Detroit City Council Formal Session, 10 a.m.
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Reporting
Edited and summarized by the Detroit - MI Documenters Team
City Council voted 8-1 to approve the transformational brownfield plan for District Detroit.
If you’re following along with me today, watch for ‘🚨’ to signify the start of public comments
I will be live-tweeting public comments a little different today in anticipation of a large number of participants speaking in support of/against District Detroit. These comments will be condensed.
Catch up on the latest happenings and more with @DetDocumenters newsletters ⬇️ https://twitter.com/detdocumenters/status/1640705992362016770
Spirit of Detroit awards are being presented to Gretchen Valade and Raquelle Trammell for their
The Detroit Entertainment Commission was the requester of the award. Here’s more on the life and legacy of Ms. Valade.
Santiago-Romero presented the award for Raquelle Trammell, who she described as a “Detroit native and social justice activist” whose spent many years working with youth and women for various causes.
Trammell is also behind the “Miss Mouthy” podcast through which she addresses the lack of positive media representation and visibility of trans women of color.
Council member Durhal announced that students from Noble Elementary are present in the audience.
Moving forward on the agenda ⏩
Items under sections 6 through 10 on the agenda were referred to the appropriate standing committee.
🚨Public comment is starting now!
There are over 100 participants for public comment today. 64 in-person and 50 virtual.
Two members of the Neighborhood Advisory Council have spoken. One in support, one against District Detroit. Logan, who was opposed, said Olympia misrepresented the # of jobs. Hawring supported the project and said those opposed are a fringe minority who supported Proposal P
So far, I’ve counted 11 public comments in support of District Detroit. Most mentioned job creation and a few were affiliated with a union. One person has spoken against the project and another said they were neutral.
Two people have spoke in support of freezing tax captures for the Detroit Public Library
A public comment spoke about concerns related to Himelhoch Apartments. Santiago-Romero said they will have the developer at next week’s formal session to provide an update.
Pastor Mo and his wife have spoken during public comment in support of the project.
The majority of District Detroit supporters have mentioned youth and opportunities.
Those against have encouraged council to negotiate a “better deal” that includes a 2% ticket surcharge, $25M for affordable housing trust fund, and freezing library tax captures. Several have mentioned compensating residents who were overassessed
One comment didn’t address District Detroit rather they talked about visibility concerns with bike lanes
Resident with Detroit Action: “Don’t fund the billionaires when we have Right to Counsel needs to be fully funded.”
Groups that have spoken today include Detroit People’s Platform, Detroit Action, Moratorium Now, Impact Detroit, Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters, Local 98, IBEW Local 58, We the People of Detroit.
Multiple residents from 400 Bagley and District 6 have also spoken.
The fourth NAC member to speak during public comment is Deidre Jackson. She said they created the agreement with all of the issues mentioned today in mind and there’s more in the agreement than what has been discussed today
And that’s the end of in-person comments, we’re moving to virtual public comments now.
The tally of comments for/against is nearly split, with four more leaning in favor of District Detroit. 9 comments were neutral on the issue and didn’t indicate whether they were for/against.
“Detroiters deserve a better deal” has been a common theme for residents speaking against District Detroit.
Gaston Munoz, a landlord who was the subject of discussion during the public health & safety committee meeting yesterday for failing to bring his properties up to code, spoke in favor of District Detroit
An important note to make amid the comments today that mentioned job opportunities that would be born out of District Detroit developments. https://twitter.com/polarbarrett/status/1640748303598993414
One person called the project “trickle down economics” and asked where everyone is supposed to park when they visit District Detroit.
(I, too, have wondered the same)
“You’d be better off building seven housing projects in your seven districts.” https://twitter.com/kayleighrenel/status/1640750362012385294
A person affiliated with the Fair Housing Center of Detroit shared information about the work they do which includes training, legal services, and resources. The center is located in the Samaritan Center.
Virtual comments have mostly been those who are opposed to District Detroit. 20 have opposed, 9 were in support.
Public comment is concluded at 12:33pm. Almost all of the comments today spoke about District Detroit, with the majority of them speaking against.
City Council is moving the District Detroit items before everything else on the agenda. They’ll discuss the Transformational Brownfield tax abatement first.
Those involved in the District Detroit deal have introduced themselves. Everyone is speaking in an unusual somber tone (much slower, more quiet) right now.
