City Of Ann Arbor Community Sustainability Discussion: Land Use And Access

Tue, 03/04/2008 - 10:38am

When: February 9, 2012 at the Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

This second in a series of four monthly discussions co-sponsored by the City of Ann Arbor, centers on Land Use And Access and includes discussion on infrastructure, transportation, built environment, public spaces, and land use. Panelists include Wendy Rampson, Planning Manager; Joe Grengs, Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Planning; Susan Pollay, Downtown Development Authority Executive Director; Eli Cooper, Transportation Programs Manager; Jeff Kahan, City Planner; Ginny Trocchio, Ann Arbor Greenbelt Program; and Evan Pratt, Ann Arbor Planning Commission.Each of the four monthly sessions will examine past successes and challenges, discuss possible future priorities and feature a think tank of local stakeholders (UM faculty, representatives from community organizations, city commissioners, City of Ann Arbor staff and the public). The ensuing discussions will help guide the city's sustainability planning efforts. Details of this series are posted online at www.a2gov.org/sustainability. For Ann Arbor's current environmental goals, check out the State of Our Environment Report at www.a2gov.org/soe.

Transcript

[00:00:23.08] JENNY HOFFMAN: Tonight's program on land use and access is the second in a series of four monthly discussions on Sustainable Ann Arbor, presented by the City of Ann Arbor. We're very pleased to be a part of this program. I'd like to thank all the panelists for being here this evening, and I'd like to introduce the moderator for this evening, Wendy Rampson, Planning Manager at the City of Ann Arbor. Please help me welcome Wendy. Thank you.
[00:00:53.92] WENDY RAMPSON: Thank you all for being here. Speaking for the organizers of the event, we're very pleased at this turnout. It really is a great statement about the interest of this community and all things sustainable.
[00:01:07.76] As Jenny mentioned, this is the second sustainable Ann Arbor forum, and we will focus on land use and access. So the purpose of this particular forum and all these forums is to explore issues of economy, environment, and equity. Those of you who are familiar with the lingo know those are the three E's. But we're looking in particular at the issues within the context of Ann Arbor and what we're doing to address these issues.
[00:01:35.35] We hope these sessions provide a springboard for a wider community discussion, and also help us set some overarching goals for the city as it relates to sustainability. And we'll talk a little bit about that. We'll talk a lot about that tonight.
[00:01:49.78] Underpinning this effort is a shared sense that Ann Arbor can be a sustainable place. I hope we all feel that we can get there. It can be a community that provides a rich diversity of uses and housing options. It can be a place that is nimble and adapting to climate changes, and it can provide systems with linkages in transportation and food and energy.
[00:02:12.29] It can be a place where people find meaningful work, and also ample opportunities for education. And also it can be a place where you have a lot of fun. You can have fun and still be sustainable. So tonight we will talk about what the community is currently doing to get there.
[00:02:29.91] First of all, I'd like to do some thank you's. I'd like to thank you all for being here. I know some of you may have had some transportation challenges yourself getting here because of the gas leak over on Liberty. But I'd also like to thank-- yes, a gas main leak. Hopefully, it'll be fixed by the time you leave.
[00:02:48.26] I'd like to thank the Ann Arbor District Library. They've been a great partner. One of the resources, in addition to providing the opportunity for you to come here this evening, is that they tape these sessions and provide them, as Jenny mentioned, in a video on demand. So people who can't make this, or people who are interested in a certain segment will be able to repeat that by going to the aadl.org.
[00:03:10.20] I'd also like to thank the Home Depot Foundation. The Home Depot Foundation very generously has provided a grant for Ann Arbor city staff to start working on the sustainability framework. And so that has been instrumental in getting us moving and providing the staffing that we need to move this forward.
[00:03:30.07] Jamie Kidwell. Jamie, where are you? Jamie Kidwell in the back is our brain child of all of this. She's been working on the sustainability framework and also working very hard on these forums. So if you get a chance, thank her. She's done a great job.
[00:03:43.05] Matt Naud. Where's Matt? Matt's our environmental coordinator at the city, also part of this collaboration. Jamie and Matt and I have been working to try to push this out into the community and get your input. So find us if you have comments.
[00:04:00.94] Finally, I'd really like to thank our presenters. We have a great group here this evening. What's really even more important, that it represents a cross section of the community.
[00:04:10.56] We have city staff. We have county staff at other sessions. We have non-profit representatives, so our partners within the community that are working on these same issues, but in the context of a non-profit organization. And we've had great support from the UM faculty, in particular the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning.
[00:04:33.05] So tonight the format is, as Jenny said, a series of quick presentations to get us thinking about the role of land use and access and supporting a sustainable community. And I say quick because we've only given them five minutes each. So they're going to have a hard time.
[00:04:48.73] We have Joe Grengs from the Taubman College here to get us started to think in a big picture about accessibility and land use. Susan Pollay. Susan is here is a part of the Downtown Development Authority, and the DDA is a hub of sustainability. And she'll give you a sense of why that's the case.
[00:05:09.29] Eli Cooper, the Transportation Systems Manager is here from the Systems Planning Unit. Those of you may have been at the non-motorized plan meeting yesterday have seen Eli very involved in that aspect. Jeff Kahan from my staff, Planning and Development. Jeff is our land use guru and has a lot of great knowledge about how we can do land use differently.
[00:05:30.93] Ginny Trocchio. Ginny is with the Greenbelt program. She is the person that is able to pull together the commission and the ideas and the purchasing power for the city to implement the Greenbelt program. So she's going to speak about that. And then finally, Evan Pratt, who's a long time Planning Commissioner. And he will sum up for us.
[00:05:51.86] At the end, as Jenny mentioned also, there will be a question and answer opportunity. We have a microphone at the back of the room. We ask that you step to the microphone so that everybody can hear on the video that's being put together. And if you don't feel comfortable in that environment, please feel free to catch some of us after or put something on the comment cards, and we'll get back with you.
[00:06:17.61] So I also noted before, this is one of four forums. The resource management forum happened in January, and you can go to the website to look at that. Dick Norton, who's the chair of the Urban and Regional Planning program, spoke for the faculty. And we had city staff talking about recycling and other very important issues there.
[00:06:39.15] Land use and access tonight. March 8, climate and energy. And so that session will be hand in hand with an initiative that the city is undergoing for a climate action plan. So we'll have lots of great discussion there. And then on April 12, that term called community, which is an all-encompassing category that includes things like safety and education, and art and all these things that we need to make a wonderful community.
[00:07:09.80] So let me say a little bit about the sustainability framework effort, which started about a year ago. Jamie got it started by researching 26, now 27, different plans to start looking at what they might say about sustainability. This just gives you a sense of the range of the plans. We had watershed plans, land use. Some were very topic specific, and some were very broad and encompassing.
[00:07:36.52] From there, Jamie and others were able to extract 220 goals, some of them very specific, some very general, as mentioned, and talk about all these things that we do in a community when we plan. We talk about quality. We talk about transportation services. We talk about natural features, neighborhoods. So this little cloud image shows how these terms were interspersed in these goals.
[00:08:04.32] So then we took that information, those goals, taking from those plans-- and I would remind you that these are plans that have all been through the community, and many of you have been involved in these planning efforts. They've been vetted, and they've also, in many cases, been approved by City Council. So it's the community's shared wisdom.
[00:08:21.75] So starting in September, we took the primarily four commissions to start, and those were Energy, Environmental, Park Advisory, and Planning Commissions. They met together to talk about where in these goals are sustainability. Are there priorities that we think should rise to the top, if we are to pick and choose those overarching sustainability goals? Since that time, we've added the Housing Commission and the Housing and Human Services Board to the discussion so that we can bring in that equity piece to the equation.
[00:08:58.35] So the handout this evening. You are the lucky folks because you get to see the first draft of the goals. So if you grabbed one of these, or if you didn't, you might want to grab one on the way out.
[00:09:09.85] These are very, very drafty. So don't feel like anything's written in stone. If you have comments about them, please let us know. But those commissions have a committee, a committee of commissioners, that will be looking at these and hopefully coming up with some 14, 15 goals that then we can agree as a community are aspirations for sustainability in Ann Arbor, and move that forward to City Council, hopefully in the form of a Master Plan amendment.
