Housing, Parking Ideas For CBD Given Council

A preliminary report on possible methods of improving the Central Business District in terms of housing and parking was presented to the City Council last night. The report was presented by the landscape architectural firm of Johnson, Johnson & Roy, Inc., and included recommendations to establish two new zoning classifications for housing, give premiums to developers for increased open space and create minimum parking standards for apartment buildings. Also, the architectural firm recommended a liberalizing of land requirements for planned projects, revisions of the zoning chapter and establishment of a Board of Review for all major developments. Cy Paumier of Johnson, Johnson & Roy emphasized to the council that the report given was only a preliminary draft but said the firm strongly supported the basic principles. He said that for the next two to three weeks the firm would be "testing" the recommendations by talking to interested parties to determine if the standard are acceptable. The firm suggested that the floor area ratio in the CBD area be changed from 1,000 per cent to 500 per cent. Under the present ratio of 1,000 per cent, developers can erect a structure 10 times larger than the lot area. This would be cut in half if cut to a 500 per cent ratio. Developers could, under the firm's plans increase floor area by providing "amenities enhancing overall property values," such as larger setbacks from the street, covered plazas, interior arcades and plazas, parking structure roofs that could be used as recreational or pedestrian space, recreational and cultural facilities or an increase in the size of the parcel to be used for construction. These premiums would range from granting 15 square feet of added floor space for each one square foot of open area provided to one square foot of added floor space for each additional square foot of land acquired above a base site of 12,000 square feet. New zones recommended by the firm would be an RC residential commercial zone and an R4E multiple - family district. The firm said the RC zoning should be created to encourage the orderly clustering and placement of high-density housing " The prime use would be residential, with office and local business permitted on the lower two levels of all projects. Establishment of an R4E zoning would be for high-density development located within the limits of the primary fringe area, the firm said. This zone would have a minimum requirement of a 50-foot setback on a two-acre site. The firm also recommended minimum controls for all highrise developments which would require all walls above the second story to be set back two feet for every 10 feet of building height if the walls contain windows and one foot for every 20 feet of height if the wall lis solid. Under recommendations for parking standards, the firm said it would recommend that the present parking exemption district for commercial firms be continued and said the objective is to provide a 100 per cent off-street parking ratio for multiple-family developments within this district. To achieve this the firm suggested parking be required at the site on a basis of one space for every 600 square feet of gross area , that this same rule be applied for parking within 800 feet of the structure and that the remaining 70 per cent of the parking be required on the fringe areas of the city. The firm recommended a reduction in the minimum required acreage for planned projects from two acres to one-half acre to "encourage consultation with the Planning Commission in the preliminary planning phase and guide the developers in utilizing potential premiums." It was also recommended that the off-street parking chapter be incorporated into the zoning chapter and that the building code be reviewed "in light of the current activity in highrise development." Scheduled to go up next year is a completely new and enlarged School of Architecture and Design Building and , within five years, according to Pierpont, a large classroom and office building north of Hill Auditorium and extending to Washington St. will be built. A large psychology building and mathematics building with a computer center are foreseen on the Central Campus by 1975. Pierpont also predicted construction of numerous other U-M facilities including: 1) Several residential colleges north of the Huron River; 2) The 200-bed Mott Children's Hospital and unit No. 2 of the Medical Science Building, both of which are slated to be put under construction this year; 3) A large new library on the Central Campus and on the site of the West Physics Building, which will be demolished; 4) A new concert hall and auditorium on the North Campus and a new theater on the Central Campus. Only the larger scheduled and envisioned U-M projects were cited by Pierpont, and he told the audience that no one should deny that growth is with us. "We should admit it into our councils, study its characteristics and plan for its accommodation, and this we must do," Pierpont declared. He called for the U-M, city, local Board of Education, and citizens to "plan together, work together and solve its problems together. And this we will do." Elzay predicted the Ann Arbor public schools' 1975 budget for operation will be $17,500,000, up $8,300.000from this year's budget. He set enrollment 10 years ahead at between 20,061 and more than 22,000, depending on whether a 1963 and 1964 decline in the total of pre-school age children has continued. Public school enrollment today is about 15,100. The higher enrollment will have by 1975 forced the public schools to build new schools containing 210 classrooms, Elzay said, adding in a 1975 vein: "You will recall that a second senior high school, the Ann Arbor Huron High School rated at 1,500 pupils with some 50 teaching stations, was completed and occupied in 1967. A third of similar capacity is now in the process of planning for occupancy in 1978. "A fourth junior high school was completed and occupied in 1958. A fifth will be occupied next year (1976)." Elzay predicted construction of six new elementary schools between now and 1975, pinpointing their locations as follows: Huron River-Barton Hills area, Ann Arbor Pioneer High School Area, Glacier-Green, Platt-I-94, Chalmers, and Stone Rd.-I-94. Still talking in the 1975 vein, he said: "Regular classroom additions have been made to Thurston, Lawton, Lakewood, Mitlchell, Carpenter, Haisley, Abbot, Mack, Dixboro, Meadowview and Forsythe Schools." Elzay's 10-year-ahead look foresees not only an extended school day, but an extended school year, and he said: "In some respects, the local school district has lost is identity due to the cooperation of all county school districts in centralizing certain functions in the county intermediate district. The county office now (1975) provides centralized purchasing, data processing and consultant and coordinating services in all areas of the curriculum. In fact, the schools in Washtenaw County are on the threshold of becoming a county unit system." Speaking on academics, Elzay said: "The remedial, general and academic programs have been extended throughout the school day, week and year. A third of the enrollment is involved in one or more of these programs. The time of a seven-hour school day operation at the secondary level can only vaguely be recalled." Some of Elzay's other predictions for 1975: 1) A major addition to the main public library, a second branch library and selection of a site for a third branch; 2) Teachers with master's degrees earning salaries of $12,000 a year, with professional salaries averaging $9,500 as compared to $7,300 today; 3) Full-time certified public school employees totaling l,2000, up 408 from today; 4) An enrollment in Washtenaw County's Community College of 2,500 full-time and 500 part-time students, and an average of 5,000 enrollment in Ann Arbor's adult education day and night schools. 5) a 40-to-50 per cent increase in construction costs of schools, with the cost going to $20 to $22 a square foot from an average of $14. "This trend (by 1975) necessitated some refinancing of the debt service funds as well as an increase in the rate " he said. Elzay issued a look ahead in terms of the public schools curriculum. "Curriculum offerings in terms of courses have not changed much in the last 10 years; content has. Much greater emphasis has been placed on the fine and practical arts areas. A community arts academy is receiving serious study. "Elementary school organization has been more flexible so that today the non-graded school is commonplace," Elzay said. He believes that a high percentage of students at all levels will be engaged in independent study programs by 1975. Swinyard predicted some of the make-up of Ann Arbor's business community by 1975. By that time, about 100,000 persons a year will come to Ann Arbor to attend educational conferences conducted by the U-M, Swinyard believes. "In Washtenaw County. we can expect total employment to reach 125,000 in 1975, with some 70,000 of these jobs in Ann Arbor, Swinyard said. "Half of the Ann Arbor employment will be in the government category, including University and public school employees. About one-quarter of the Ann Arbor workers will be employed in research for private firms and in other professional services," he added. Swinyard predicts the average family income in Ann Arbor in 1975 will be $15,000 a year, up from about $11,000 today, "I would expect the increased population, higher incomes and more attractive retail trade opportunities to result in nearly a doubling of retail sales in Ann Arbor by 1975 " he said, cautioning: "This doesn't mean that Ann Arbor retailers can relax because there will undoubtedly be more merchants here to share the retail dollar. Swinyard believes that by 1975 Ann Arbor will have "at least" two more neighborhood shopping centers and a large regional shopping center. Swinyard predicts construction of a new downtown combination office building and hotel not yet conceived today, new highrise apartment building, and hotels and offices between the Central Campus and Main St., providing a population which would buy goods and use services in the Central Business District. Swinyard warned merchants: "The business methods of 20 years ago will not be adequate or 1975 . Public planning and civic planning appears to be far ahead of private business. Our greatest need now is for improved planning and aggressive action by the individual business enterprises so that each one can be a more solid part of metropolitan Ann Arbor in 1975."