Two agenda items on the March 3, 2025 City Council agenda address a parcel of City-owned land at 319 S. Fifth, sometimes called the “Library Lot.”
DC-3 (25-0480) Resolution to Order Election and to Determine Ballot Question for Charter Amendment to Authorize the Sale of 319 South Fifth Avenue to the Ann Arbor District Library (7 Votes Required)
DC-4 (25-0482) Resolution to Order Election and to Determine Ballot Question for Charter Amendment to Repeal Section 1.4 of the City Charter (7 Votes Required)
The resolution in DC-3 will put a question on the ballot directing the parcel’s sale to the Ann Arbor District Library (AADL), subject to the approval of eight (8) members of City Council. The resolution in DC-4 will put another question on the ballot, in order to repeal a City charter amendment approved in 2018. The 2018 charter amendment directed that the property remain under City ownership for the development of an urban park and civic commons. As described, the proposals must both be adopted in order to take effect. City Council would put both of these questions on a ballot during a low turnout, odd-year election in August 2025.
This week, the City issued a press release announcing the plan to transfer 319 S. Fifth to the AADL for $1, in order to build a new Downtown library inclusive of both the Library Lane Parcel and the library’s current site at 343 S. 5th Ave.
https://www.a2gov.org/news/posts/city-aadl-share-vision-for-the-surface-of-the-library-lane-parking-structure/
The press release explains the idea:
Moving the city- and AADL-shared vision for the Library Lane Parcel site forward will require several steps, including Ann Arbor voters voting to amend the Charter provision in an upcoming election, as well as the AADL Board and the Ann Arbor City Council supporting an agreement that would be drafted to contain the following elements:
A laundry list of eleven bullet points follows, promising outdoor public open space, a mixture of housing types (affordable and market rate), artist spaces, multiple event spaces, and small business development space, “community engagement,” and tax revenue from the housing. The AADL would eventually purchase the parking garage from the City. The press release front-loads all of this complexity with reassurances reminiscent of George H.W. Bush: no new taxes.
Also from that press release:
City staff recognize that some framework details could be modified once input is received from the AADL and City of Ann Arbor governing bodies. City Council is expected to consider an initial resolution at its March 3 meeting. The AADL will consider a resolution at its April 1 meeting.
So far, such a resolution is not on the Council agenda and there is no news about an agreement between the City and the AADL.
Proposal A
This is the proposed ballot language that voters will see as “Proposal A” in August 2025:
Shall Section 14.3 of the City Charter be amended to authorize the City to sell its interests in 319 South Fifth Avenue, commonly known as the Library Lane Parking Structure, only to the Ann Arbor District Library for the purpose of building a mixed-use development that includes additional library services, housing, retail, and programmable open public space? This proposal does not authorize new taxes.
This is the actual language that would be added to the City charter if Proposal A passes:
The City is authorized to sell any of its interest in 319 South Fifth Avenue only to the Ann Arbor District Library by resolution concurred in by at least eight members of the Council.
The description/question is twice as long as the amendment itself. The language of the amendment in Proposal A does not dictate how the property will be used or developed: there is no requirement for “mixed use” or “additional library services” or anything else, it only directs that the property be sold to the AADL. This week’s press release promises all of the amenities listed in the ballot language plus reassures the public that no new taxes are required. Also promised: “community engagement” and “public input” and a Request for Proposals. Would this happen before or after the community votes to approve the sale?
The parcel at 319 S. Fifth is currently zoned Public Land (PL), as is the Downtown Branch of the AADL Downtown branch next door at 343 S. Fifth.
