Enforcement Duties Questioned In Maple Village Issue

Will the Ann Arbor City Planning Commission get into the enforcement business? Proposed revisions to the Maple Village Shopping Center Area Plan put before the comission last night brought the aestion to the forefront. The planning department ;aff recommended that the Dmmission not approve any irther revisions because, it aid, the owner of the shopping enter had not complied with irovisions in the orginal area ilan. How do you get a developer .o comply with the area and ite plans that have been set ap? It was asked. Revoking a posted bond is a long and difficult process, said Planning Commission Chairman John Laird. He said the Maple Village Shopping Center has been a source of irritation to the city for several years, but is not the only instance of non-compliance by a developer. Laird thought enforcement, to the extent of the commission denying any further site plans until the developer complies with previous site plans already approved by the commission, was a proper function of the commission. Planning Department Director Raymond Martin agreed with Laird and added that the commission had been acting in an enforcement capacity either . iBfBM overtly or covertly. Martin cited complaints such as broken pavement and unfinished landscaping. Maple Village Shopping management Is seeking to add a restaurant, a hardware store, offices, and a jet slide. Commission member David Byrd asked, "When did we get into the enforcement business?" Then he said he thought the commission didn't belong in this area, and that enforcement should be left up to the city building and safety department. Commission member Eunice Burns expressed 100 per cent support for the views of Martin and Laird. Other commission inembers remained uncommitted. Action on the revisión als was tabled for two weeks until the next regular commission meeting. In other action, the commission denied the Elmer H. Raab zoning petition for rezoning of .409 acres for office and parking use after the petitioner had requested another deferral. The I petition had been deferred several times from the Oct. 22, 1968 commission meeting. About a dozen residents of I the area showed up last nightl to protest the rezoning of thel land on the corner of Berkley and Main. George Koch of 305 Potter, a spokesman for the group, which had circulated a petition against the rezoning, said people bought property in the area as residential and wanted it to remain that way. He said the Raab rezoning would have set a precedent which would have allowed about a dozen other lots to be rezoned. Action on the Arbor Oaks Preliminary Plat of 110.5 acres at 1-94 and Ellsworth, which had a planning staff recommendation of approval, was tabled until the next commission meeting. Commission members said they wanted more d e f i n i t e information about the relation of Arbor Oaks, which is about one müe northeast from the airport, to the proppsed airport expansión. The land will probably be in the approach pattem of the planned runway expansión. Two new commiss i o n e r s were appointed: Ronald Edmonds and Dr. John Crecine. Edmonds is human relations director for the Ann Arbor schools. Crecine is a research associate and assistant professor at the University. They replace John Spelman and Robert Faber. Faber remains on the commission in the new capacity as city council representative replacing Douglas Crary. The Sun Oil Company Site Plan of 1.01 acres at Jackson Rd. and 1-94 was referred back to city council with the recommendation of denial. Council had asked for a reason. The planning commission and the planning department staff both recommended denial because of a hazardous exit at the base of the ramp off 1-94 and advised that curb cuts be changed. The Peter Vestevich Annexation Petition of three acres at 1041 S. Maple was approved but the zoning peition to use the land for an office building was tabled. The piece of land is surrounded by residential buildings. The Vintage Valley No. 2 tentative Preliminary Plat for 3.1 acres at Green and Pepper Pike Rd. was approved. The Wilhelmina K u n e 1 i u s Annexation Petition of .24 acres on Gladstone Ave. and the residential zoning petition was I approved.