, given the strong feelings many residents have about preserving the small-town quality that Birmingham still has. But the opposition is assuming some ludicrous proportions.

Specifically, Commissioner Gordon Thorsby is challenging building projects to the point of absurdity. Thorsby and his supporters have taken to personally inspecting some of the 290 building projects going on in the city and noting alleged building code violations.

These are being forwarded to the city's building department at a furious rate for follow-up inspection. Thorsby has identified so many suspected violations that the city has had to send police officers to check on the sites. This already has cost the city $6,000 in overtime for the police inspections.

Some of the alleged violations have amounted to no more than mud tracked on sidewalks and complaints about some of the lettering on construction site signs.
While Birmingham does not have a reputation as a high-crime area, it is also true that our police officers have better things to do than follow muddy footprints on the sidewalks. Police Chief Richard Patterson said that his officers have found "very few" violations.

Even Mayor Dianne McKeon said, "I understand there are residents with concerns, but that isn't how I want my tax dollars spent."
Indeed.

To make matters worse, the commissioners gave the public a collective slap in the face by delaying a presentation of a report on the building code violations by the building department at the city commission meeting last week. Some of the residents in the audience had waited nearly three hours for the presentation, which was abruptly canceled after Thorsby said he wanted a printed preview of the Powerpoint presentation before it was made public.

Thorsby said that if any of the sites had been misidentified, it could have opened the door to a lawsuit. Aside from the fact that that is a tenuous argument at best, the commissioners showed bush league style in not moving the item to the front of the agenda before canceling it so they wouldn't waste so much time for so many people. A more in-tune commission would have picked up on the potential for upsetting the people and avoided the collective insult.

But in reality, the issue goes far deeper than a few wasted hours. Some commissioners have virtually laid siege to the building department. They are upset over downtown development projects and the number of small houses being torn down to make room for larger ones. They want the department to demonstrate a new attitude that it will rigidly control growth.

The department should reflect the will of the administration, which in turn should reflect the will of the residents. But that won't be accomplished by nitpicking piles of bricks. And indeed, if the city is looking for a lawsuit, then it need just harass a few builders who have deep pockets and a willingness to drag the city into court.
The bottom line is that everyone should just take a step back from this whole issue. Send the police back on regular patrol and let the building department do its job. And if there is any question regarding how the residents view development then call for a community forum to thrash out the issue in public.

But this policy of operating by intimidation and obstruction must stop.


5) Letter to Eccentric: Thorsby needs redirection

This letter is in response to the article in the Thursday, Feb. 14, Eccentric entitled "Code Enforcement srutinized-Birmingham commissioner calls for crackdown on builders," as well as the city commission meeting on Feb. 24.

I have been a Birmingham resident for the last 15 years, lease office space in the downtown area and own a small development company which builds exclusively in Birmingham.

In an effort to better understand the nature of Mr. Thorsby's complaint, I filed a Freedom of Information request with the Community Development Department and reviewed the file containing his e-mail's, photos and documentation outlining the alleged code violations. I found no documentation supporting his claim that "residents have been calling him" to complain. Instead it appears that Mr. Thorsby unilaterally decided to conduct his own drive by inspection of building sites.

As a result of his inspection, Mr. Thorsby prepared a package containing at least 40 examples of alleged violations, however, he failed to include the addresses. My immediate thought was that if he was legitimately concerned about the inconvenience to our community, why is it that he failed to contact the police department or e-mail the appropriate city official with the relevant addresses?

One can only conclude that Mr. Thorsby's goal here is less about protecting our community and more about further alienating the city against builders, notwithstanding his claim in the article that he "hates the polarization between the neighbors and the builders." Moreover, the vast majority of the alleged violations involved damage to city property, which is subject to inspection and repair prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy. Other alleged violations were simply insignificant and petty, such as the "signs nailed into the tree" and the "size of a construction sign."