[00:09:39.67] So what I'm going to do is I'm going to look at the blue section here, which is Land Use and Access. And there are three areas, Transportation Options, Sustainable Systems, and Efficient Land Use. And for the first time only, here are the goals. Establish a physical and cultural environment that supports and encourages safe, comfortable and efficient ways for pedestrians, bicyclists and transit users to travel throughout the city and region. We tried really hard to take words out of that, but it was really hard because it's a very, very important concept.
[00:10:13.02] Sustainable systems. So in this case, we'd like to plan for and manage constructed and natural infrastructure to meet the current and future needs of our community. So a little more of a hardscape idea. This particular picture is of Easy Street and the stormwater improvements that were put in there. But that's something that, as a community, we are aspiring to in our land use and access.
[00:10:34.79] And finally, efficient land use. Encouraging a compact pattern of diverse development that maintains our sense of place, preserves natural systems, and strengthens neighborhoods, corridors and downtown. So that's another place that we're moving, although as you all know, it's very hard sometimes to determine what is that compact development. What is the density that we are hoping to achieve to make sustainable, but also make it a place that is livable.
[00:11:01.15] So with that, I will turn this over to Joe Grengs, who will talk about access in a larger framework. And here it is. Right is forward. Left is back.
[00:11:20.18] JOE GRENGS: Thanks, Wendy. And thanks to all of you for coming out tonight and for the organizers. I think this is really a great idea to get together and talk about ideas like this. And it's especially rewarding to take part in a place like Ann Arbor where we have very committed people willing to take risks and do things in an innovative way here.
[00:11:38.96] It's my job tonight to explain land use and access. And I'm going to do it with one idea. So that one idea is that we ought to be aiming for interaction, all right? So when we think about transportation, we should not be thinking about moving, but rather interaction. And I'll explain what I mean by that.
[00:12:06.88] Let me start by talking about place. Everyone knows the age-old adage of real estate agents, that the three most important things about real estate prices are location, location, location, right? Well, that idea is simply saying that place matters.
[00:12:31.77] We know that place matters, but let's think about how where you're located in geographic space matters. Of course, depending on where you're situated in space, it says a lot about your ability to engage, to interact, to interact with the people and the places that you like to do business with. Schools, jobs, stores, community centers, all of that is very much rooted in place.
[00:12:57.75] So we value place, not just by dollar values of property in the location, location, location scheme, but also we value it because it enriches the quality of our life. Place is also important because each location ties us into a different network of opportunities and constraints. It determines, to some extent, the social networks that we engage in.
[00:13:23.42] Again, think about how you interact with people in your lives, whether it's through schools, community centers, places of worship. All of that is very much tied to place. And we can illustrate that by thinking about how a family who lives on one side of a district line sends its children to a school that has perhaps a strong reputation for being an excellent place to go to school. And yet a family on just the other side of that line sends its children to a school with a lesser reputation. So again, place has a lot to say about the different opportunities that we have.
[00:14:03.12] And of course, place is very much rooted into race and ethnicity and income in the United States. And central to all of these things is the idea of interaction. We're interacting with people and places all the time. The degree to which we can do that is important. And transportation and land use has a lot to do with our ability to interact.
[00:14:26.00] Let me illustrate what I mean by transportation and how it interacts. Let me give you a scenario. It's Saturday afternoon, and you have four errands to run.
[00:14:38.65] Say you've got a teenager who needs to get to the high school for a theater rehearsal. Your younger daughter needs to get to baseball practice at a local park. You need to pick up a prescription from the pharmacy, and your partner hollers at you as you're running out the door to pick up a candy bar at the party store on the way out.
[00:14:57.37] So you've got these four things to do. Let me ask you, would you rather travel fast, or would you rather travel slow? My guess is that you probably would say that you want to travel fast, right? I would say that it depends.
[00:15:14.96] And it depends on-- I would ask, instead, what is the sum total of time it's going to take me to accomplish those four tasks? That is actually what's most important to me. How fast I travel is of much less importance to me than the sum total of that time.
[00:15:33.98] Now, what if I told you that I could accomplish those four things faster by going slow compared to this guy over here who can actually travel faster but doesn't accomplish them in the same amount of time? Huh? What am I talking about? How can that be?
[00:15:52.81] The difference is that, compared to this other guy, I have these things close to me. So proximity enters into the equation, right? So it's not just a question of transportation and how quickly we can move things. And yet our transportation policy that comes down from federal and state regulations and embedded deeply into the codes and standards that we follow tends to emphasize our ability to move.
[00:16:20.07] So transportation wants us to move places. So let me then-- this is then what typically we aim for in transportation policy. The goal up on top is mobility. We want to move things. And we do it through all sorts of different ways.
[00:16:36.97] Down below, these means are just capturing a few illustrations for you. We might expand capacity. We might use travel demand management. I'm not going to get into what those things are.
[00:16:46.78] I'm going to say a big no to that, and say instead there's a better way. What if we said that our goal was not to move, but rather to interact? And I'm calling that accessibility.
[00:17:00.80] The amount of interaction that I can accomplish in a given period of time, let's make that our top goal. And by the way, it really is our goal. When you go out to travel, any time you take a trip, it's not the trip itself that you're doing it for. You want to just get there.
[00:17:19.12] I mean, it is true that occasionally we may take maybe a Sunday drive for the pure joy of moving around, but most of the time we'd rather not. I'm guessing you're like me. If it was Star Trek, I'd be happy to ask Scotty up on the Starship Enterprise to just beam me to where I'm going. To illustrate that it's really just getting there that's the important part.
[00:17:40.85] So how can we do that? One is through movement. So all else equal, if we move faster, we can get to more places. But it's not the only way.
[00:17:53.13] We can also through connectivity in these days. I grew up at a time when getting to the resources here at the library meant that I had to travel to the library. Now I can actually accomplish a lot of this through the internet. So we can also accomplish things through connectivity. And finally, proximity. So land use policy can help us achieve our goal in ways that we don't normally think of with transportation policy.
[00:18:23.62] Why is this chart important? One, because it puts at the top the goal of-- it better represents reality. Accessibility is what we want. It's not movement. So that it demotes mobility.
[00:18:39.99] It also points out that there are other ways of achieving this goal of accessibility. It opens up the possibility of achieving this goal in other ways, and it highlights the importance of proximity. But now here's the real kicker. This.
[00:19:00.42] These two things, mobility and proximity, work in tension with one another. So normally-- and let me illustrate the tension with a couple of pictures. I'm going to show you two extreme pictures.
[00:19:13.80] Here's a picture where there's not much proximity. Things are spread out. But where things are spread out, we travel fast. You could imagine the cars on these roads are probably going 80 miles an hour.
[00:19:27.63] Another extreme is downtown Manhattan. Things are really close together, and that means that we have to travel slowly. Those poor suckers down on the road there are just crawling along, right? We probably don't want to be there. All right.
[00:19:42.93] So proximity and speed are in tension with one another. Let's go back to this and think about it in terms of accessibility. How much interaction in a given time?
[00:19:53.92] Let's say I put a magic accessibility clicker on the dashboard of a car, and every time I pass a place that might be useful for me, my clicker goes off. In this example, I get to go real fast. And normally, fast says success. But my accessibility clicker would go click, click, click, maybe. And then, for a long stretch, no more clicks.
[00:20:20.52] Here, I don't want to be moving slow, but yet my clicker is going click, click, click, click. All right? So accessibility, there are advantages here. My research, along with my colleague Jonathan Levine at the University of Michigan, is telling us that the proximity part is actually helping metropolitan regions accomplish more in a given time, even when we move more slowly than we'd like to. Just to illustrate the importance of land use.
[00:20:57.07] So I'll wrap up here by pointing out-- I'm going to make two points to conclude. First, when we take steps to increase mobility, let's stop and ask. The mobility may be helping accessibility, but is it also hurting us in proximity? How does it hurt us in proximity?
[00:21:18.01] Think about sprawl. When we build highways to the periphery of metropolitan regions, land use developers respond. And they build further and further out. There are all sorts of other examples where mobility can harm proximity and undermine our goal of accessibility. Now, I invite you to think about that tonight as you listen to presentations, and maybe we can talk about it during Q&A.
[00:21:44.81] The second point that I'll conclude with, then, is how do we achieve this? Let's just think about a real simple two-part recipe. One, let's make accessible places through our transportation infrastructure and through land use policy. And then second, let's let people live and work in those accessible places. And that usually means that high densities can help us achieve that.
[00:22:10.44] So I invite you to think about this one idea. Let's think about how to make interaction the goal, rather than movement, and see what comes up as you think about this through the presentations tonight. And I look forward to your comments during the Q&A period. Thanks very much.
