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The Issues
The Ann Arbor Master Plan
What is "the Master Plan?" According to the website of the Ann Arbor Planning Department:
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"In recent years, the City of Ann Arbor has prepared and adopted several
plans that establish guidelines for the growth and development of our
community. These plans provide a framework from which the public and
private sectors can act in efforts to maintain the unique character and
beauty of the City, ensure its diversity, support and expand its
amenities, and promote desired change. The plans contribute to sound
public and private decision-making about the future development and
redevelopment of our community.
The City is separated into geographic planning areas - Central, West,
Northeast and South. The adopted plan for each area, together with
citywide plans, comprise the Ann Arbor Master Plan."
The West Area Plan was adopted by the Ann Arbor City Planning Commission
on February 7, 1995, and by the Ann Arbor City Council on April 17,
1995. Below are a number of quotes from the West Area Plan, from which
the Friends of Dicken Woods take support.
According to the plan's guiding principles:
"Existing natural resources such as wetlands, woodlands, steep slopes
and waterways are assets to the community and provide valuable natural
functions, such as improving air and water quality, fulfilling natural
water infiltration roles and maintaining biodiversity. In addition,
undeveloped environmentally special areas provide residents with
physical, spiritual and mental benefits. The importance of such natural
areas should be carefully weighed when considering proposals for new
developments that would remove, reduce or adversely impact such areas."
[p. 2]
"Traffic burdens local streets and decreases quality of life in neighborhoods." [p. 2]
"New development must benefit the entire community, be consistent with
surrounding land uses, neither burden City services nor congest roads,
and should be sensitive to natural resources." [p. 2]
Further, the plan goes on to state:
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Problems: Conflicting Land Uses
"Multiple-Family Impacts on Lower Density Residential Uses -
Multiple-family uses can impact upon single-family neighborhoods in the
following ways: 1) when conlicting land use buffers are absent; 2) where
parking lots, with their inherent light and increased traffic, abut a
residential use; 3) when the multiple-family use is significantly larger
and out-of-scale in terms of height and mass of buildings with the
abutting neighborhood properties. Generally, multiple-family uses are
designed to separate them from the neighborhoods rather than to
integrate them into the existing neighborhood." [p. 18]
Problems: Environmental Issues
"Floodplain and Natural Drainage Ways - West Area development
occurring over the years has created a signficant amount of impervious
surface that is not penetrable by water. Buildings and parking lots
prevent absorption of precipitation into the soil. At times,
development has occurred in natural drainage areas and floodplains,
causing flooding problems. When impervious area replaces pervious, the
cumulative effectd results in larger run-off flows during storms and has
a significant impact on downstream neighborhoods. The Allen Creek
drain and its impact on the Huron River water quality have not been
adequately considered in the past." [p. 21]
"Natural Features Preservation - As the West Area developed over
the last several decades, little thought was given to the preservation
of natural features such as wetlands, woodlands, steep slopes or natural
drainage ways. However, many of the remaining vacant sites in the area
are vacant because of physical constraints created by those features
and because the sites with fewer natural features have been developed.
With few easily developable sites remaining in the West Area, there is
conflict between development and preservation of open space and natural
features." [p. 22]
"Parks and Recreation - In addition to active recreational
opportunities, it is important to provide children with open and wooded
undeveloped areas for creative play opportunities, but there are limited
sites available for this type of activity in the West Area." [p. 22]
Neighborhood Preservation
"Lack of Protection for Neighborhood Character - Individual
neighborhoods possess unique characteristics which can be lost if infill
development occurs that is out of character with the existing fabric of
a neighborhood. Infill development within neighborhoods is not always
complimentary or compatible with the existing prevailing style of
architecture." [p. 23]
Finally, as the West Area Plan's Introduction puts it: "The West Area neighborhoods are its most important asset." The Friends of Dicken Woods agree, and are taking action in support of the West Area Plan.
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