If Mr. Thorsby has his way and we are going to begin ticketing builders for these violations, do we need to consider ticketing parents who inadvertently leave their children's toys on the sidewalk, or the DPW when they toss empty trash receptacles into the street, or homeowners when they fail to shovel their snow or clean up after their pets? What about city vehicles that are parked illegally while engaged in city services, or city equipment stored in the right of way in preparation for future projects? Is Mr. Thorsby going to conduct a visual inspection of these violations as well for the benefit of our community? It could be argued that these parties similarly have "no incentive to obey the law."

The vast majority of builders are professionals who understand the importance of obeying the rules and believe that it simply makes good business sense to get along with their neighbors. Let code enforcement do its job. I understand that the head of the department is a retired chief of detectives for a major city. Surely his staff is up to the task. If there is a legitimate complaint, the builder should be put on notice, provided with an opportunity to correct the violation and, if he/she fails to do so on a timely basis, a ticket issued.

It is not the city commission's job to micro-manage the various city departments. The city employs a professional staff with years of experience to perform this function and it is inappropriate to think that with his limited experience as a city commissioner, Mr. Thorsby knows better. He needs to refocus his energy on the challenges now facing the city, like parking, empty store fronts, etc. I understand that after conducting a 2-week inspection of building sites as a result of Mr. Thorsby's complaints (at a cost of over $6,000), the police department found only two violations.

Finally, why was Mr. Thorsby so vehemently opposed to providing the building official with and opportunity to respond to his allegations at the Feb. 25 city commission meeting? He alleged that the Community Development Department isn't doing its job. It's only right that the department be afforded an opportunity to respond.

Patrick M. Beshouri,
Birmingham


6) Midtown dispute settled, cafe gets new lease

March 6, 2002

From the Detroit Free Press

A longtime Birmingham eatery and bar has settled a lawsuit that will allow it to keep its lease for at least 11 years.

The Midtown Cafe, a staple in downtown Birmingham for 27 years, reached an agreement on Friday with Fuller Central Park Properties, which owns the building at 139 S. Old Woodward Ave., said Mayer Morganroth, attorney for Midtown owner Bruce Cameron.

The suit was brought in Oakland County Circuit Court after building owner Edward Fuller refused to renew Midtown's $5,400-a-month lease, which expired in 2000.
Cameron said Fuller violated his civil rights when Fuller said he didn't like the type of employees at Midtown Cafe, and wanted to replace the restaurant with condominiums.
At the time, the majority of the 45-member staff was black.

Fuller, in court papers, denied that race played a role in his decision not to renew the lease.

The case was settled before it was to go to trial Friday.

"The parties have resolved any differences they had and have reached an amicable resolution," said Douglas Hyman, Fuller's attorney. Hyman refused to comment further on the case. Fuller could not be reached.

In the settlement, Cameron has a 5-year lease at $33.50 per square foot, with the option to renew for two 3-year periods.

Morganroth, who was not sure of the exact rent total, said the settlement is at market rate and the rest of the lease terms remain the same.

"It has been a great location for me," said Cameron, who plans to remodel the Midtown Cafe.

Cameron said he is ready to move past the suit and work amicably with Fuller.

"Obviously, there's been strain but I've buried the hatchet," he said.

*** The Birmingham Eccentric's report ***

A lawsuit with racial overtones ended with little fanfare Friday as Midtown Café and Fuller Central Park Properties settled a lease dispute before going to trial.

"We're happy that we're staying in Birmingham because that's where we wanted to be all along," said Bruce Cameron, owner of Midtown. "We have a new 11-year lease, so we aren't going anywhere."

The upscale restaurant has been housed in the historic Briggs building at 111 S. Old Woodward since 1976, but Cameron filed a lawsuit claiming his landlord, Edward Fuller, refused to give Midtown a lease because he didn't like the racial composition of the workers at the restaurant.

In an earlier article in the Eccentric, Fuller declined to respond to the charge, and he could not be reached for comment for this story.