[00:22:34.05] WENDY RAMPSON: Next, we have Susan Pollay. And I think that this is a great transition because in the DDA, in my experience, when the DDA was first formed, it really was formed to be a way to support parking and some other infrastructure projects within the downtown. And this DDA has really gone from that mobility to the accessibility and to that connection interaction piece. Susan, you want to talk about that?
[00:23:06.46] SUSAN POLLAY: I should have practiced with this clicker. Let's see if I can do this. All right, there we go.
[00:23:10.44] The beginning point of discussion is, I think this is really where we start to get to the meat and potatoes of our dialogue about land use and access. Land use so often is a description of what's going on in downtown as we talk about things like density. And certainly access is a key element because downtown does not exist in isolation. We exist in a context of what's happening around us.
[00:23:32.11] As a beginning point, a lot of you may be reading about DDA's in the newspaper, and sometimes it's not always easy to know what that is. In this state of Michigan in the early '70s, the state created enabling legislation that allowed communities to create an economic development tool to help them to resuscitate and strengthen their downtown cores. At this point, there's probably at least 300 DDA's, and each one of them has a different development plan.
[00:23:57.63] As Wendy described, ours was created in '82 with a parking emphasis to us. We have changed dramatically. We took over the parking system, and it enabled us to understand more fully than we ever could have understood. What that means to run a parking system is really the beginning point of dialogue about this DDA.
[00:24:16.59] We had an amendment to our development plan in '03. And one of the key strategies for this DDA, we have a whole chapter in our development plan about sustainability. We aspire to make our downtown the sustainable heart of a sustainable city. We are a DDA that speaks to our community ethos.
[00:24:36.02] Part of what I'm going to talk about is how we're approaching this from several different angles. Our downtown is a very diverse place, with a diversity of needs and a diversity of users. So we're approaching our sustainability strategy from a few different directions.
[00:24:51.38] The first to talk about is land use. As a DDA, we don't have a policy making function. But instead, we can use our role as an advocacy group. So in the early part of this decade, the group came in very strong in support of the millages that enabled us to create the Greenbelt. We're going to hear a little bit more about that.
[00:25:09.37] This is also a DDA that came in very strong in support of the changes that have happened in our downtown zoning that has strengthened our ability to encourage downtown residential. We began this work in partnership with the city as part of a downtown residential task force. There was almost no residential growth between the 1990 Census and the 2000 Census.
[00:25:30.38] In the last decade, we have seen a 30% increase in downtown. And I want to make a note, 30% at the same time the City of Ann Arbor lost population, and the state of Michigan lost population. We are seeing a dramatic transition in that point of connection that we just heard a little bit about.
[00:25:48.35] The DDA is also taking a very dramatic approach in approaching sustainability from the viewpoint of transportation. As you know, that saying that we're six square miles surrounded by reality, well, it's true. Around us are the oceans of freeway that we saw so dramatically in that photo.
[00:26:06.25] But more than 60,000, maybe 70,000 people a day come into Ann Arbor from those places. And so we've got to come up with a strategy in a downtown-based organization to try to find ways to get them out of their vehicles. Some of the ideas that we've come up with and are pursuing-- for instance, you've heard about the increased service between Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor. A strong number of our downtown workers live in Ypsilanti and work in Ann Arbor.
[00:26:28.44] Finding ways to work in partnership with the city and ALTA and the University is one of the elements we're working on. Express bus service, explorations for the Wally, which was a passenger rail service that we hope one day to see between Howell and Ann Arbor, and we've also been exploring a connector study that I know Eli is going to talk a little bit more about.
[00:26:48.27] Another thing that's important is, within that framework, about six square miles, when we began our work with transportation, our bus system had relatively few riders of choice. This was a ridership of last resort. What we've been doing is working in partnership with AATA and the city to develop a getDowntown program that provides information to downtown employees about the array of options available to them. As you can see in some of this matrix, we have made dramatic increase in the last decade in shifting people out of their cars, driving alone to go to work, using transportation choices like bicycling and public transit.
[00:27:25.42] Some of the other things to point out is the DDA is funding go!Pass. You may have heard of that. It's a free bus pass for up to 7,500 downtown employees using this bus pass to get to work. We're also approaching it from a perspective that that's not enough.
[00:27:39.48] Zipcars are something that the DDA is subsidizing downtown to enable people to make choices, come to work, and then there's a car that can take you to a meeting if you need to get there. Bike parking grants, we know at least at this point, 33% of our employees downtown are not bringing a car to downtown.
[00:27:56.23] Parking once and that walkability of downtown is one of our great strengths. When you see topiaries with flying, leaping stags that are actually greenery, there's a reason for it. We want you walking to the library. We want you to see that, talk about it, and tell your friend you saw that, and the eggplant growing there. Maybe then that'll give you a reason to leave your car behind and walk throughout downtown.
[00:28:17.95] We've been supportive of a number of construction projects downtown that have striven to be above and beyond, working to create the kind of construction center where people are thinking about LEED certifications, such as our new municipal center. This is the DDA that gave a grant to our city. So we were the first city in the United States that had LED streetlights. This was an important change in everyone's view about Ann Arbor. It put us on the map.
[00:28:44.73] We are right now in the midst of an Energy Saving Grant Program process, where we've provided about 120 free energy audits in the downtown. And we know that the visibility of downtown is one of Ann Arbor's greatest tools. We have the visibility. So we have opportunities to communicate what we believe as a community.
[00:29:03.91] So when you see things like that surface lot that's across the street from you, and it is retaining all of the storm water, we put a sign up so that we all understand why this is important. It's part of what's important about what we do as a community. We pat ourselves on the back.
[00:29:17.38] We use a variety of approaches, and we believe that it's working in partnership that we're getting the most done. And finally, understanding that the eyes are on downtown. We have a chance to be creative, try pilot projects, and if we're successful, find a way to build on them and maybe grow new projects. Thank you.
[00:29:41.08] WENDY RAMPSON: That's a very big challenge to try to sum up what the DDA in does in five minutes, so thank you, Susan. Next, we have Eli Cooper, the Transportation Systems Manager and all the things related to transportation that he does.
[00:29:54.45] ELI COOPER: OK. Thank you, Wendy. Good evening. Let's see if I can make this thing work. There we go.
[00:30:05.74] So in the context of transportation, one of the things that I'd like to start off by is describing it as a means. It's a means to serve the accessibility that Joe talked about. And when we think about transportation and sustainability, there's a couple of charts that I want to share with you as I begin.
[00:30:23.91] This chart in front of you shows transportation trends around the country based on US Census reports. So it's the best source of data we can find. And it shows back in 1960 that a little over 60% of folks used cars to get to work. There was lesser percents in transit, walking, and working at home.
[00:30:46.64] The important element to look at this is the lack of sustainability of the trends. You see that from '60 forward, auto use has increased all the way up to about 90% by 2000, and that trend continued to the 2010 Census. On the other side, at the bottom of the chart, you can see that the mobility that we talk about as alternative transportation are all in downward trends. These are not sustainable, but this is the direction of our country.
[00:31:18.02] We're in those six square miles surrounded by everything else. And in terms of sustainability, it's about finding that pattern where you're able to not only meet today's needs, but anticipate and be able to exist into the future. Look at where we were in 1960. It's very similar to where the nation was as a whole.
[00:31:37.58] But as we move forward over the next several decades, almost a generation, we have found in our community a way to bend the trends. And so when I talk about transportation systems, the issue and opportunity here in accessibility and land use is to try to understand what is it about Ann Arbor that's special. How do we strengthen the parts that keep us different from the trends that have moved in a less sustainable way throughout the country?
[00:32:08.88] Walking is one of the key parameters that really separates Ann Arbor from the rest of the country. Our percent of walking for people, residents, to get to work is about four times the national average. Our policies encourage us to think about, in terms of pedestrian systems, not only walking along the side of the street, sidewalks, but also an emphasis on getting people safely across the street. Because even though there may be access between where you are and where you want to go, if you can't safely connect those locations, it doesn't happen. It doesn't happen well.
[00:32:46.03] And what we've seen more recently is policy adjustments, and we're going to be seeing in the next month or so some infrastructure adjustments to provide additional clarity and safety for pedestrians walking across streets in Ann Arbor. This is part of a sustainable model of transportation where we understand that walking is a very sustainable mode.
