Public speakers and some councilors question Arbor South financing plan, public hearing on brownfield pulled
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Summary
Public commenters and at least two council-aligned speakers criticized DS 2 financing for the Arbor South project, arguing the proposal shifts parking costs and risk to the city; the public hearing for the Brownfield plan was pulled from tonight—s agenda.
Public comment at the Ann Arbor City Council meeting focused heavily on financing for the proposed Arbor South development and the related brownfield plan. Mayor Alex Lowe, calling in from Pittsfield Boulevard, said he supports more housing in the abstract but called agenda item DS 2 "a poison pill," warning it could suppress housing and criticized proposed city-backed financing that he said would effectively underwrite private parking. "We certainly do not need city bonds in the tune of a $166,000,000 to build yet more parking structures in an area that is already over parked," Lowe said.
Eric Ivancich, calling from Ward 3, said the project includes promising elements — notably 20% affordable housing — but he said he could not support the current structure because it expects the city to "pay for, own, operate, and maintain" three parking structures that would primarily serve the private development. Ivancich called that arrangement a "moral hazard" and urged that public investment instead target district-wide infrastructure such as transit, water, sewer and nonmotorized mobility.
Council member Dish, during council communications, described Arbor South as the kind of mixed-use project the city's 2021 transit corridor zoning initiative (TC1) was designed to encourage and said the developer will invest "over $400,000,000" with brownfield tax-increment financing providing roughly "$346,000,000 in public monies." Dish said the parking structures were designated priority one for TIF reimbursement because replacing surface parking is necessary to realize the project and because providing the structures through the city was the only financially feasible way to make the development taxable and viable.
The council—s mayoral office notified the public that public hearing number 5, which related to the Arbor South Brownfield project, had been canceled and pulled because the related agenda item was pulled from the meeting. No formal council action on DS 2 or the Brownfield plan was taken at tonight—s meeting.
Why it matters: The disagreement underscores a recurring tension in Ann Arbor development debates: how much public subsidy should support private redevelopment and whether city responsibility for infrastructure (particularly parking) is an appropriate use of public funds. Proponents argue TIF and brownfield tools spur redevelopment in underused areas; opponents worry the city assumes disproportionate financial risk.
What—s next: Council deliberations and any public hearing on the Brownfield plan will resume when the related agenda item is reintroduced; speakers and at least one council member urged a reworking of the financing so that public dollars fund district-wide infrastructure rather than private parking.