More than two years ago, Fuller announced plans to add office space and condominiums to the Briggs building. Fuller planned to live in one of the condos, and Cameron alleged Fuller wouldn't give him a new lease because he didn't want to live near the Midtown's "type" of employees. About 35 percent of Midtown employees are minorities.
Last month, Cameron's attorney, Jeffrey Morganroth, said three people heard Fuller make the statement and all of them interpreted it to mean Fuller didn't want to live near minority individuals. In accordance with state law, the lawsuit asked for damages exceeding $25,000, but Morganroth said he planned to ask a jury for more than $1 million because Fuller had made the matter racial.

Morganroth refused to discuss details of the settlement and said he didn't want to "rock the boat" because all parties were happy with the outcome of the case.

A zoning dispute with city building officials led Fuller to scuttle his plans to add to the Briggs building. Cameron said he will now proceed with a planned $300,000 remodeling of the eatery. Midtown won't close down during the project, said Cameron, as work will be done during off hours.


7) Our talk isn't just cheap, it's intelligent

Join our Discussion Forum -- visit http://www.bhambuzz.org/cgi-bin/ikonboard/ikonboard.cgi -- and get involved in Birmingham's most intelligent discussion of the issues we all face. Some samples from the past few weeks:

" 'Intra-ocular Trauma' ... I love it! Great description of decision-making in our little part of the world. I really think the lack of courage is a result of so many in our community being conditioned by their auto company employers. Auto companies rarely, if ever, make any kind of decision without studying an issue from every angle, formulating focus groups, doing statistical verification, focus group sample surveys, etc. They are deathly afraid to make an error which could cost someone a bonus or a promotion. The same kind of thinking permeates our Commission and boards, where no one is willing to trust their own instincts or even trust what they may have seen in other, more progressive communities. The result here is often the same as with the auto companies: products that are behind the curve of public demand, too little, too late. A perfect example is the Shain Park expansion, which was proposed by the [2016] Plan as a simple green space with head-in parking surrounding it, supposedly undertaken in the first five years of the Plan. Instead, what we got was an $18 million, over-designed 'Wintergarden,' raised on a platform with parking underneath for the Community House. It was studied to death by every board, committee, commission and special-interest group in town, and every attempt was made to satisfy everyone's petty needs. And the result is... NOTHING! We have got to start trusting our own eyes...our instincts...and our own judgment! Despite the blizzard of facts and figures some would throw at us in an attempt to sow panic about the impact of the Plan on parking, simply opening our eyes and believing what we see would tell us the truth!"
-- Interested Party, 02/24/2002

"I find Birmingham a bit less than welcoming to families looking to spend time in the downtown area. Last Friday evening, my family arrived in Birmingham at 4:30 for a 5:00 movie at the Palladium only to find it was sold out. The next show was at 7:00. After a bite to eat at a Coney Island, we were hard pressed to find anything to do. All stores were closed, as was the library. We ended up killing 90 minutes in the lobby of the Palladium. I would certainly be hard pressed to repeat the experience again. What can be done to invite families to spend time in the downtown area?"
-- Anonymous, 01/23/2002

"… it is unfair to blame all AIAs for poor Birmingham residential architecture. Like any profession, there are both skilled practitioners and hacks.
"The blame must be placed squarely on the shoulders of the house buying public. After all, if there weren't a demand for these turret-clad, Disneyesque caricatures of past architectural styles, they wouldn't be around.

"These minimum cost/maximum profit designs come largely from builders invoking a grotesque troweling on of "curb appeal" to a lowest cost per sq. ft. structure in an attempt make up for its complete lack of design integrity. Just go around to the backside and look -- that's right, clad in aluminum siding. The builder only seeks minimum required architect input to sign off on the already completed plans. These cookie-cutter designs are then placed in the menu book for people to point and choose from with names like "The Grand Victorian" and "The Kingwood Estate."

