Planners Ok Design Review Concept

Citizens interested in serving on a committee which could lead to the creation of a Design Review Board for the city are being sought by the Planning Commission. A resolution endorsing the design review concept and sceking thë "cltizem participation was. jjassWt"" unammöusly at yesterday's commission meeting. The resolution states t h a t "since review of design must be related and coordinated with continuous gvëraJL-Planning in which design considerations are duly recognized, that a working commifteeJBeJormed prior to the establishment of a review board to formuIïtëTn cooperation with the commission and staff the sta"hclaf3s and objectives to be follojved by the board in lts review procedures and areas of application." It was" also stated in the lution that developjnent of the city up to this .time has sometimes resulted in hazardous conditions and poor appearance and that "thesL_problems have aroused. great public concern but exceedjhe scope of existing laws and regulations and yet require sörne méchanism to better serve Ehe public interest The commission said it "has determined that a design review of building plans is the most effectiy-e- - .and reliable means ,of assuring that the public interest is considered in environmental design, and therefore intends to establish a review process to be undertaken by a board of citizens and professionals appointed by and advisory to the Planning Commission . . ." In other business yesterday, the commission discussed at length a proposal to obtain al citizen opinión poll on planning matters. Prof. Charles F. Cannell, program director of the Institute fór Social Research at the University, outlined some of the difficulties involved in a survey of citizen attitudes. He said such a survey could cost as little as $3,000 or as much as $50,000, depending on the extent of information sought and thn a cc u r a c y required, and on the amount of work done by the Planning Department as opposed to the Survey Research Center. Cannell said he sees no valué in newspaper opinión polls because the questionnaire is answered only by those who are interested in the topic. He said -- ■■mmii -r there is the same problem with mail surveys. A survey would probably take about six months, Cannell said, and the number of persons interviewed s h o u 1 d number approximately 500 in Ann Arbor. Also yesterday, Planning Department Director Michael Prochaska said the commission, at its next regular meeting would be asked to reconsider a multiple-family zoning for a parcel of land on Platt Rd. owned by Ann Arbor Independent Housing. This zoning for the two-acre parcel was initially denied by the commission but Prochaska siad changed condi-j tions warrant reconsideraüon of the zoning request. Developers are seeking to construct 20 units of moderate-income housing on the site located south of Redwood.