[00:33:11.36] Next up the hierarchy of sustainable transportation is bicycling. And when we think about bicycling in Ann Arbor, it's something that's not new to us. Dating back into the 1970s, there was a Bicycle Coordinating Committee between the University and the city. More recently, since 2000, we have been actively engaged in expanding our system of on-road bicycle lanes. We're at the point where this year, we will exceed or eclipse 40 miles of on-road bicycle lanes.
[00:33:41.28] Our percent of commuters that use bicycles to get to work city wide is up to 3 and 1/2%, up from around 2%, 2.3% in 2000. So over the course of a little less than a decade, we've seen approximately a 50% increase of bicycling. We have a plan that guides these investments. And again, whether you're walking or whether you're bicycling, you're burning calories, not carbon. And that's part of the sustainability equation.
[00:34:13.11] Next up the ladder in providing transportation that means to connect the various activities that one wants to achieve on a daily basis. I look towards transit. Walking and bicycling satisfies shorter trips. You might walk a mile or two. You might bicycle four to six miles to meet your needs. Transit can take you anywhere you need to go in the city.
[00:34:36.09] And our investment in AATA has been phenomenal. Not only has AATA provided fantastic transit service, but they do it in a sustainable way. One of the first to introduce biodiesel into the fleet, and more recently, having more than 50% of the fleet using hybrid buses that when you're using the fuel side of the 50%, it is actually the biodiesel. So we're doing better than good with sustainability in our transit fleet.
[00:35:08.04] The next thing that comes through town and has served us to greater or lesser degrees since the 1960s are railroads. We have Amtrak high speed intercity service that's being brought to us by the federal and state government. And I'm sure I don't have to go into any detail to talk about the investments that are being made to make rail transport to Detroit and Chicago much more reliable and convenient and attractive. And it's a very sustainable way to travel.
[00:35:39.32] In addition to the high speed rail, work continues on the commuter rails service that will connect Ann Arbor, Metro Airport, Dearborn, Ypsilanti, and downtown Detroit. As you may recall, there have been a number of false starts with dates, that it was supposed to have service by 2010. Folks aren't talking about the dates, but as we think about what's going on, MDOT's busy acquiring and improving the rails, having the rail cars rehabilitated. And I look forward to the forthcoming announcements when we can look at rail as a means to get from here to there.
[00:36:19.46] Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, for many, the automobile continues to be, even in Ann Arbor, the majority mode. For those that may not see because unfortunately that's a dark colored hybrid car. Automobile technology is also changing and becoming more sustainable.
[00:36:36.22] And the challenges that we have in our work here in Ann Arbor is, how do we invite the appropriate sustainable modes of transportation including the automobile? So things like solar powered electric charging stations for parking of electric plug-in hybrids, increasing the role of car sharing and using additionally sustainable type of vehicles for that type of service. So that's a quick snapshot. I look forward to answering any questions that might come up later in the conversation. Again, our time is limited, and that's a quick run through of the transportation systems that we work with here in the city.
[00:37:15.77] WENDY RAMPSON: Thank you, Eli. Next up, Jeff Kahan to talk about land use and compact development.
[00:37:22.93] JEFF KAHAN: Thank you, Wendy. What I wanted to focus on today is the components of sustainable land use practices. I believe that there are five primary components that I think are worthy of consideration. One of them is natural systems preservation. Another is adaptive re-use, or re-utilizing a building or site for something other than what it was originally intended.
[00:37:43.99] Thirdly, land use efficiency, using land in an efficient manner. Fourth, this notion of mixed use or mixing land uses. And lastly, pedestrian and transit-oriented development. I also want to focus on how this city, for decades, has been pushing the envelope of sustainability before we even knew what the word sustainability meant.
[00:38:04.48] Let's first talk about natural systems protection. I think the city of Ann Arbor does quite a few things really well, but I don't think we do anything better than preserving and protecting natural systems within the city of Ann Arbor. We have language within one of our code chapters that was the first of its kind in the state of Michigan that really put the preservation of natural systems at the forefront, so that we are preserving things like high quality woodlands and wetlands and steep slopes and landmark trees.
[00:38:39.67] But one of the things that we figured out in 1978 was that it would make sense to preserve surface water quality, too. Someone told me a couple weeks ago that we were the second city in the nation to require stormwater to be detained on new development sites. And I think the first city might have been Portland, Oregon.
[00:38:59.42] Here's a photograph of something that I think is really quite beautiful. This is the stormwater detention pond in Arborland. The reason I think it's beautiful is that for 40 years, every single drop of stormwater that would hit Arborland Mall and race into the storm drains would wind up in Malletts Creek, degrading that system as well as the Huron River. What this system does is it holds on to that stormwater, allows it to seep much slower into that stormwater system. So I think that that's another element that our forefathers and mothers had been working on for decades to move us in that direction of sustainable land use practices.
[00:39:39.43] Let's talk about adaptive re-use. We've been doing this for decades, too, without even thinking about how sustainable it is. We've been using 19th and early 20th century buildings for something other than what they were originally intended. For a long time, the Gandy Dancer is an outstanding example.
[00:39:55.48] Some folks think that the greenest buildings are those that are already have been built. Kerrytown is another example. This is the armory building in downtown Ann Arbor, which functions as an armory since 1911. It was then converted into a multifamily residential, which is a great use of an older facility.
[00:40:16.88] Of course, this is Liberty Lofts, which happens to be in an historic district but also is an example of re-using something that really has a lot of terrific components for something other than it was originally designed for. We have an Historic Preservation Ordinance, an Historic District Commission. We have staff who care very strongly about preserving a lot of our historic amenities.
[00:40:45.81] Land use efficiency. I think it's very difficult, if not impossible, to talk about sustainable land use practices without referring to the great four-letter word in land use practices, which of course is density. I think density is an absolutely critical component to this whole notion. And one of the things that we've been trying to do is think about how we deal with things like density.
[00:41:12.08] One of the things that Ginny Trocchio is going to talk about is the preservation of open spaces outside of Ann Arbor. But certainly for decades we've been doing a pretty good job of preserving open spaces within Ann Arbor, be it parks or privately owned open spaces. And the other side of that coin is a focus on trying to accommodate density in appropriate places, like downtown Ann Arbor and along our commercial corridors. And over the last year or so, we have made some terrific strides in trying to encourage that kind of sustainable density in places like downtown Ann Arbor, or along the periphery on our commercial corridors.
[00:41:52.76] This is an example of a residential project that happens to have parking on the ground level, which I think is a really good example of sustainable land use. This as an example of a 10-story residential structure built downtown. We're seeing quite a few these projects being built downtown, which have really microscopic environmental footprints when you think of it. If you could house 200, 300, 400 folks in a very small area, you're way ahead of the game with regard to sustainable land use practices.
[00:42:27.68] Another point I wanted to make is that we also made great strides about 10 years ago with regard to our parking standards. We realized that we were forcing developers to provide a huge amount of parking, most of which was completely underutilized for most of the year. So we took great strides to reduce those parking requirements, and so now we have standards that are, in my view, the best in the state.
[00:42:57.60] This is an example of a single-family development project in Seattle, Washington that I couldn't resist presenting. The density of this happens to be 32 dwellings per acre. Single family detached. One of the ways they can do that is by cantilevering the units above the driveway.
[00:43:13.13] Let's talk about mixed use, something that we've been doing fairly well for a while. More recently, we've been encouraging along our commercial corridors, such as this. This is an example of a mixed use project in Seattle. Ground floor retail, upper floors are residential.
[00:43:26.54] And lastly, pedestrian transit orientation. This is a pretty common image along some of our commercial corridors, where we've changed our code to now require office buildings like this to be brought much closer to the sidewalk to give pedestrians and transit users an easier shot. This is an image of an office building in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. The ground floor is parking, and the main entrance to the building, upper floors of office. And this is an example of using much less land to accommodate the same concept.
[00:43:57.61] This is my last slide. This is an image of what I hope we see more of along our commercial corridors as we see some of these dated retail developments be converted to mixed uses, parking in the lowest level, ground floor retail, upper floors are residential. And I think I've been told I have to stop. Thank you.
[00:44:22.89] WENDY RAMPSON: Everywhere Jeff goes, he takes a camera. So if you ever get a chance to nail him down, he'll show you pictures of great examples everywhere. So Ginny Trocchio, you want to talk about the Greenbelt program.
[00:44:37.19] GINNY TROCCHIO: Thanks, Wendy, and thanks for your attention this evening. So I would like to talk about the Greenbelt program. And just as a little bit of a background, in case anyone's not familiar with the program.
