To Ann Arbor City Council representatives and Mayor Taylor:

We, the undesigned, urge you to vote No on the PUD (Planned Unit Development) at 711 Church Street. We agree with the City Planning Commission that the proposed 17-story, 273-unit high-rise spanning 1.1 acres does not meet the city standards of public benefit to override the current zoning of R4C.

To quote the Planning Commissioners’ report and comments:

• Adequate justification to increase the density of the land ten times over the current designation has not been provided. Staff find instead that the most appropriate zoning designation for the site is D2 Downtown Interface base and South University Character overlay.
• The Office of Sustainability & Innovations (OSI) finds it does not meet A2Zero standards.
• The building is too large and too tall for the block, consisting of rental houses and East Quad across the street.
• The developer is asking for a PUD simply to get around the zoning.

In addition, we believe that adding 1,000+ residents to this block will overcrowd the area, stress our already-unreliable and aging utilities and infrastructure, and have negative effects on the Towsley Children’s House, the University's child development center abutting the property.

Furthermore, we object to developers continually buying their way out of our zoning ordinances by contributing to city project funds. We consider this “bribery zoning,” which is bad government and poor urban planning. We want you, our City Council representatives, to put a stop to it and vote NO on the 711 Church Street PUD.

This is an election year. We will be watching whether you follow the advice of your own staff and listen the voices of your constituents.

Thank you.

SIGNERS: PLEASE NOTE THAT AFTER YOU SIGN, IPETITIONS WILL ASK YOU TO DONATE TO THE IPETITIONS WEBSITE, WHICH IS FREE TO USE. THE REQUEST IS TO DONATE TO IPETITIONS, NOT THE 711 CHURCH STREET PETITION ITSELF.