Planning board accepts community impact study for Woodward–Maple tower amid a heated parking debate

The Birmingham Planning Board on March 25 accepted the community impact study (CIS) for a proposed mixed‑use development at 34952 Woodward Avenue and 690 East Maple, but the board postponed preliminary site‑plan action to April 22 to give consultants and the city attorney time to reconcile competing parking analyses.

The developer, BezTek, presented a plan that includes roughly 224–228 residential units, about 15,000 square feet of retail and a 5,000‑square‑foot restaurant, and a parking garage the team says will yield 422 physical spaces (397 countable under ordinance dimensions). Planning staff and the city’s traffic reviewers told the board the ordinance would require roughly 351 spaces for the building’s private uses plus 198 public‑parking spaces tied to bonus‑height calculations — a 549‑space total under the code.

“The building is a little over that at almost 540,000 square feet,” said planning staff as part of the CIS presentation. Staff and the applicant agreed the project’s extra floors would require a board of zoning appeals review for a technical definition of an extra floor.

BezTe…