The Ann Arbor City Council voted to approve the 42 North site plan, development agreement and wetland-use permit for a proposed multifamily development on 15.32 acres at 1430 South Maple Road.

The resolution (DB1) was moved by Councilmember Lowenstein and seconded by Councilmember Teal and passed following extended public comment and council deliberation that centered on wetlands mitigation, traffic-level-of-service concerns and the amount of proposed parking.

Matt Kowalski, city planner assigned to the project, and Laura Tree Moore Spears of Natural Area Preservation described the wetland mitigation approach. Planning staff and Natural Area Preservation said the site contains multiple small wetlands across three subwatersheds (Allen Creek, Mallett's [sic] Creek and Honey Creek), and the mitigation plan consolidates replacement wetlands in a single mitigation area. Planning staff pointed to Chapter 60 (wetlands preservation) and Section 5.213 subsection 5 as the code pathway allowing mitigation to be placed in a single location within the Huron River direct discharge area when on-site mitigation is impractical.

"It's far more practical to combine them all into one mitigation area. You get better wetland function by having one large wetland mitigation area as opposed to trying to split it out into much smaller ones," Laura Tree Moore Spears said during the staff presentation.

Several councilmembers and neighbors questioned whether the mitigation would be effectively "on-site" after the Grace Bible Church parcel is sold to the developer (Wood Partners). Councilmember Breier (listed in the record as Brier/Briere) objected, saying the plan departed from the city's mitigation language and threatened public welfare: "Since the site plan violates the City's mitigation language in the land use ordinance and the wetlands preservation ordinance, council cannot legally determine that the site plan complies with all applicable local ordinances. Therefore, this project with its present site plan, cannot be approved. And I will be voting no." Councilmember Suarez likewise said he could not support the plan and would vote no.

Traffic was a central issue. The council heard from the city's traffic engineering staff and from an independent peer review. The peer review used a conservative (worst-case) trip-generation basis; staff noted some earlier versions lacked adjacent-signal coordination in the modeling, which affected level-of-service outcomes. Pat (city traffic engineer) explained that when the broader signal network is considered (including nearby signals such as Oak Valley), the projected level of service at critical intersections is likely to remain at or near "C" rather than degrade to a "D," and that signal timing adjustments could mitigate some impacts.

Parking drew heated criticism from several members. The developer proposed 494 parking spaces (roughly one space per bedroom under the proposed lease/bed model). The city code minimum is 1.5 spaces per unit; staff said the developer's proposal exceeded the minimum and no city code maximum exists. Councilmember Risto and others said the amount of parking drives impervious area and downstream stormwater and traffic consequences; Risto said he would vote no on that basis. "There's too much parking," he said. Another councilmember characterized the proposed parking as "an unreasonable request."

Councilmember Grady said he would vote yes, acknowledging concerns but concluding the project met code and that denying it would likely expose the city to legal challenge: "I've given this project a lot of thought ... I have after enormous review of this record and discussion with others, reached a different conclusion. ... I will vote yes. I'm doing so reluctantly."

Despite the objections voiced by multiple councilmembers, the council approved DB1 in a roll-call vote. The related DB2, a development agreement with Grace Bible Church for property interests at 1300 South Maple Road, was approved on a subsequent vote.

Councilmembers and staff said they would monitor the development closely if built, and several expressed an interest in stricter enforcement of development agreements and code requirements. Some councilmembers also urged that the city review ordinance definitions (for example, the definition of "family") and other code sections that they said are inadequate for housing models the council is now seeing.

The project record includes references to state regulatory review; staff said the mitigation approach and final wetland design were coordinated with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The council directed staff to follow up on implementation steps and to monitor traffic signal coordination in the area.