"Skilled architects strive to understand the needs, desires and lifestyle of the future inhabitants. They create a design to enhance the lives of and make an appropriate statement about them, and the surrounding environment. I might add that this can just as easily be done with "lower cost" housing.
"Unfortunately, as long as people seek the brainless, fast food menu of architecture, and buy into the hollow status of the "McMansion," there seem to be plenty of hacks willing to build them.
-- jcr, 02/28/2002

"Victor [Saroki] seems to be one of the few property owners who understands the impact of appropriate building accent lighting. Mr. [Andres] Duany spent some time during the charrette and in speeches discussing this, and as part of the public realm improvements he suggested in the plan was the idea of retrofitting our tired but classic streetscape light fixtures with outlets and fittings at the top allowing buildings to be lighted easily. The property owners would only have to pay the cost of the fixture, which would be installed by city personnel. Just another simple and elegant idea that was lost in the recent political morass."
-- Interested Party, 03/03/2002

"As someone involved in the Booth and Quarton Lake projects, I can tell you that they are both moving along well. Each meeting I have attended has been quite productive. People from all parts of the city agree with -- and are excited by -- each other's ideas. That's right; commissioners, planning board members, city staff, business owners and residents all working together towards a common goal.

"Wade-Trim, HRC, and city staff members (mainly Dennis Dembiec and Bob Fox) have brought a great deal of knowledge and insight to each meeting. The original poster should come to one or two and see firsthand. They are listed in the Buzz calendar.

"I am confident that because of this cooperative spirit these parks will be a great source of pride for Birmingham.

"I am hopeful that this spirit can spread to all areas of the city."
-- jcr, 03/01/2002

"The Lilith shop provides an excellent example of creative retail ideas in action. Why can't the city implement a plan to require all building owners to coordinate an effort to improve the rear facades of their buildings. Coordinated and screened refuse areas and new paint alone would be a great improvement.

"I'll be interested to see what the Willits does to their 'alley' side by the Wabeek and Ethan Allen. It must be difficult to market million-dollar units that face some rather unsightly and unkempt rear elevations.

"From an architect's perspective, the nature of these secondary pedestrian passages holds much promise. I'd love to see enhanced entrances for some of the second floor residential and offices off of the alley. Venice, California and San Diego, California come to mind as two cities where high property values and a bohemian attitude have combined to create some very cool alleys.

"Perhaps the creation of additional critical retail mass on the north end of town will drive this alley enhancement as people find more reason to walk past shops on Willits."
-- Scott R. Bonney, Architect, 03/03/2002

"So we have two groups in Birmingham: The 2016 Plan supporters (AKA SMART and Planned Growth) and the STOP Developer [NO Growth] gang led by our current city Commission. Sounds like fun and games, just opinions and no one really gets hurt, right? Think again.

"Whether you believe in the 2016 Plan as it should be (before the newly elected Commission and Planning Board mindlessly slashed it in the last 3 months) or like the new GUTTED version, all of these irresponsible moves by the Commission lead the city down a path to REAL problems. These bogus appointments, ordinance changes and things like Gordon Thorsby's WILD GOOSE CHASE on violations will add to disaster. What will be next?

"We will start to loose $$$$. Property values dropping, tax revenue down and higher costs. How much? Could be a lot.

"Examples:
* $350,000 -- The 2016 Plan price -- plus all of the time put in by our paid staff and endless time from volunteers add thousands to the consultant
price. In the last two months, the Planning Board and Commission has effectively THROWN THIS PLAN OUT. The author of the plan has found these
moves to be outrageous.

* $200,000 -- The Shain Park Plan -- paid to consultants who spent an extensive amount of time with the additional cost of the paid city staff to put together numerous studies and alternatives to the Plan to redo Shain Park. And then they shelved it. Lanzetta, Dixon, Dianne and Seth assisted in this mess. Noone has brought it back to discuss since it was shelved over two years ago.

* $6,000 -- Commissioners Gordon's [Thorsby] wild goose chase cost for police overtime. This chase led to the conclusion that our construction projects around the city are really not filled with violations as he and the NO GROWTH GANG had envisioned.
"And these are minor examples. There is MUCH, MUCH more!!

