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THE BIRMINGHAM BUZZ
-- "It's the 2016 Plan, stupid."
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Buzz # 14 -- April 3, 2002

Promoting intelligence and reason in city government. Our mission: To inform and involve all Birmingham citizens.

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In this edition:
1) From our discussion forum: How can we make our town more family friendly?
2) Third key city planning official resigns
3) Editorial: What is the point of the reckless, irrational mission to shut down development?
4) Editorial: City needs an Internet strategy
5) Kroger development frozen; tenant steams
6) Editorial: Revise flawed ethics proposal
7) Editorial: Why did smart people put such silly stuff into the proposed code of ethics?
8) To be removed, send a request to info@bhambuzz.org
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1) From our discussion forum: How can we make our town more family friendly?

(Many readers do not visit or participate in our discussion forum. For them, we will occasionally provide edited excerpts. To read the complete thread, or to contribute to the thread, visit http://www.bhambuzz.org/cgi-bin/ikonboard/ikonboard.cgi?s=3cab1a8e2b2bffff;act=ST;f=1;t=2.)

Posted by Anonymous: Jan. 23 2002,19:31

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?

Posted by Anonymous: Jan. 24 2002,02:29

Very true observation. One of the things that would have helped would have been locating Borders in the center of town as opposed to the edge, on the other side of Woodward. It is disconnected from the downtown and does not encourage walking. As I am pleased to have Borders in town, I wish that we would have encouraged it in the center. Royal Oak is currently building a Barnes & Noble in the center of town on Main, and that will be a major boost for the "hang out" potential for downtown users. Also, record stores help. We will have that with the addition of Tower Records at the Palladium. Magazine stores also help in this regard. Many cities have a combination of bars, coffee shops, bookstores/magazines/music stores and small gift/card shops in pedestrian districts to fullfill the browsing needs of people coming and going to/from dinner and a show. Birmingham needs to step this up for sure. Please don't give up.

Posted by michael: April 01 2002,10:46

I had the pleasure of spending this past Easter weekend in Saugatuck with some friends (another Birmingham family). On Sunday, downtown had a series of events starting with an Easter hat contest, then a parade down Main Street of all the families and kids who came -- hundreds) along with the Easter Bunny to the park. The park had been strewn with Easter eggs and candy, and of course what followed was a huge Easter egg hunt with hundreds of kids scrounging for bounty. The coffee shop and restaurants were filled with families after the event.

My friends and I began to ponder the question: What would be the response if a family friendly event such as this was proposed for downtown Birmingham?
Any comments?

Posted by NAL: April 01 2002,11:33

Hmmm. Good question. Saugatuck is a very interesting place. It is characteristic of what Birmingham in the 1950s must have been like, along with the funkiness of the hip, gay, artsy crowd. There is the Hardware store right downtown (I have heard that some Birmingham City Commissioners feel this is a major requirement for a small town and something we are severely lacking), quite a few parks, and they even have two public restrooms, one in the center of town and one by the main park on the river. I wonder why we can't seem to provide restroom facilities at Poppleton Park or one of the other parks where we have kids' soccer and baseball games. It seems odd to me that every construction project MUST have a Port-o-John, but the city parks, which are frequented by many families and are run by the city, don't have any facilities.

In the summer Saugatuck is packed with people, and the visitors actually park in the neighborhoods and walk downtown.... If there are things for people to do in Birmingham, they will come and enjoy themselves. What about some weekend things? Now that we have the two movie theaters, how about a film festival with movies at the theaters and maybe some discussions or shows at the Community House? Many people want Birmingham to retain the small town charm, but lets add some sophistication to the mix, too, like Saugatuck has. By the way, Saugatuck and Douglas combined have a population of only 2000. If you have never been there it is an amazing place. Here is their website: http://www.saugatuck.com/welcome/welcome.htm. You will be amazed at how much they have going on for such a small town.

Posted by Interested Party: April 01 2002,12:04

Great suggestions, NAL! The film festival idea is a natural. It could be tied into some of the independant filmakers we have locally and/or the State of Michigan Film Board (yes, we have one). I don't know anything about such things, but I'll bet there are people in town who do.

Another idea that my daughter suggested a few years ago is a "Family Skate Day." She said it would be neat if the streets around Shane park were closed off on a Sunday afternoon and people could rollerblade around the park. She said they could have music and concessions in the park and places to sit and just watch. The point she was making was from a child's perspective about having family fun. Maybe we could solicit some input from the kids in town and learn what a real family event is.

Posted by shelli: April 01 2002,17:01

Michael: I like your observations and think your suggestions are worth bringing to a community forum somehow. The prospect of hosting a film festival is particularly exciting because an array of complementary events can be planned around it.

