The Ann Arbor City Council met Monday in Larcom City Hall to discuss the development of the parking lot behind the Kline Department Store and reallocation of American Rescue Plan Act funding.
In 2005, the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority assessed the parking lot as a potential development site for office spaces, retail, housing or additional parking. Since then, several projects have been considered, but none have come to fruition. Currently, the old Kline’s Lot serves as public parking.
The council is looking to develop the property with four priorities in mind: affordable housing, sustainability, placemaking and tax base development. At the meeting, the council voted on a resolution that called for the use of a broker in the development of the lot. Councilmember Jenn Cornell, D-Ward 5, said the use of a broker was necessary for a project of this size.
“We do not have an economic development office in the city of Ann Arbor, and for a city of our size that is incredibly unique,” Cornell said. “This type of transaction isn’t routine in Ann Arbor, but nor should it be — we’re talking about an incredibly valuable site. We’re talking about doing it in the right way, because simply our bench just isn’t deep enough and this expertise is best outsourced.”
The resolution was passed unanimously. Afterward, an amendment was proposed that called for the council to approve a general vision for the development of the Kline’s Lot, which failed 8-2. Councilmember Jen Eyer, D-Ward 4, who voted against the amendment, said she felt the council already had a clear vision rooted in their four priorities regarding development.
“I’m super comfortable with leaning on our vision of economic development, of using those economic development principles,” Eyer said. “To me that’s a vision, and that’s actually a pretty specific vision, as it is. And I think if we go beyond that, we’re starting to wade into the territory of laying out things that start to discourage developers from even engaging in the process. I want to get as many ideas as possible.”
The other major resolution on the agenda was a call to reallocate funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, a federal economic relief plan implemented by President Joe Biden. In 2021, $24.2 million in ARPA funds were allocated to Ann Arbor to combat the negative economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the community. In the three years since, only half of the money has been used, while $3.5 million of the unused funds have been set aside for the creation of an unarmed, non-police crisis response team. The resolution on the table called for these funds to be reallocated to infrastructure.
Public commentator Eleanore Ablan-Owen urged the council not to pass the resolution and said a crisis response program would be important to the community.
“If we truly value equity, racial and economic justice, non-violence and community healing in Ann Arbor then we need to prioritize this program,” Ablan-Owen said. “If there’s not an agreement to implement an unarmed response program, please consider using the ARPA funds for programs that provide necessary crisis prevention and support services by and for the community.”
City Administrator Milton Dohoney Jr. said the council still supported the implementation of such a crisis response program, but that timing constrained their use of ARPA funds.
“The commitment to unarmed response is completely unaffected by the decision to make separate recommendations with regards to the ARPA funding,” Dohoney said. “The issue is one of timing. ARPA funding must be decided and committed by December 31, and that means a lot more than simply a verbal declaration of what we intend to do with the money.”
Marti Praschan, Ann Arbor’s chief financial officer, said the city decided what projects could be considered for reallocation of the ARPA funds based on existing plans.
“We first looked at where we had funding gaps in projects or efforts that we needed to complete,” Praschan said. “(Also) what we looked at is what we could get executed in the timelines that were available to us. Most projects that we are recommending, we are ready to pull the trigger on.”
The resolution passed unanimously, redirecting $3.5 million to repairing the Barton Dam and investing in a second ambulance for the Ann Arbor Fire Department. Mayor Christopher Taylor said he supported the reallocation but also reiterated the council’s support for unarmed non-police crisis response.
“For my part I’m disappointed that we are unable to roll out an unarmed response program,” Taylor said. “But understanding that that is the fact, I am pleased that we are able to reallocate these monies for uses which are demonstrably beneficial to a wide swath of our community.”
Daily Staff Reporter Lyra Wilder can be reached at [email protected].