[00:44:48.13] It was a millage passed in 2003, which is specifically for land preservation and land acquisition. So it's only used for land acquisition. Part of the money is used for park acquisitions within the city, but what I'm going to focus on tonight is really talking about the Greenbelt and talking about land preservation surrounding the city.
[00:45:08.46] What you'll often hear is it's a purchase of development rights program. And what I mean by that is that the city's purchasing a conservation easement. So the property remains in private ownership.
[00:45:20.08] And it really just restricts the amount of development and activities on the property to make sure the agricultural, the natural features on the property are preserved. Open space, the scenic views, are preserved. And then what the city does is we go out there once a year and monitors the property to make sure that the easement is being upheld.
[00:45:43.08] So I'm often asked why a Greenbelt? It was passed in 2003, and obviously that was a very different economic time and a very different real estate market than what we're seeing right now. And a lot of the land surrounding the city was really being converted into these subdivisions. A lot of the farmland and natural areas were being completely torn away for these subdivisions. And we were seeing a lot of sprawl in the area.
[00:46:09.37] So since that time, we have been able to protect 3,500 acres. You can see the map here. The green properties are properties that are protected from the county. Might be some of the land conservancies in the area. And then the orange or pink properties there are ones that the city's been involved with protection.
[00:46:28.39] We have leveraged the city dollars one for one. So on average, every dollar that the city puts in, another dollar is coming from another source. When we first started doing acquisitions in 2005, again, it was a very different real estate market than what we're seeing now. The average price of development rights that we were seeing was $16,000 an acre, and currently we're seeing about $4,000 an acre. So it's dropped dramatically.
[00:46:56.98] That, coupled with our increase in being able to leverage the city dollars, because the prices were so high back in 2005, we weren't able to get that high percentage from federal grants because they had a maximum of $5,000 an acre. With that drop in prices that we've see now, we can ask for the maximum of 50%. There's also several of the townships around the area that have passed millages. Ann Arbor, Scio, Webster have passed their own millages. And so we can partner with them.
[00:47:28.32] Washtenaw County has money available, that we partner with them. Salem Township just recently have allocated some of their dollars every year for land preservation. So there's a lot more local dollars being spent on this as well.
[00:47:42.71] So most of the revenue has come from the millage proceeds. And you'll see there in 2005, the city actually bonded for a lot of the money up front. So it's actually $20 million that the city bonded for. And so we've been spending that down over the last several years.
[00:47:58.34] You also see that peak, the peak color there. That is the federal grants. And so we've been able to capture a lot of those that come to the state over the last several years. In fact, in this area, there are a lot of times where Washtenaw County and the city take 100% of the dollars available for the entire state.
[00:48:21.31] Expenses, so the green there is the debt service. So we pay an annual fee to pay back the debt, the bond. And then the bluish color there is the amount spent on Greenbelt projects. So you can see that that's really grown quite a bit over the last couple of years. We have tremendous opportunity right now, and the program is really gaining momentum. And then the orange there is the amount spent on park acquisitions.
[00:48:51.94] So I'm often asked, why a Greenbelt now? We don't see the development pressure that we saw several years ago, but there are other benefits that provided to the city. And that is a lot of food security, which is one of the city's sustainability parameters that they're looking at. We've been able to bring down that cost of farmland. And so new farmers are able to afford to buy property.
[00:49:18.14] Also, most of the properties that we've protected, some of them contain Huron River tributaries. So it's protection of the Huron River Watershed. It's protecting the scenic views outside of the city.
[00:49:29.45] We've also partnered with Washtenaw County on several properties. So these are ones that actually do provide that public access. You can see pictures here from Fox Science Preserve, where a lot of Ann Arbor school kids go out for geology class and field trips. Scio Woods, there in Scio Township. That also provides recreation for residents. That's it.
[00:50:02.86] WENDY RAMPSON: In that, I think Ginny's highlighting the change in the economy really speaks to having these overall goals in place so that as commissions change, you start to be able to take advantage of opportunities like moving forward with the farmland preservation. So I think that's a great point. Next, we have Evan Pratt from the Planning Commission.
[00:50:29.65] EVAN PRATT: Well, thank you. It's certainly humbling to be with such a smart, thoughtful, and articulate group. And I really actually refer to the audience as much as the rest of the panel here. A lot of people have contributed, I know, in the room, from seeing people at meetings on planning issues.
[00:50:43.80] And I think it's very important that you've all taken the time to be here tonight. Because something Susan said really resonated well with me. Without the partnerships, sustainability isn't possible. Without people who are on policy boards and on staff listening and asking to hear what your questions are, we can't be successful. And likewise, I think everyone hearing each other's conversation helps.
[00:51:08.11] Sustainability. That word gets bigger every time I hear it. It just seems to have all these implications. And I think I've gotten past worrying about agreeing on a definition with anybody, or coming up with one that I think is best. I grew up on a farm, and I just have to revert to I'm just going to use common sense as best as I can.
[00:51:28.28] But the one thing I've learned is, it's not one viewpoint. And we all of course approach things with our own personal perspectives, our own backgrounds, our own training as we grew up. And I think it's fair to say most of us do some very sustainable things, and most of us, if we're pressed, we'll admit we do some pretty unsustainable things too. And some of that is just the lifestyle we choose. Some of it's where we live.
[00:51:53.12] But in total, the role of the Planning Commission is to help apply that judgment, help apply that, if you will, policy background to set some guidelines. And I firmly believe that if a Planning Commission focuses more on policy than on the actual nuts and bolts of the sites for at least half of the time, you're going to get much better site planning out in the world. If we focus on the policy, if the Council is focused on policy, it's relatively easy for staff to interpret and make sure that good quality projects are coming forward.
[00:52:29.64] So in the big picture, the Planning Commission was very excited about this idea of trying to create a framework, and overarching these 226 goals were very challenging. Going through that process, it was interesting to see all the redundancy that was there. That's good. That's good. We have a lot of crossover between the 25 or 26 Master Plan documents we have.
[00:52:51.08] And again, so many people in this room have helped us build those. We have some conflict within documents, between documents. What do we do about those? Maybe we don't have to do a lot about them.
[00:53:01.72] Something I saw years ago from the City of Boston was really help focus on that partnership, that listening. If a site doesn't have any of something but has a lot of something else, maybe that's meaningful. Their methodology at the time was essentially to have a matrix of scoring. So if you did really well in some of the environmental areas, but you didn't do so well on the energy efficiency areas, they still felt you met a minimum threshold. I like that idea of a blended perspective.
[00:53:31.16] There's so many things to consider. I don't think it would ever be right for me to say, oh, I've thought about everything, and I'm sure this is correct. There's always that doubt in your mind.
[00:53:40.40] But again, if we set good policy, I think that helps people with understanding the best way to go forward. And good policy begets good results. We feel like the Citizen Participation Ordinance has been fantastic. We feel like 10 years of work on downtown Master Plans, components of Master Plans, things to increase vibrancy, things to encourage residents to live downtown, to help with that 30% increase, those are all good for the city.
[00:54:07.73] I can't write a paper or do a study or tell you why that is, but I know seeing more people around downtown than when I was here 20 years ago when I first moved in. And I wasn't sure if three blocks was all we had or not. I finally realized I had found the downtown. It's great to see how much more vibrancy there is now.
[00:54:26.75] So to zoom down from that 30,000-foot policy level and a few of those examples, I'm going to go to a month ago. We saw a development proposal at 618 South Main. And one of the things that was nice about was it didn't fit. They had to do some different things. They had to come through what's called a plan project, which means they wanted to do some things different than the regulations, and they had to offer up some things.
[00:54:50.78] What they offered up in the Allen's Creek watershed, which is known for its flooding, as people know. There have been a lot of reports that to get all that water away would cost $150 million plus. Well, what they're doing with a site that used to be 100% pervious paved or rooftop, all that water's going to soak into the ground and zero of it goes into our storm water system. That's great.
[00:55:13.59] They're proposing a specific energy efficiency measure. They've put it in their development agreement, the legal agreement, the binding agreement with the city, to do hot water heating on their roof. They're are also shooting for that LEED gold, I believe, certification. Might be silver. Regardless, that's also in the development agreement.