Posted by C Moss: April 01 2002,18:21

The family Easter-egg hunt sounds like a winner, but the real exciting thing is this film festival idea. We've got lots of movie theaters to show stuff, and lots of places for people to go and hang around before and after. It plays to our strengths as well as to our downtown image -- or what we'd like to define as our image. I think this idea should be vigorously lobbied: brought to the Principal Shopping District and the Chamber of Commerce and followed up on. Also the Eccentric should be sympathetic. Sounds like a creative winner, so go for it!

Posted by BTA: April 02 2002,03:10

The bottom line in making a town active, vibrant and economically healthy is people. If you have good infrastructure (houses, downtown buildings, proper density, sidewalks, parks and streets) you will have an awesome place. Proper infrastructure will make a place people-friendly and will encourage a mix of uses in a downtown like working, living and playing (whether an Easter egg hunt or Film Festival).
Make proper buildings with proper scale and uses (i.e. multi-story buildings with retail on the ground floor and floors of offices and housing above) in a downtown and your town will be filled all of the time.


2) Third key city planning official resigns

April 2, 2002

City Planner Jill Bahm has resigned. She is the second city staff planner, and the third key city planning official, to resign within a year.

Bahm replaced Keith Edwards, who resigned late last year after about two and half years with the city. Both served as the city's primary liaison with the Birmingham Planning Board. Bahm had been with the city since June of 1997.

The city's Community Development Department, for which Bahm and Edwards worked, has been under pressure from members of the City Commission, Planning Board and public for its administration of the building oversight process.

Former Planning Board member Thomas McGraw resigned his position early this year in protest of actions taken by the board and the commission.
Bahm could not be reached on Tuesday; the reason for her resignation was unclear.


3) Editorial: What is the point of the reckless, irrational mission to shut down development?

April 1, 2002

If you were a member of the Birmingham City Commission or Planning Board, and you wanted to shut down development in Birmingham, alienate developers and their potential tenants and make it next to impossible to lure new development and business to town, you might consider doing something like this:

First, casting a mistrustful eye on city staff, you'd ignore precedent for staff approval of construction drawings and attempt to micro-manage every aspect of the building oversight process.

You might, for example, target a project like the multi-million dollar Willits condominium. (The Willits is nearly complete, and every step of the way its developers have followed established city procedures for obtaining approvals. First they got site plan approval for their general conceptual plans from the Planning Board. Then they submitted detailed construction drawings to city staffers, who issued the necessary construction permits. Finally, throughout the construction process, city staffers have closely monitored the project, approving all the work done, including changes to the original drawings.)

What you'd do is this: You'd find a few minor differences between the preliminary plans submitted for site plan approval and the actual building, and then haul the developers before you and ask pointed questions about those changes, implying that the developers (maybe in cahoots with city staffers) had done something underhanded. You might demand that the city manager and city attorney conduct an investigation into how the changes were approved. And you'd get the developer so riled up that his lawyers fire off a long letter to the city, threatening a very big lawsuit if the project is hindered in any way.

You might not shut down the project, but you'd send a strong message to developers that they're not welcome in Birmingham. You'd let them know that they can expect confrontation and the nitpicking oversight of amateurs, rather than the cooperation and professionalism they would get from the city's paid professionals. By now, of course, you've got the city's professionals so stirred up (looking for work elsewhere, perhaps), that they're loath to approve anything on their own.

Next, you might target another project, let's say the addition to the Kroger store on East Maple. There you might find some significant differences between what you approved and what is being built -- enough to get city staff to issue a stop-work order. Now, if you really wanted to be cooperative, and still get your way, you might schedule a special meeting between the developer and the Planning Board to get the whole thing squared away quickly. After all, a lot of people are depending on speedy completion of the project. In addition to the developer, you have the businesses committed to moving in, and the neighborhood residents, who are inconvenienced by the construction and eager to avail themselves of the additional services of a completed project. And after all, you scheduled a special meeting to haul the Willets developer in.

But you don't want to be cooperative. You want to send a message. So you let the developer wait -- for months. The stop-work order was issued in early March, but sorry, your agenda for March, April and May is full. You see no compelling reason to squeeze anyone in. Let him wait till June or July. That way, anybody considering putting up a commercial building in Birmingham, or luring new business into town, or even moving a business into town, will get the message: Don't expect cooperation from City Hall.

We are, of course, describing the situation that exists right now in downtown Birmingham. And if you do not think it will affect your quality of life and the value of your property, no matter where in town it is located, think again. Both are directly tied to the vitality of our downtown. If our downtown suffers, our neighborhoods will suffer.
We don't think the consequences we describe are unintended. We believe that a majority of our city's leaders are on a reckless and irrational mission that, unchecked, will have a lasting and negative impact on our city's ability to thrive.