"IS ANYONE AWARE THAT THE CITY OF BIRMINGHAM HAS 13 LAWSUITS AGAINST US AT THE MOMENT? That could be a whole lot of $$$$!

"Many of these lawsuits are a direct result of our current commission being mindless and hardheaded about promoting the agenda of a few and are NOT IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CITY or THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE RESIDENTS.

"IRRESPONSIBLE? Absolutely.

"Our downtown will continue to suffer, our retail will remain on the edge and places like Royal Oak will continue to grow and beat us at our original game - the 2016 Plan concept of proper development.

"Start watching this mess get worse -- the Commission has to change -- then maybe we can see some competence on the in City Hall."
-- BTA, 03/01/2002

"Those involved in public service in Birmingham know Jean Holland as a person who has concern, commitment and common sense. Anyone who suggests she would be anybody's puppet is dead wrong."
-- Dottie, 02/26/2002

"Just received a quote to have a sign placed on my rather anonymous business. 30% of the total cost was for permits, filing fees, time needed to go to the city for 4 different sets of meetings. What do my $25,000 in taxes pay for? I'd love to reveal my identity, but I need to make a living in this city. I fear the reprisal of those now in power. The city leadership has the ability to drive any dissenter out of business, on a whim, if it so chooses. I don't need to have them focus their vengence on me, much like others have had done to them."
-- Business Owner, 03/05/2002

"Regarding Jacobson's, the reports of their death in Birmingham may be premature. Several retail groups have gone through bankruptcy without affecting the operations of their many stores -- Macy's, Bloomingdale's and Franks. I have observed that even when the retail location closes, the space is usually occupied by a similar organization, often with better service and selection. As I recall when HH&S liquidated it was replaced in short order by Banks, which continues in Birmingham today. Secondly, Jacobson's has announced that it will not be closing any stores in Michigan. As I understand it, Jakes owns the building and land, which it occupies. This means that its overhead costs should be substantially lower than any of its leased stores. Suggesting: that the Birmingham stores would be the least likely to close.
"Regardless, it seems to me that the city should take some action to encourage Jakes to stay. I would suggest that we propose quasi property tax abatement for say 3 years. Since the bulk of the economic benefit from Jakes remaining in Birmingham would fall to the CBD property owners and business people, I am sure they would agree to have their PSD assessments increased to pay Jake's taxes. I believe this could be accomplished by simple commission/PSD action. In the best of all possible worlds, perhaps the non-CBD property owners should assume say 15% of the quasi abatement. However, to put in place the necessary legal framework and elections would in my opinion take so long the Jakes crisis would be over. It should also be remembered that the residential component, unlike the CBD merchants, is already supporting Jakes to a considerable extent with its retail dollars."
-- DRENALDO, 03/01/2002


8) Developers blend suburbs, downtown:
Upscale houses woo residents to urban areas

March 4, 2002

From the Detroit News

NORTHVILLE -- When Anne Smith lived in subdivisions in Canton Township and other bedroom communities, it was not unusual for her to drive 45 minutes to reach cultural events and shopping.

She decided to move to downtown Northville, where movies, coffee shops and restaurants are in walking distance. She built a $350,000 house in the city's downtown.
"When I lived in a subdivision, I'd go into my house and never go out again," said Smith, 55. "Here I can hang out in our downtown, see all my neighbors, visit the shops and eat lunch."

The city of Northville and other communities -- including Ann Arbor, Plymouth, Birmingham, Brighton and Royal Oak -- see residents like Smith as the answer to keeping their small, suburban downtowns thriving. And they're betting that residents are willing to pay big money to be where the action is.
Across Metro Detroit, developers are taking the conveniences of active suburban downtowns and combining them with multimillion-dollar condos and other upscale housing. In Northville and the other five communities alone, more than 300 units of expensive condos and lofts are being built or scheduled for construction. Residential developers are investing about $100 million in the projects.