[00:55:31.71] And some wise person somewhere at city staff or the attorney's office thought of the idea of having a penalty clause in the development agreement. Because those of you who might be familiar with LEED certification would know that without seeing the materials that go in and figuring out what gets recycled and what goes to appropriate landfills, you can't get certified for LEED until it's built. So there's no way to approve LEED. You have to certify it at the end of the process.
[00:55:59.23] So those things are going on. It's encouraging to see specific sites that are doing what we like. We can't control getting everything we like, but it's been great.
[00:56:07.34] And I'd say my one big eureka moment in looking at all of these various plans is, does anybody want to take a stab at how many times the word region or county is in our 226 goals? Anybody? I got three. So last thing I would leave you with as we go to the Q&A is think about, if we're talking sustainability, can we talk within our city boundaries for everything, or are there some things where we need to broaden our horizons a little bit? Thank you very much.
[00:56:41.77] WENDY RAMPSON: So if you bear with us a minute, I think we're going to pull up the screen. And we're going to have the speakers. I'll go behind the screen here on to the table so you can take questions. If you have questions, please queue up at the back by the microphone. We will try to answer your questions or have the speakers answer your questions as comprehensively as possible, but we'd also like to be able to get lots of questions in. So let's-- you all set? Right? Oh, you look very esteemed like that. Great. Please.
[00:57:23.36] SPEAKER 1: I'm interested in what is being done or might be done in the future to turn the Huron River into an attraction rather than a thing that's in the way, like the San Antonio River Walk. It's tough because a lot of it's privately owned, but are there any plans to make that more of an attraction?
[00:57:43.48] WENDY RAMPSON: Great. Anyone want to try? Yeah.
[00:57:46.57] EVAN PRATT: I'll take a try. I've been with the Huron River Watershed Council for some time. There's two things I can speak to I know that have gone on.
[00:57:53.72] First, there was recognition, I think at the city and from people talking quite a bit in the past few years, that of all the land use plans we have, there was no land use plan that focused on the strips of land on either side of the river. And good fortune or bad, the Huron River Impoundment Plan turned into the Argo Dam argument. And unfortunately, there's a lot of other content in that Impoundment Plan that talks about, maybe not as an entertainment venue because I think there is concern in residential areas nearby about too much development, but there was some conversation in there of, around that Broadway bridge node, wouldn't there be a good opportunity to do some adaptive re-use in that area?
[00:58:37.75] So that's one thing that's going on. Another thing that's going on is, how many people are familiar with the Border-to-Border trail? So a pathway, whether it's biking or walking or what have you. Well, there's a similar movement in, I'll say, rivers, non-profits, parks planning societies, for doing same type of things called river trails. And the Watershed Council, about a year and a half ago, started a project called River Up. And the idea is that there's economic benefit to the river. There's a feeling that people who do a lot of kayaking have some disposable income, and that that would be a good thing to turn your face to the river instead of having your back to the river.
[00:59:20.29] These planning things take a long time, but those are two things I know of that are going on right now. There's a desire at the Planning Commission to get back into the Impoundment Plan and talk specifically about the land use and the potential for, is there anywhere where we envision more vibrancy? So I'd like to see that.
[00:59:39.51] WENDY RAMPSON: Jenny, did you have anything to add?
[00:59:40.91] JENNY HOFFMAN: I know at some point there had been some thought that, as a part of our acquisitions outside of the city, that we might look upstream on the river to protect the water resources of the Huron River. So I know that that's an idea out there.
[00:59:57.52] GINNY TROCCHIO: That is one of the priorities for the Greenbelt, is protecting the Huron River watershed, so anything along the river or at the tributaries.
[01:00:05.24] JENNY HOFFMAN: The other pieces, those of you-- I know that Sam Offen here. I know that Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Plan that's been in place and is updated every five years, 20 years or so ago talked about the importance of having a connecting ring around Argo pond. And so those of you old timers out here may remember that most of that land was owned by industrial firms, some engine testing companies.
[01:00:31.98] The city was able to negotiate and buy Bandemer Park and other key pieces of land along there. And so now that portion of the Huron River has much more public ownership and has a trail system around it. So it shows the value of our planning documents and our visions that are articulated in those planning documents to try to keep working our way towards that angle.
[01:00:56.38] WENDY RAMPSON: Great. Other questions? Oh, please. There must be other questions. Don't be shy.
[01:01:11.14] SPEAKER 2: Yeah, I want to introduce a note of caution and negativity, I guess. I'm wondering to what extent people who are active in the city, particularly within the city government itself, are thinking about the future with regard to resisting certain tendencies that impact the city. And they come particularly from outside, in the sense that the University of Michigan is outside the city government and not, in many ways, accountable to the citizens of the city itself.
[01:01:52.52] I don't need to go into that too much. A lot of people know some of these issues already. The other is the state. For instance, I mean, there are certain things that citizens have pet peeves about, but the citizens aren't being asked.
[01:02:10.28] For instance, the state wants to bring in big, huge movie companies to shoot Hollywood, commercial, to me, exploitative movies, and all that goes along with it. There's nothing sustainable about that. And what it means is a huge lineup of huge Hollywood-type vans coating the Liberty Park with fake snow, all this kind of thing.
[01:02:35.10] I really object to it. I'd really like to see the city resist this. I know the state wants movie money, but I don't. And I'm a citizen.
[01:02:45.20] WENDY RAMPSON: And may I-- so would you say that these are economic development types of approaches that are put forward as being something to stimulate the economy? Is that generally where you're going, in terms of when you say tendencies?
[01:03:01.53] SPEAKER 2: I'm saying that the city should have its own independent policies regarding things proposed by bigger entities, such as the state of Michigan or the University of Michigan.
[01:03:10.98] WENDY RAMPSON: Anyone want to weigh in on this at all or have any observations about what we've done in the past at the city level?
[01:03:17.86] ELI COOPER: Well, I would just comment in observation that in order to be successful, we have to align our resources. We have to align our resources with our neighbors around us. The term region, if it's only been used three times, we need to think about that. Because being sustainable within our boundaries is one thing, but having a sustainable community is quite another.
[01:03:39.41] In addition to horizontal alignment, there's also a vertical alignment. And we can be much more effective, as we see with the Greenbelt program, if we work with the county and other, higher forms of government. So in terms of our success and sustainability in many things, we really do need to coordinate both vertically and horizontally and align our interests. It's not about wasting energy and pushing against each other, but in finding the way to work together.
[01:04:11.84] WENDY RAMPSON: Any others? Great. Next question?
[01:04:14.55] ERIC: Hi. Thanks for a very interesting presentation. I know several of you have spoken about the need for density, especially in the downtown. And I think that a lot of people would agree with that, but what would you say about the countervailing need for some open space in the downtown?
[01:04:30.33] I think that Ann Arbor's downtown, though the rest of the city has a lot of park space, there's very little active open space in the downtown. And there's been, of course, a debate about what to do about the surface of the library lot, whether there should be park space there or that should be another high rise development. I think there's been a lot of discussion and a lot of papers written by people like White and others about the need for open space and how open space, greenways, actually generate economic development around them. Does anybody want to comment on that?
[01:05:08.45] SUSAN POLLAY: I'll take just a beginning shot. And I welcome maybe Jeff to join in with me. The question about open space downtown is a really important one, and I'm glad that you brought it up. One of the central elements, I think, in the discussion is that downtown is very different than the rest of our community.
[01:05:25.69] I live out in the Lakewood neighborhood. I live across from Dolph Park. The parks in our residential areas are used recreationally. They're used as a way of a buffer. In downtown, the open space has very different purposes, very different challenges.
[01:05:40.35] In the downtown, our successful spaces, like Sculpture Plaza, have ingredients that make them successful, and I think it's somewhat invisible why it works. We know why it doesn't work. Why Liberty Plaza Park, for instance, doesn't feel good. Sculpture Plaza works because it's small. It isn't very, very large and overwhelming. It's small.
[01:05:59.22] In downtown, safety and perception of safety concerns are important to understand. Small feels manageable. It's also successful because it's absolutely right up adjacent to people's food co-op and the other retail shops. They're helping to animate it and activate it. There's also a use that they see taking place, so they're out there cleaning up the cups and the debris.
[01:06:19.79] There's a sense of ownership over that space. They're planting into the planters. That is an important element that's missing, say, at Liberty Plaza Park, where there really isn't an adjacent use next to it.
[01:06:29.85] And I think we're getting smarter about what's working, what's not working. And as we look at the library lot, the Greenway, knowing more than we did 20 years ago about why spaces are successful downtown, I think that as we develop these spaces as open spaces downtown, I think we're going to make them more likely to be successful.