What are their goals?

Some of our leaders find little downtown to attract them. Maybe they long for the days when Kresge's anchored West Maple, and Wilson Drugs and Huston Hardware dominated the corner of Maple and Woodward. Those stores, which will never return, were driven out by a variety of factors, including rising rents.

We have heard some of our leaders say rents are too high in town today, and wonder what, if anything, they can do about it. We don't think they can, or should, do anything about it; it's not their business. But maybe they think they've got it figured. If you stanch development, and make it difficult for quality, modern retailers to make a home here, then without the synergies that make a modern downtown vital, businesses will continue to suffer, and vacancies will rise. (And don't believe the claims that 95% of downtown retail space is leased. Ninety-five percent of ALL space downtown might be leased, but the percentage of occupied retail space is smaller, and getting smaller every day.) As vacancies rise, the law of supply and demand will take over. Rents will drop.

But what will fill the new low-rent retail space in a town with few remaining businesses? Perhaps our leaders have in mind a reasonable mix of businesses that magically will bloom to attract their legion of Ozzies and Harriets.

We have asked our leaders, repeatedly, to articulate the vision that drives their mission, but we get no meaningful response. Perhaps readers of the Buzz will have more luck. We urge you to contact our leaders, and ask them to explain their goals.

For a list of names, phone numbers and email addresses of individual city officials, visit http://www.bhambuzz.org/City_officials.htm.


4) Editorial: City needs an Internet strategy

The City of Birmingham needs a coherent strategy for its presence on the Internet.

The City Commission recently agonized in three meetings over a request from the Principal Shopping District for around $20,000 to beef up its website, http://www.enjoybirmingham.com. The PSD has already spent around $30,000 to get the site up and running.

Commissioner Don Carney, who has been asking some tough questions lately about the PSD, didn't shy away from questioning this allocation.
Carney seemed to think that an expenditure of that size ought to be accompanied by a clear explanation of what it was buying. He wasn't the only one with that good question on his mind.

Unfortunately, nobody seemed to have a very good grip on what the website is supposed to accomplish, nor of its effectiveness. And the whole discussion betrayed a lack of technical savvy on the part of the participants. John Heiney, executive director of the PSD, was unable to supply any meaningful tracking data, nor any evidence that anyone actually uses the website for any meaningful purpose.

The site lists all member businesses. Those who want a simple page describing their business and its hours are offered one free of charge. The site also lists available properties downtown, and contains a few other snippets of information. It was built and is maintained by an outside contractor, which is one of the most expensive ways to build and maintain a website.

Heiney got his allocation, but it wasn't because City Commissioners were presented with any convincing information. In addition to the PSD website, the city maintains another site at http://www.ci.birmingham.mi.us, a hodgepodge of some very useful information about our town. This site is maintained by the city's Information Technology Department.

Birmingham has to rank pretty high among connected towns in America. We think it's safe to say that a majority of homes are computerized and connected to the Internet. The number is surely growing as both Comcast and Ameritech get their broadband act together.

You don't have to look far on the Internet for examples of small cities that effectively use the Internet to meet a variety of goals.

Birmingham isn't completely in the Dark Ages, of course. The PSD site is well organized and designed, if of questionable value. The other city site, not so well organized or designed, but of vastly greater value, contains the City Code; City Commission, Planning Board and Board of Zoning Appeals agendas and minutes; a calendar; some frequently requested forms; the email addresses of many elected and appointed officials; links to related site, and other useful information.

Using the Internet effectively doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg -- and in many cases it can save money. For example, City Clerk Nancy Weiss recently unveiled a program that will make complete Commission agenda packets available online, a move that she estimates will save the city thousands of dollars in printing and other costs over the years to come. Hers is not the only initiative that can save the city money, and make City Hall a bit more accessible to the public.

The City Commission should direct city staff to study the matter and make some recommendations.


5) Kroger development frozen; tenant steams

March 31, 2002

From the Birmingham Eccentric
By Larry Ruehlen

Jack Leone is going broke waiting for the sound of pounding hammers to return at the Kroger's construction site at 685 E. Maple.

"I get the distinct impression that Birmingham doesn't want me or my business," said Leone. "Every person I talk to says 'rules are rules' or 'it's not within my authority to help.' This is a death sentence to my project."

The death sentence Leone is referring to is a March 3 stop work order issued by the city for failure to follow approved blueprints. Leone is trying to open a gourmet take-out
restaurant -- Cucina Leone -- but the project was already months behind schedule when building officials slapped an ominous red tag on the site. While construction workers merely shift jobs when a red tag goes up, it's not that simple for Leone.

