'Minimum Change' Approved

Garden Homes Subdivision

‘Minimum Change’ Approved

The Ann Arbor Planning Commission last night approved a “Minimum Change Plan” for the Garden Homes Subdivison on the city’s west side. The plan would preserve the residential character of the neighborhood while making improvements.

The plan — formulated jointly by the Garden Homes residents and the planning firm of Johnson, Johnson & Roy — states that any future zoning of higher density than single family or townhouse dwellings is “inappropriate and detrimental” to the residential character of the neighborhood.

Currently there are 72 homes in the area, near the Miller Rd.-Maple Rd. intersection.

A vote of the residents will be held in August to determine whether one of the main needed improvements, sewer and water, will be financed through urban renewal or special assessment.

Fred Model, co-chairman of the residents’ Garden Homes Association, says the plan “will make it possible for a resident to receive a reasonable sum for the sale of any property.” Model says the plan “complies with the wishes of the vast majority” of the residents.

Planning Commission Chairman Eunice Burns says the Minimum Change Plan states that future zoning will be mainly R1 (single family), with appropriate R3 (townhouses) zoning “when deemed appropriate by the residents.” The possibility of adding more parkland to the area also will be explored, Mrs. Burns said.