[01:06:47.63] The second and last thing I'll say before I'm going to ask Jeff his opinions, is downtown open space also is a very flexible space. Out in the residential areas, it's dedicated park land, and that's what it does, and it does it very well. In downtown, when we shut down Main Street, and we have big events like the Mayor's Green Fair, or we're having FestiFools in a couple weeks, it's a festival. It's gathering. It's open. And then, in a few hours, it goes back to being roadway and sidewalk.
[01:07:15.72] The Palio Lot is one of the secret gems downtown because it serves as a great asset for things like the car show and Taste of Ann Arbor, and then it goes away again. And that kind of flexibility in downtown is something that I think is also something we didn't know about 20 years ago. And as we think about how downtown changes, when it's cold out, we have different needs than when it's hot out, and we're out in the middle of the summer.
[01:07:37.04] Those sidewalks are one of the most important elements in downtown open space, but one of the other secrets is the landscaping we're putting in around those parking lots. A lot of the downtown residents have dogs who have needs. And they're not going to West Park. And those surface parking lots are sometimes all they need to be able to live downtown, is open space that functions for their dogs, and then goes away again because then, again, they're going back to their apartment. So we're smarter, and I think with that kind of knowledge, I think we can be successful in adding more open space downtown.
[01:08:12.07] JEFF KAHAN: I would agree with the question that open space downtown really does matter, and I would also say the city staff members who I've talked to really are very interested in that issue, and that we're likely to get more of it, particularly in places like the library lot, when we're looking at a pretty large site that has a lot of importance to the community. But I would also say that we cannot apply suburban concepts to downtown spaces. In other words, the notion that lots more is lots better.
[01:08:44.07] I think the open spaces that downtown has that are the most cherished happen to be really small spaces, almost microscopic. It might be the farmer's market, which we all love to visit. It might be Main Street sidewalks, which is open space. It's public, open space.
[01:09:00.51] It might be the West Park band shell or the Diag. Maybe it's a parade down Liberty Street or a car show. It's a different type of open space, but all of the open space that I've mentioned and others has value.
[01:09:18.49] But I think that it's important to remember that users are, for the most part, not looking for a big, huge playground to bring their children. Because there frankly are not very many small children who live downtown. So it's a really different animal, and we should treat it differently.
[01:09:37.66] WENDY RAMPSON: So great-- I'm sorry, Eric, did you want to follow up?
[01:09:40.59] ERIC: Yeah, to follow up, Susan, what you were saying about-- thanks-- about convertible spaces, so does that mean you would support something like, over the library lot, having a parking lot which could be converted to have public events at some times of the year? The art fair, Top of the Park, so that it could be used for service parking sometimes, but other public events at other times?
[01:10:03.08] SUSAN POLLAY: Absolutely. And to that end, the garage was designed with speed ramps off of Fifth and Division, specifically so that one day when a plaza is in place, we can shut down Library Lane, which is the new name of that street that we're creating between the lot and the library, specifically so that it could have those special event uses, so that cars become secondary. It becomes about people using the space. The uses for the parking garage could happen off-site, but in the core area, have a plaza that people could use for whatever celebration we all think we want to use.
[01:10:35.44] WENDY RAMPSON: Great.
[01:10:35.85] ERIC: OK. I think everybody agrees that those micro areas like the small park by Sculpture Plaza, for example, are very effective. But also, I think that there is a need for those larger spaces, like where the art fair is now currently held in front of the University and where Top of the Park is currently held in the Diag. Those spaces too have a function. And the library lot could be the urban version of that Diag, possibly.
[01:11:00.37] WENDY RAMPSON: And I would just reiterate that something like the Parks Plan, the PROS Plan, is where those types of discussions are appropriate to talk about what's an appropriate open space for the downtown. Great, great question. Clark?
[01:11:14.44] CLARK CHERNETSKI: Hi. Yeah, my name's Clark Chernetski. And Mr. Pratt talked about what he called blended perspective and the sometimes conflicts between different goals and different plans. I think one thing that exemplifies the trade-offs are the proposed Fuller Road Station. There are two places in Ann Arbor to have a train station. One is there, at the present location. The other is the proposed Fuller Road area.
[01:11:45.51] And the Fuller Road Station would take about three acres of park land and use it for train station and parking. However, that means you would not have to park cars in the future, where the gas company property is going to be cleaned up right on the river across the tracks from the train station. So you'll be trading three acres along a railroad track, between railroad track and a road, for many more acres between a railroad track and the river.
[01:12:21.93] And it also could be used to provide some parking for park patrons who want to use that area of the park land area around the Broadway Bridge. So I think that the trade-off is in favor of Fuller Road Station. I know people who'd disagree with me on that, but I think it's something we should keep in mind.
[01:12:42.36] WENDY RAMPSON: Any of you want to speak to those issues, I mean, that's one of-- there are a number of those issues out there. The library lot and the use of the library lot, ultimately, Fuller Road Station. These are all very, very difficult decisions when you're talking about how to make a community sustainable.
[01:13:00.32] We want density. Where's the appropriate place for density? We want transit. Where's the appropriate place? So these are things that we're going to be continuing to grapple with as we try to get closer. And I don't know if any of you have any particular insight into that that you'd like to--
[01:13:13.86] JEFF KAHAN: Well, I would just offer-- can't help but take the opportunity to accept the comment and suggest in terms of the framework of this forum on sustainability, the location of a train station next to a large employment site is fundamentally important to fostering and enhancing the walkability and connectivity of that utility, the train station. We do have work to do in understanding the implications of this preferred location.
[01:13:42.04] However, all of the observations relative to the natural resources and the proximity to the river versus urban space is important in the context of accessibility and land use. And this is one of the challenges that we as staff in the community will have going forward in weighing and measuring the alternatives that we have to consider as we move forward with this project.
[01:14:04.68] WENDY RAMPSON: And Joe, I'm going to put you on the spot, since you represent the academic community. Are there particular communities or techniques that communities use to try to get at these fundamental discussions about trying to preserve open space, but also trying to promote density? How are communities trying to grapple with these things?
[01:14:27.40] JOE GRENGS: Honestly, I think you guys know that better than me. I mean, there are lots of different techniques, of course, focus groups and various methods that people use to get at these things. But you know, we teach negotiation skills. We teach our students to learn how to draw out ideas from people. And there are a variety of different methods, but I can't point to any particular stellar one.
[01:14:55.66] WENDY RAMPSON: OK. So I told you I'd put you on the spot. But thank you.
[01:14:58.22] JOE GRENGS: I might say something about the Fuller project, though, just to be a little bit controversial, I guess. In the spirit of my message of accessibility, I have a concern about the Fuller Road Station project. And it is the parking ramp part of it. I have expressed my reservations to the University about the parking ramp element of this project.
[01:15:19.09] My own opinion is that the University doesn't need to build another parking ramp, that there are other steps the University can take to address. Admittedly, there are parking issues, but I think there are a number of steps they can take by reallocating the existing parking infrastructure. But moreover, from the city's perspective, I would urge people to think about my message of accessibility.
[01:15:45.94] And this, to me, illustrates an example where mobility goals undermine accessibility goals. At first blush, you might think that a station like this can house lots of different transportation things. Cars, rail, bus, bikes, et cetera, and that kind of makes sense. But from a density perspective-- and I'm not anti-car. Cars have their place.
[01:16:11.51] But from a density perspective, cars fit in a completely different category than rail, bus, walking, and bike. Rail, bus, walking, and bike work well in high density areas because we all have to walk places. Unfortunately, cars work against that because they're big honkin' objects that have to sit idle all day long. And so to have a parking structure with 1,000 vehicles sitting there empty, not doing anything, precisely at the location where we want to have interaction, where people can walk to stores and shops and residences, to me is a mistake. And I would urge the city to think about that.
[01:16:55.08] WENDY RAMPSON: Very interesting, OK. So clearly there will be and continue to be that robust discussion about what is appropriate. Eli's been working very diligently to try to support rail, which is something that I think a lot of people feel is necessary to bring us to that next level of transit. So stay tuned. Next question? Hi, Janine.