"I'm running out of time," he said. "The developer says it's the city's fault and the city says it's his fault. While they fight it out, I'm going under."
Leone's troubles began with a Feb. 10 building inspection that revealed discrepancies between the blueprints that were approved by the Birmingham Planning Board and what was actually being built.

A thorough review by the city turned up many differences including six fewer parking spaces, a four-foot reduction in the height of the building and different locations for doors and walls. Such changes aren't necessarily against city codes, but they do have to be approved by the planning board. Unfortunately for Leone, the board meets once a month to review site plans and there is a long waiting list to get on an agenda.

If the Southfield-based developer, First Commercial Realty & Development, acts quickly with a review request, the project could get on the June agenda. If it doesn't, July would be more likely, said Jill Bahm, city planner.

Tom Markus, Birmingham city manager, said a recent dispute over a high-profile construction project has caused city officials to be wary of granting administrative approvals for changes to building plans.

"The changes require review," he said. "And at some point the city staff can't absorb responsibility for all of human kind."

Bahm said the planning board tries to handle five site reviews per meeting on a first-come, first-served basis. When reviews take longer than anticipated, applicants are usually asked to come back next month.

At Wednesday's planning board meeting, the last applicant on the agenda said he had been back five consecutive months waiting to be heard. Markus said he does empathize with Leone and advised him to write a letter explaining his plight to the Birmingham City Commission.

"A special meeting is a possibility," said Markus, "but we have to remember these people (planning board members) are volunteers. This isn't their life's work."
Bahm said the planning board has held special meetings on occasion but she couldn't remember it doing so for a single site plan review.

With debts mounting and thousands of dollars worth of restaurant equipment sitting in storage, Leone is beginning to question the city's business practices.

"This town is half vacant and the planning board only works one day a month," he said. "I have a $500,000 project going down the drain, and I haven't heard one person say 'we really want your business.' "

According to city statistics, more than 96 percent of available space within the Principal Shopping District is currently leased.

Peter Gikas, a construction manager with First Commercial, said the owners of the company were on vacation and he wasn't familiar with the project. The architect was also on vacation and couldn't be reached.

Leone said he has already sunk $75,000 into the restaurant and can't wait much longer to open.

"We were supposed to open in July," he said. "I worry every day, but I'm not sure what to do next."


6) Editorial: Revise flawed ethics proposal

March 31, 2002

From the Birmingham Eccentric

The code of ethics being considered for adoption by the Birmingham City Commission overall is a reasonable document punctuated by some unreasonable demands that undermines the whole proposal.

It contains many useful and welcome provisions that will help ensure the city's elected officials, administration and staff operate in a fair and proper manner to the benefit of the city.

And it's encouraging anytime ethics can be injected into government. But clearly this is a flawed document that will have to be revised before it can be implemented.
Several provisions themselves seem unethical.

Specifically, the provision on "Dedicated Service," which states that "all officials and employees of the city be loyal to the political objectives expressed by the electorate and the programs developed to attain those objectives."

What the code appears to be saying is that the people of Birmingham elected the officials to carry out their wishes so by being loyal to the officials, the employees are really being loyal to the people.

This convoluted framing is simply nonsense. What the code actually is sayings is, "Look, the people elected us, so if you want to work for the city, you better do what we say and toe the line."

That means, don't speak out. No criticism. No dissent.

Even worse, in the provision under "Political Activity," the code states, "Employees shall not take an active part in political campaigns for candidates other than
themselves."

Actually, the U.S. Constitution addresses such activities under the topic of freedom of speech.

Another trouble spot is the provision regulating "Ex Parte Communications." Strip away the innocuous-sounding verbiage and we are left with the possibility of any employee being forbidden to speak to such folks as newspaper reporters. The rule of free speech may hold sway here as well.

We do support the provisions identifying and prohibiting conflict of interest and requiring the disclosure of income that may put officials in conflict with their job responsibilities.

And there are other common sense provisions that would promote good government. The City Commission needs to focus on those provisions and cut out the chaff that only muddies and otherwise commendable document.


7) Editorial: Why did smart people put such silly stuff into the proposed code of ethics?

You've got to wonder about some of the silly provisions of one of the ethics codes currently being floated by the city. Who in their right mind would suggest that "all officials and employees of the city be loyal to the political objectives expressed by the electorate and the programs developed to attain those objectives"?

That's just one of the dumb provisions of the suggested codes, which you can review by visiting http://www.bhambuzz.org/pdfs/ethics_city.pdf.

The code being circulated was developed, we are told, by Commissioner Don Carney, City Manager Tom Markus and City Attorney Tim Currier. Both Carney and Currier are lawyers. All three should, and we have to presume do, know better.

So what's the motivation behind allowing things so blatantly ridiculous -- not to mention unconstitutional -- to be included in the code?

8) To be removed, send a request to info@bhambuzz.org
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