busy doing nothing
Stagnation with Representation: Call to Disband
The Murdock/Robb/Bodary secret subcommittee to work on Water Street has not met in six months. Neither this subcommittee nor these individuals have put forward any ideas, leadership, or guidance on this issue. They said they were needed to lead. They introduced their own appointments to this council subcommittee. And they did nothing when the opportunity was given to them. Worse yet? These individual Ypsilanti City Council members have surprisingly stood in the way of any progress.
Maybe they’ve been pursuing this vague idea that somehow using no zoning, tabling or deferring zoning recommendations, even stifling discussions of zoning, can effect an outcome. Well, actually now as we think it over, it is apparent that no such idea (not even a vague one) exists. Wouldn’t we have heard of it by now, if there was?
We call the question. AY PAC says it is time to disband the committee altogether and put an end to this charade. Stagnation with representation is not helping this issue move at all.
Ypsilanti needs leadership on Water Street and we need it now. Council members must stop stalling and put some vision into place, identify who can be effective and do it soon. We cannot afford for this to continue.
Subcommittee Created: 08 Apr 2009
Subcommittee Accomplishments: 0
Subcommittee Meetings: 1?
posted by B. Bashert
this one is about Burger King
Have It Y(OUR) Way
Whether or not you enjoy fast food, Burger King is an reasonable company. Be it in the suburbs, by the expressway, in downtown New York or even in Water Street, if they want an outlet in your community, they will work with you. Just indicate your requirements, provide some direction and they will accommodate to “have it your way.”
If you went to the last Ypsilanti City Council meeting, however, why did it seem as if they were about to have it their way? To our eyes and ears, the proposed Water Street Burger King was your basic Burger King. It did not demonstrate any planning input or local vision on Ypsilanti’s part.
Is this BK’s fault? We think not. What direction has BK been given? None. What design standards were they asked to meet? None. BK knows the lay of the land in all urban environments and can adapt to many different settings. But the developer in the absence of vision cannot lead here; the City should – more specifically, the designated Murdock/Robb/Bodary Water Street subcommittee.
How has our City and the Water Street committee led? By allowing BK the path of a Planned Unit Development [PUD] while tabled proposed zoning for Water Street still languishes on the sidelines. A PUD is a special situation which arises from a project which is too complex to be categorized by any specific zoning coverage. It is a tool which allows a developer and a city to be more creative in carving out an agreement which will benefit both parties.
A PUD is supposed to work with zoning not without it. Without zoning guidelines it can result in an island surrounded by conflicting entities. By sitting by passively in non-committal fashion, the Murdoch/Robb/Bodary subcommittee has basically said to Burger King “have it your way.” In effect, the subcommittee has put the cart before the horse. The PUD becomes the controlling energy rather than a compatible proposal within the zoning. If this continues as it now seems headed, we can expect to have a string of PUDs in Water Street more akin to contract zoning or even a feudal arrangement of individual fiefdoms.
This current approach potentially yields an unappetizing mélange rather than a recipe of ingredients that nourishes downtown’s environment. Promoting a passive policy of deliberate abstention will not enhance our city. AY PAC says that it is time to take action on the zoning proposals from the Planning Commission…and if the BK fits those, then we can move forward with both vision and purpose.
posted by R. Johnson