[01:17:18.54] JANINE PALMS: Hi, I'm Janine Palms. I really appreciate these public discussions. I think it brings up a lot of things that a lot of us perhaps didn't think about. And I wasn't thinking about those issues, Joe, that you brought up about mobility and proximity and connectivity and accessibility. And I really appreciate your words on that, especially when in terms of the AATA was talking about, well, let's make sure we have enough buses going between Ann Arbor and Ypsi for people that work in Ann Arbor but live in Ypsi. And so what's our thinking about how do we make this a little more equitable, in terms of allowing people, making it accessible for people, who work in Ann Arbor to also live in Ann Arbor. And so that started to raise those kinds of thoughts in my head, and I wonder what your thoughts are about that.
[01:18:09.12] JOE GRENGS: Well, I agree. I appreciate your comments about these ideas. And your comment illustrates to me that you're understanding that part of my message is that to achieve our transportation goals, we can do it better when we're also thinking about land use and to allow people to live and work in a wider variety of places. We actually do really well here in Ann Arbor, but elsewhere, there are so many restrictions on where people can live. Broken down by income, et cetera.
[01:18:42.58] Here in Ann Arbor, one barrier is the affordability. It's really hard for people who-- it's easier for low income people to live in Ypsilanti than it is in Ann Arbor. One approach to solving the transportation issue between them is to push forward affordable housing in Ann Arbor. So I agree with the spirit of your comment.
[01:19:08.52] WENDY RAMPSON: Yeah, Evan?
[01:19:09.23] EVAN PRATT: I wanted to just comment, too, on a related note. And not even on affordable, we struggle with workforce housing. And again, the 618 South Main I mentioned, one thing we liked about it was a, they did a lot of public process, Citizen Participation Ordinance. I think Council member Briere had a big hand in that. But it was a success story. It's only the second one, and the first one was not a success story. But we learned things each time.
[01:19:33.58] 70 people showed up at the first neighborhood meeting. Two people came to Planning Commission, I think for a variety of reasons. They had good things, but also it wasn't another six bedrooms per unit. This was studios, one bedroom, and two bedroom units, kind of a third, a third, a third. So that is a big help towards the folks, I think that-- or people even who are nurses at the hospital. They're not necessarily low income, but it's hard to live in Ann Arbor when you do that. So that was another benefit.
[01:20:03.87] And the idea, too, we struggle a lot with parking on that particular site. And independent of whether you like the number or not, it was up 180 some units and they provide about 120 spaces. But what we really have pressed on at Planning Commission for several years-- and again, Bonnie Bona is here, and she pushed this a lot in this direction-- is unbundling parking.
[01:20:25.07] We want people who come in to rent, whether it's an office or a residential space. We want them to make the choice. We don't want them to say, well, I'm already paying for the parking, so I might as well bring my car in. We want that parking to be charged separately from the rent. That way, there's no incentive for someone to-- well, I might as well bring it anyway.
[01:20:47.24] There's, in fact, a disincentive if somebody's trying to save money. And I think that speaks a little to what Joe said about, why is that hunk of metal there? Well, we can't stop people from choosing what they choose, but we can make it so it's a choice, and it's not an automatic that we always get a spot with your unit. So just again, those are really detailed things, but it's important to have those things in policy.
[01:21:08.01] WENDY RAMPSON: And I would say, too, it does boil down to density. If you want to provide more affordable housing, workforce housing, within the city, there needs to be more dwelling units. And so that's always a debate and concern. I know we had a very healthy debate.
[01:21:25.29] EVAN PRATT: Those would be good in somebody else's neighborhood, Wendy, those other units, those extra units.
[01:21:27.66] WENDY RAMPSON: Yeah. On the accessory apartment. Those of you who are familiar, accessory apartments are small units that can be created within single-family homes. The community 10 years ago decided that they weren't interested in moving forward with that. But those are the types of things that places like California, where they have a severe housing issue, they've turned to those types of tools in order to create opportunities for people to have small units within neighborhoods in order to provide that, that resource. Yes? Next question.
[01:21:58.76] STEVEN: Good evening. My name is Steven. Thank you for the discussion tonight. It's really, really good information. My concern is noise. Noise, noise, noise. The effects of transportation.
[01:22:16.00] You talked about land use, the effects that we have with that, storm water and so forth, so forth. Like the one lady said, Ann Arbor is a ocean of freeways. And a gentleman spoke about mobility and proximity. How close we are-- how we live closer to the freeways. I live in Arbor Hills subdivision, the northeast side of Ann Arbor. It's Foxfire. We are along M-14. What are we doing to address noise?
[01:22:42.85] I looked through here. There's nothing about noise-- air quality, land use, water. Noise, we are surrounded by freeways. There should be some kind of thought about berms, plant beautiful trees that's not harmful to the environment to put a buffer on the noise.
[01:23:06.94] I think that's the big effect of the quality of living in Ann Arbor. Can we address something about that? And I'll try to be at next month's meeting to address that also again about noise. There's a big thing about noise, noise, noise. You're going to hear me say that forever. Noise. Please address that.
[01:23:26.99] WENDY RAMPSON: All right. Anyone want to tackle that?
[01:23:31.58] SUSAN POLLAY: I don't have an answer, but I just have an observation. I think a few years ago, when 14 was shut down because they were working on it, did some of the rest of you have the same experience? It was unbelievably quiet.
[01:23:42.62] It was just such a remarkable thing to not have the freeway sound. I had not been aware of it as a backdrop. So I'm resonating with what you're saying. I had not thought of that as one of those environmental issues to be addressed, but it's absolutely key. Quality of life is essential to think about that as an element.
[01:24:02.73] WENDY RAMPSON: Great.
[01:24:03.45] STEVEN: I just want to state one thing. And there's always a discussion about increase the size of the trucks that's going through the state now. So that's going to be more noise on Ann Arbor, and the effects that we're going to have on that situation. So thank you.
[01:24:18.16] JOE GRENGS: And I would just, in terms of an exchange of information, the idea of noise walls or berms are prohibitively expensive. And this isn't in defense of why they don't exist, but what it is equally important to understand is that the benefit or relief they provide is a very shallow area right behind the wall. So from the context of reducing noise, I couldn't agree more that it absolutely affects quality of life.
[01:24:44.56] And that's part of why our transportation policy and philosophy looks more towards walking and bicycling and transit use. Hybrid buses are quieter than conventional buses. It's absolutely an issue that we need to address, but I would just ask for folks to be aware of the extremely high cost of noise remediation, and the limited effect that it would have. And that's part of the justification that is behind why the investments in that noise mitigation has not been seen in and around our community.
[01:25:18.50] WENDY RAMPSON: I want to respect the library's time frame. So I think we have one more question, Rita, if you could make it quick because we do need to finish up and be able to get out of the library by 9 o'clock. Thanks.
[01:25:32.45] RITA MITCHELL: I think it'll be easy. I'm Rita Mitchell. I just want to say thank you, Professor Grengs, because I agree with your opinion on the Fuller Road Station. I do believe it will be a car magnet, and that we could address the train needs in other ways, possibly adaptive re-use of the current station and improving that location, which is much closer to the downtown to serve the city. But I'd also like to say something about transportation within town.
[01:25:59.15] And I know that there's been a great deal of discussion recently about the four-party agreement for transit in the region, in the county. And I'd like to suggest that the AATA improve the routes that it has right now and make service truly excellent in town, and that that will actually be a draw for people to support the density that we have expressed as a wish here, and that would have some environmental benefits. I don't know if you'd like to comment on that.
[01:26:29.11] WENDY RAMPSON: I would say, and I know Eli may piggyback on that, that transit ridership is way up. And the AATA just last week instituted frequent service, more frequent service on the Washtenaw number four route, that is already showing increased ridership and better on-time performance. So in strategic areas, they're already starting to do that.
[01:26:51.31] JOE GRENGS: And as a member of the AATA board, I think it's important to realize that enhanced and additional service requires additional resources. And part of the framework of the county-wide movement under the transportation Master Plan is to secure the resources, not only to enhance service within the community-- and I couldn't agree more that it is one of the real jewels that we have in terms of moving people and helping our economy in a sustainable way-- but also connecting is better to the rest of the communities in our county.
[01:27:22.55] WENDY RAMPSON: Great. And I hate to cut this off, but I need to do that. The panel will be here for a few minutes to take your questions. The green sheets on the table in the back, if you have comments, questions, please fill those out. And also, if you would complete the form with your email address, we'll stay in touch with you. Thank you very much, and thank our panelists.

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February 9, 2012 at the Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room

Length: 1:28:00

Copyright: Creative Commons (Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share-alike)

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Environment
Local Issues
Sustainable Ann Arbor