Midwestern Consulting

Some zoning ordinances are subject to the rule of unintended consequences. The intent is often not codified in a way that anticipates every possible application of the ordinance requirements. An example is the Ann Arbor Off-street Parking ordinance intended to prevent parking between commercial buildings and adjacent rights-of-way. 

Our client owns a shopping center in a C3/Commercial zoning district with frontage on three public streets. A remodeling project is proposed to construct entries on a blank face of the center and add parking between the building and the street.

City planning staff opposed parking in this location because the “intent” of Chapter 59 is to require buildings to be located close to front property lines with parking in side or rear yards. We argued that the “content” of the ordinance is the controlling factor and that the ordinance includes an exception for sites with multiple frontages.  We submitted a Zoning Compliance Permit Application.

Chapter 59, Section 5:168, item (2) c, describes an exception to the prohibition of parking between the building and the street. “Sites with more than 1 front line; the requirements of paragraph (1) in this section shall apply to only 1 front lot line. For all other lot lines abutting streets, parking shall be located behind the minimum front setback requirement, per Chapter 55 (Zoning).”

That paragraph reads “Vehicular parking structures, lots and space shall not be located in the front open space. No space within a parking structure or lot may be closer to the street than the front face of a building.”

1. The site has frontage on three public streets.

Item (2) c applies and requires that only 1 of the frontage cannot have parking between the building and the street.

The preliminary site concept showed proposed improvements including removal of all parking spaces between the building and one of the other two frontages, one that is functionally a rear yard.  Removing that parking makes that frontage comply with paragraph (1). The front line adjacent to proposed parking no longer has to meet that requirement.

1. The other two front lines are not subject to paragraph (1) and are subject to the requirement that “parking shall be located behind the minimum front setback requirement” which is 10 feet.

The Zoning Compliance Application was approved. The City immediately began the process of changing Chapter 59 to revise the ordinance to require a minimum 25 foot setback rather than the 10 minimum permitted in the C3 district.

We submitted a Site Plan that showed a minimum 25 foot parking setback and that was unanimously approved.

What’s disappointing about all this is that the site plan was approved three-years ago.  Why now after many meetings and changes ecide that things are not moving forward? 

Things would go much more smoothly if planning commission and city council members could keep in mind that time is money and that a constantly moving site plan target is very hard to pin down.

The following is from www.annarbor.com, October 12, 2011:

The project called for construction of five buildings on a 15-acre site owned by Grace Bible Church, off South Maple Road near Pauline Boulevard on the city’s west side. It would have included 494 parking spaces, a number far in excess of that required by city code.

When the site plan expired recently after three years without activity, Rampson said the church, acting as the applicant, came in seeking an extension.”And then they found that they were going to have to make significant changes to the plan in order to meet our new codes and opted not to do that,” she said.

Rampson said the developer of the site never exercised its option to purchase the property, and the church was hoping to extend the site plan to make it available to a future developer.

A representative of the church could not be reached for comment.

Midwestern Consulting provided civil engineering services for the Ann Arbor underground garage currently being constructed next to the District Library at Fifth and William in downtown Ann Arbor.

We saw this recent article in  AnnArbor.com and thought the green credentials it has earned was very important.

“The DDA has worked throughout his project to minimize its environmental impacts,” Amber Miller, the DDA’s planning and research specialist, wrote in an email to AnnArbor.com. “Our efforts now allow this structure to become part of this unique program designed to encourage the standardization of sustainable initiatives within the parking industry.”

From the top floor of the Ann Arbor District Library, the view of the new downtown underground parking structure taking shape on Thursday Photo by Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com

The Green Parking Council is a nonprofit group dedicated to expanding green parking practices through its Green Garage rating system. It developed the Demonstrator Site program as an evaluative tool to initiate the process toward Green Garage certification.”The GPC has created the Demonstrator Site program to bring recognition to those facilities that have committed to making an effort towards sustainability and who have made progress towards this end,” the group’s website states.

Miller cited several examples of the project’s commitment to sustainable practices. For instance, the excavated sand from the site is being reused as part of the structural concrete for the project, and all demolished concrete, asphalt and wood from the site has been recycled.

Also, all of the stormwater that falls on the site will be detained, in excess of city requirements, and energy-saving lights will be used that can cast lower light levels in off-peak periods.

When the structure opens, it’s expected to include 22 electric car charging stations and set aside prime parking spaces for alternative fueled vehicles.

DDA officials said this represents only the latest in a number of DDA initiatives to promote sustainability as a part of downtown development.

The DDA also has committed nearly $500,000 toward a program providing energy saving audits, recommendations and installation rebates to downtown businesses. DDA officials said the program has encouraged downtown building owners to make nearly $700,000 worth of improvements that are anticipated to save $87,000 a year in energy costs.

The DDA also has played a role in alternative transportation programs by covering 95 percent of the cost for the popular go!pass — a free bus pass for 7,100 employees — as well as bike hoops and lockers, commuter rail research, Zipcar sponsorship, and the getDowntown program. Additionally, the DDA provided the funds for the installation of a solar-electric demonstration project at the Farmers Market, downtown LED street lights, energy efficient upgrades at the Delonis Center and downtown sidewalk recycling containers.

Water mains for fire suppression serving multiple buildings under the same ownership and on the same parcel can be designed to save money on expensive City of Ann Arbor tap, connection, and meter charges (see chart below).

Connection Charges for Fire Service Connections   (Effective 1/1/09)

A recent project included two hotels on one parcel.  Big money was saved on fees by eliminating one fire suppression tap.  Fire suppression was provided by extending the proposed 6” water line from one hotel to the other saving the owner $103,260.

A second project included three rental apartment buildings with a total of 896 bedrooms on one parcel. One 8” tap and a booster pump replaced three 8” taps reducing City fees by $406,880.

This concept can be used in the City of Ann Arbor where there are multiple buildings under the same ownership on a single parcel.  For example, a privately owned office park, a commercial or academic campus, or a retail center with multiple structures and tenants could be designed this way to save big money on tap, connection, and meter charges.

Earl Ophoff, LSA, is a registered landscape architect and senior project manager with Midwestern Consulting, Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Call Earl at 734.995.0200.

Another example of a “development friendly-ier” Ann Arbor:

Ann Arbor Administrative Amendments (A4) to approved site plans permit increased building square footage of up to 10 percent of the approved floor area, or 10,000 square feet (sf), whichever is less.  An A4 is approved by staff, does not require a full site plan, Planning Commission, citizens participation, or City Council meetings. 

Larger additions or conversions of excess parking to building square footage can be done incrementally by breaking up proposed floor area increases into phases getting each phase approved separately.  Each phase is subject to the 10 percent/10,000 sf limit.    The additions are not cumulative and can be done in multiple stages that together exceed the 10 percent/10,000 sf maximum.

For example, an existing 100,000 sf retail center with 400 parking spaces now requires 323 to 377 spaces.  Parking could be reduced by up to 77 spaces, building square footage could be increased, or a combination of the two could be done to take advantage of the lower requirements. The maximum increase in building area is 23,870 sf (subject to maximum lot coverage and floor area ratio limits).  This could be done in three Administrative Amendments.

Earl Ophoff, LSA, is a registered landscape architect and senior project manager with Midwestern Consulting, Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Call Earl at 734.995.0200.