Nixon Road Development Bulldozes Forward, may see legal challenge

"A citizens group called the Nixon Area Alliance, led by President Jane Klingsten, is considering its legal options to continue fighting the development, which was approved by an 8-2 vote of the City Council last December.

 

The group is actively contesting a wetlands permit issued by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality for the project."

Read more in Ryan Stanton's July 6, 2016 MLive story

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MLive covered the expected December, 2015 Ann Arbor City Council Capitulation in this story, 472-home Nixon Road development wins approval from Ann Arbor council.

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MLive's Ryan Stanton covered this story: Ann Arbor council delays decision on Nixon Farms 472 unit housing development

In a 6-5 vote, the council decided to postpone the issue to the council's Dec. 21 meeting, despite the developer arguing that another delay would be too much of a financial hardship for the development.
[Councilmember Sumi] Kailasapathy questioned the results of a Nixon/Green/Dhu Varren intersection study performed for the city by a consultant.  The study by Opus International Consultants Inc. found on average a morning peak wait time or rush hour delay of 193 seconds for southbound Nixon Road traffic, and an afternoon peak wait time of 161 seconds for northbound Nixon Road traffic. With a roundabout, with projected traffic levels in 2035, those delays are anticipated to be reduced to 24 seconds and 26 seconds, respectively. Kailasapathy said the actual wait times at the intersection right now are more like 30 minutes, not three minutes. "I live through this every single day," she said, adding the numbers in the study don't make sense to her.

 

 

 

 

Plans for the North Sky development, proposed on the property at 2701 Pontiac Trail, one of the last empty areas inside the Ann Arbor northern beltway, were to be discussed Wednesday night by the Ann Arbor Planning Commission.    According Matt Durr of the Ann Arbor News, the Planning Commission staff is recommending approval of the both the rezoning request and site plans that would bring nearly 200 more housing units to Ann Arbor's north side.

The 31.8-acre site would be rezoned from R4A (Multiple-Family Dwelling District) to R1D and R1E (Single-Family Dwelling District) and R4B (Multiple Family Dwelling District).   11 Acres (35 percent) would be preserved as open space. According to the site plan, two of the 11 acres would be conveyed to the city for use as a natural area and a future "linear park."  The balance, 9 acres, would be maintained by a Homeowner's Association.

More about the planned development, lot sizes, home sizes, etc, are in Matt Durr's MLive story.

 

 

 

A city desperate for tax dollars plays kick the can on its taxpayer's backs.

"Under terms of the conditional zoning, Toll Brothers has agreed to pay the city up to $1,025,460 for the cost of reconfiguring the Nixon/Green/Dhu Varren intersection, though Toll Brothers' share of the costs will go down as other developers contribute funds toward what's expected to be a roughly $2 million roundabout project.

 

Council members who voted against the conditional zoning didn't think the city was getting enough from the developer."

Duh.

The quoted text is from Ryan Stanton's excellent MLive coverage.