The condos in the downtowns start at $250,000 and can top $1 million for other housing options, such as penthouses.

Developers are targeting retirees and baby boomers whose kids have moved out of their homes. Urban planners predict baby boomers will continue to move into downtown dwellings until at least 2020, attracted by the proximity of entertainment and cultural events and maintenance-free housing.

"We're at the very beginning of this new trend," said Robert Gibbs of the Gibbs Planning Group in Birmingham. "Empty nesters are moving out of their suburban homes."
In large cities such as Chicago, Atlanta and Houston, residents are moving into urban downtowns at a rapid rate. But in Metro Detroit, residents are doing the opposite and turning to suburban downtowns, instead of Detroit, to live. Urban planners say suburban communities offer walkable neighborhoods and services such as grocery stores and restaurants to meet their needs.

Critics of the trend say developers are pricing out thousands of potential buyers and fostering class separation. And, urban planners say, they are taking a big risk since there is no guarantee the expensive units will sell.

Municipal officials note that the projects bring in additional funds to their coffers. In Birmingham, the Willits building, slated to open in May with residential and retail space, will bring about $1.5 million in taxes to the city, local schools and Oakland County.

The city of Birmingham alone will capture about $540,000 of that amount, according to the city assessor's office. And that's not to mention how much the new residents will spend by shopping and eating at downtown businesses and using city services.

"Once residents are downtown they tend to spend their dollars there. They spend money on goods and services, get their cleaning done, they get their copies made and they eat in downtown," said Laurie Marrs, executive director of the Northville Chamber of Commerce.

New homeowners at the proposed Royal Grand in Royal Oak will pay as much as $950,000 to live in the 12-story structure when it's completed late next year.
By putting such high price tags on homes, developers are appealing to affluent buyers who are usually white, urban planners said. They say communities can better promote ethnic diversity by having housing options in a variety of price ranges.

"(Expensive housing) is not economic diversity," said Kurt Metzger, research director for Wayne State's Center for Urban Studies. "When it comes down to it, this type of economic segregation shows that the haves can live here, while the have nots have fewer options."

Royal Oak developer Jack Hanna, whose company is building the Royal Grand, said demand for such a dwelling is going up, and building them is not cheap. The cost of constructing the Royal Grand, with parking built in and retail space on the ground floor, comes to $20 million, he said.

"It's sort of like building a house on a lakefront lot," said Hanna, of Chrysos Development. "Although the residences are expensive, they will bring a lot more value to the community. It helps strengthen the neighborhood and strengthens the value of houses. It has a long-term stability factor."

*** Downtown homes ***
A sampling of expensive housing planned for suburban downtowns across Metro Detroit:

* The $3.5-million New Victorian in downtown Northville will include condominiums and office space when completed in the spring. The condos range from $345,900 to $429,900.

* Developers are trying to open the site of the demolished Mayflower Hotel in Plymouth by early fall. The upper floors would feature 11 condos, which will start at $600,000.

* The Willits building in Birmingham will have residential units, retail shops and restaurants when completed in May. Prices range from $660,000 for a basic flat to $2.7 million for a 3,500-square-foot penthouse.

* Ann Arbor's $50-million Ashley Mews includes penthouses, brownstones and lofts, plus commercial and retail space. Prices start at $350,000 and go up to $1 million for penthouses.


9) Buzz irons out kinks in new forum

March 4, 2002

Please bear with us as we iron out kinks in our new discussion forum. Among the issues:

* Registrants have not been receiving confirmation emails, and emails sent through the board were not being delivered. We are manually confirming all registrations. Registrants should be able to log in within 24 hours of registration, whether or not they've received confirmation emails. The board should be functioning properly within 24 hours.

* Effective immediately, guests to the forum may post new topics. We inadvertantly prevented this until now.
We urge all posters to register. You may do so anonymously, of course, but we suggest you use your real name whenever possible. Birmingham is sorely in need of leaders, and if the smartest people reveal themselves along with their ideas, they, along with their ideas, might just rise to the top.
In any case, registration has its benefits:

* You can create and vote in our informal polls.