In November 2024, the director of the AADL held a public meeting to explain a plan to rezone the Downtown branch (343 S. Fifth) from PL to D1 High Rise. The stated purpose was to facilitate a larger, mixed use development that would potentially include some of the amenities described in this week’s City press release. You can find a recording of that meeting here:
https://a2council.com/ann-arbor-downtown-library-rezoning-request-public-meeting-november-19-2024/
At that November meeting, the AADL director was directly asked about making use of the adjacent parcel at 319 S. Fifth Avenue. He denied any interest and claimed to be “focused on this property that we’re in control of.” (timestamp 21:45)
Two months later, the community learned that this was not true — on January 6, 2025, the City Administrator reported that the AADL had “a vision for their current downtown library property located at 343 S. Fifth Avenue, which extends to possibly including the Library Lane Parking Lot.”
https://a2gov.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=13655610&GUID=4D0D425B-3612-4677-8D25-BB50019FFD44
Proposal B
This week, City Council will consider another City charter amendment, to effectively repeal this language, approved in November 2018:
The City-owned public land bounded by Fifth Avenue, and William, Division and Liberty Streets shall be retained in public ownership, in perpetuity, and developed as an urban central park and civic center commons known as the “Center of the City.”
This is the proposed ballot language that voters will see as “Proposal B” in August 2025:
Shall Section 1.4 of the City Charter, currently titled Center of the City, be repealed? Adoption of this amendment is conditioned on adoption of City Proposal A at this election.
As proposed this week, the repeal would occur in a low turnout August election and effectively undo the results of a high turnout November election. City Council is setting a new precedent: in at least the last twenty years, no Ann Arbor City proposal has been put on a low turnout August ballot in an odd year. Proposals A and B may end up being the only issues on the August 2025 ballot. In years past, elected leaders on City Council placed a value on engaging more voters rather than fewer.
Given the timing, approval of Proposal B would allow the charter amendment from 2018 to be repealed by fewer people than approved it originally. It could be repealed by a smaller number of people than the number of people who signed petitions to put it on the ballot in the first place. This is the strategy chosen by our elected representatives.
Proposal B is described as necessary in order to achieve all of what is promised in Proposal A. Voters may find this compelling enough to support Proposal B, based on ballot description for Proposal A that does not reflect the actual City charter amendment.
WHY THIS MATTERS
In 2018, the sale of 319 S. Fifth to a developer (CORE Spaces) was promoted as offering immediate revenue of $10 million. When that deal was scuppered, the Mayor and his allies spent six years bemoaning the ‘loss’ and refusing to accept the results of an election. For six years, the Mayor insisted that this property asset was too valuable to be wasted on what the community actually voted for and that City Hall was robbed of $10 million. This week, the Mayor excitedly announced plans to sell the same property for $1.
On January 21, 2025, City Council unanimously approved a resolution directing the City Administrator to engage with the AADL about library development on 319 S. Fifth.
https://a2gov.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7094294&GUID=96F00783-F678-4A38-B0B0-033BB4661E1F&FullText=1
That resolution included:
RESOLVED, That the City Administrator shall inform City Council of any recommendations resulting from the discussions with the AADL.
In the last six weeks, there has been no public consideration or presentation of recommendations. The day before DC-3 and DC-4 will be voted on, no details have been shared as city communications or reports. In the public record, there is no evidence of Council members engaging with this issue at all beyond that January resolution. That is odd, given the Mayor’s confident statements about a “shared vision” between the City and the AADL. The Open Meetings Act would prevent more than five Council Members from collaborating on this “shared vision” of a complex public/private partnership and promises for public input on a not-yet-defined development.
It remains to be seen just how much of a plan actually comes to light in the next five months ahead of a community vote. Will voters be asked to commit to an elaborate public/private partnership based on the vague promise of a new library with the reassurance that it “does not authorize new taxes”? Alternatively: will City administration unveil a fully formed plan because our elected leaders had no interest in engaging with it publicly (the alternative would be violation of the Open Meetings Act behind the scenes)?
The proposed ballot questions include details that aren’t yet supported by any document or written agreement (e.g. promises for “mixed use” and “additional library services”). At the same time, the proposed ballot questions leave out details that would be relevant to anyone who heard six years of talking points (e.g. selling a $10 million property for $1). An enormous list of theoretical benefits – with no meaningful detail or explanation as to how they would be achieved – is referred to as “shared vision.”
Details matter. This week, for the fourth meeting in a row, our elected leaders asked NO questions of the agenda.