Developer's plans vetoed due to city's zoning laws

Personal style could be the one thing stopping long-time Ann Arbor developer John Stegeman from seeing his latest dreams become more than just blueprints.

Stegeman has been developing since the 1960s. He is responsible for many Ann Arbor residential units, including recent projects such as The Amsterdamer on South University Avenue and The Barrister on Monroe Street.

But a few of Stegeman's most recent plans haven't won the approval of the Ann Arbor City Planning Committee.

One of these proposals was a multi-family residential unit that Stegeman wishes to build on the corner of Wastenaw Avenue and Hill Street.

City Planner Wendy Rampson said that the City Planning Committee has turned down Stegeman's proposal because it "did not meet the standards of public benefit."

Such standards differ from situation to situation. Public benefit may refer to anything from single-family verses multi-family housing units to keeping a historical building updated.

"It could be you're protecting an aesthetic resource," Rampson said. "In which case, some creativity from the developer is required."

Stegeman said he does not wish to comment on any of his plans until they are proposed to the city officially.

Stegeman purchased the Wastenaw-Hill site from the University and then demolished the existing University Tudor-style building that was located on the property. The property, zoned for a single- or two-person dwelling, could not hold the six-condo residence Stegeman proposed, Rampson said.

Rampson said Stegeman plans for an apartment building that he called "Dean's Crescent" on the corner Observatory Street and Geddes Road included making the existing building denser than it is already. The city doesn't want the building denser because the city's master plan for that area restricts increasing density.

Rampson said Stegeman's plan for "Dean's Crescent" will be presented to the city counsel next month.

Stegeman faced more heat from the city when he began the demolition process of a building in early October without a permit from the city's historic preservation committee.

He purchased the site on the corner of Forest and Hill streets that included the former residence of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity after the building was damaged by a fire in1994.

The building is zoned a historical site, but Stegeman requested permission in January 1999 from the Historical Preservation Committee to destroy the building.

"One provision of the historical ordinance says that you cannot destroy a building in a certain district without approval," said Building Department Director Larry Pickel, "The law is there to make sure properties are preserved - to preserve what's there."

The committee approved the demolition. But Pickel said Stegeman was to pick up his demolition permit only after he received a plan from a city forester as to what trees needed to be preserved.

On Oct. 4, Pickel said a resident who lives near Stegeman's property noticed that trees on Stegeman's property were being cut down - a first step in the demolition process.

But it was only two days later, after the trees were cut down, that one of Stegeman's contractors went to the Historic Preservation Committee with a plan for the destruction of trees. At this time, the demolition permit was issued.

Since then Stegeman has continued the demolition process by destroying the building.

Rampson said that Stegeman has not yet proposed any plans for the Hill/Forest site, but that he has met with the Department of Downtown Authority to request help in financing the construction of a parking lot for a 15-story apartment building on the southeast corner of William and Thompson streets.

"If you propose an idea in Ann Arbor without parking, no one is going to be really interested in it" said city assistant planner, Alexis Marcarello.

Rampson said that Stegeman is probably waiting to hear from the DDA before he brings his plan before the city planning committee.

11-09-99