* You can track topics, having all replies sent to you via email.

* You can send messages to other registrants, even if those registrants choose to keep their email addresses private.
Some tips on using the forum:

* You can change how topics appear by sorting according to three criteria at the bottom of a page of topics.

* You can easily find topics with unread postings by looking for open-envelope icons to the left of a topic. Once you are confident you have read all topics and posts, you can click Mark This Forum As Read at the bottom of any forum listing.


10) City Attorney defends Willits process

March 3, 2002

From the Birmingham Eccentric

An error was made but corruption didn't play a role in the approval process of the Willits condominium project, said Tim Currier, Birmingham city attorney.

"Did anyone get paid off?" Currier asked. "I have no evidence of that. If someone has evidence to that effect they can bring it to my office, and I'd be glad to look at it."
Currier recently concluded an extensive investigation into the approval of a 9-foot-8-inch screening wall atop the building. Members of the Birmingham Planning Board questioned the height of the wall and said many last-minute changes to the building were approved by city staff without the board's knowledge.

Members of the Birmingham City Commission recently questioned the performance of city building officials and the phrase "in the pockets of developers" has been bandied about for years.

On Wednesday, Currier appeared before the planning board to explain how the wall was approved.

"Keith Edwards said he thought, pursuant to city ordinances, that he had the authority to grant administrative approval with respect to the roof-top screening and that he probably did grant the approval but had no specific recollection (of doing so)," said Currier.

Edwards is a former Birmingham city planner who resigned in October to become a planner for Grand Blanc Township. He was in charge of the Willits project during the approval process and Currier said Edwards neglected to inform the planning board of the changes.

In an Oct. 31, 2001, letter to Willits architect Victor Saroki, Edwards approved a dozen changes to the plan including adding granite tiles below storefront glass and an installing an additional balcony on the south side of the fifth floor. In the letter, Edwards said he approved the changes because they were minor. The letter did not address the screening wall.

Currier mentioned Edwards' letter Wednesday but he also said he couldn't find written documentation that the city had approved the screening wall.

"We couldn't find a paper trail at all," he said.

When contacted, Edwards said he had no comment on Currier's statement.

Saroki attended the meeting and said he did get verbal approval from city staff but had no written proof of that.

Gary Kulak, chairman of the planning board, asked why the changes weren't brought back for a review by the board. He also questioned whether city staff had the authority to approve changes because the standards for granting them were never formally adopted by the planning board.

Currier explained that the board voted to "pursue" the standards for administrative approvals in 1994. The Birmingham City Commission passed an ordinance allowing administrative approvals later that year.

While the wording of the planning board motion wasn't exacting it did, in effect, set the standard for administrative approvals that the city has followed for the past eight years, Currier said.

After much discussion, the planning board voted unanimously to allow the screening wall to stay up as long as it was reduced to 4-foot-6-inches high. Saroki agreed to reduce the size of the wall.

But the screening wall wasn't the only matter the board wanted to discuss.

Planning board member Chuck Tholen compared the plans the board had approved with blue prints that were approved during the building permit process and pointed out a discrepancy -- a balcony that had been eliminated on the fifth floor.

"It must have been approved or we wouldn't have done it," said Saroki.

That answer wasn't good enough for board members. They asked Saroki and Currier to investigate further and present their findings at an April 27 meeting. The time for that meeting hasn't been set.

Saroki said designing the Willits was a complex process and changes to the plans are inevitable.

"Nothing we did was a substantive change," he said. "The building is fully within the building permit that was approved by the city."

Chopping the wall down to size is expected to cost $25,000, said Jim Jehle, director of development for Robertson Bros., the company building the Willits. As for the cadre of lawyers that attended the meeting on behalf of Robertson Bros., Jehle said they were there as a precaution.

"We have no plans to file a lawsuit against the city," he said.

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