There are two additions to the agreement outside of what’s been agreed to by the NAC. The first is the developer would contribute $350K per year over 10 years for affordable housing.
Olympia is also changing the resident requirement for affordable units. They initially said “resident” would mean someone who has lived in the city for 3 years. In response to some of the concerns heard, they are willing to up that requirement to 10 years.
Residents who’ve been living in the city for 10 years or longer will be first priority for affordable units.. Those who’ve lived in the city for at least 5 years will be second priority and 3-year residents will be third priority.
City Council is now discussing a letter from the mayor that proposes to divert funding in the Workforce Development Fund to a housing fund to support workforce housing initiatives, which is a barrier to increasing the workforce.
When developers don’t have a workforce of 51% Detroiters, they’re required to contribute a certain amount into a workforce development fund. The funds are then used for training initiatives to improve the % of Detroiters that are working on developments.
Sheffield is pushing back on the developer’s goal to contract $100M with disadvantaged businesses.
Sheffield said the $100M is less than what would be required under the 30% executive order for contracting/procurement with Detroit businesses
Sheffield referenced other developments, such as Rock/Gilbert, which committed to spending $300M with Detroit-based businesses. She notes that this agreement is a goal, and it’s not in writing anywhere
Sheffield said she wants stronger guarantees that Detroit-based businesses will have access to opportunities as it relates to contracting and procurement.
Most of the disagreements are related to language that hasn’t been included in the community benefits agreement and how that fails to ensure Detroiters see the benefits.
Very clear who holds the gavel in this room today. Sheffield is standing firm on what she’s asking developers to include in the agreement and has reiterated her stance a number of times.
Nicole Sherard-Freeman, Group Executive for Jobs Economy and Detroit at Work, said the urgency is due to the timeframe that developer is required to submit their materials to the Michigan Strategic Fund.
The MSF meeting is on April 20th and Olympia is required to submit their material several weeks in advance. Staying on the current timeline will allow the developer to close on financing and get shovels in the ground for the first building by July/August
Scott Benson is pushing back on the developer aiming for LEED Gold vs. a commitment to achieve that.
More about the LEED rating system:
Benson said when he goes on Related Cos. website, they tout their sustainability projects across the country.
Benson said he wants to make sure that “what we’re striving for is the tip of the spear, and that we’re being provided top-notch, sustainable product and we show what we can do in the city of Detroit…”
Olympia said they’re reaching for LEED Gold but don’t want to commit to that level due to the possibility of obstacles that may result in the developer falling short. Related Cos. was one of the first national companies to commit to LEED Silver
Olympia and Related Cos. are committed to LEED Silver but b their goal is to achieve Gold.
Whitfield-Calloway said there are typos/words misspelled in the resolution as proposed. She’s asking for technical amendments.
They are bringing the matter(s) back at the end of the agenda to allow the developer to address certain issues.
Sheffield is outlining other concerns she has:
Developer hasn’t guaranteed “whatsoever” that any of the post-construction jobs will go to Detroiters. They also requested a breakdown of the average annual salaries of the post-construction jobs.
Sheffield said that hospitality jobs were making $28K annually, which she thought was low. Her office also “strongly requested” a set aside of retail space to be dedicated to disadvantaged businesses. She said this was “not honored at all”
Sheffield said she is concerned about the amount of office space proposed. She noted that 70% of the project is office space and Detroit has only seen a 20-25% return on Monday-Friday and 40-45% throughout the weekend.
Sheffield said she’s going to continue pushing for a ticket surcharge. The city lost 10% of ticket proceeds, 7% of suite sales, 10% of food and beverage concessions, and 5% of souvenir sales and other revenue from parking, cable rights, etc. with the move from Joe Louis.
District Detroit will be brought back at the end of the agenda.
Sheffield said, “Hopefully by the time these items come back to us, we’ll have these issues that we discussed today nailed down.”
Moving forward on the agenda! All items under Sections 16 and 17 were approved.
All items under sections 18 and 19, with the exception of District Detroit matters, we’re approved.
We’re now on Section 20.
Waters and Durhal were the only “yes” votes for 20.1. The $2.9M contract with Feldman Ford failed a roll call vote for approval. https://t.co/hkSVTvFO9w
20.2 through 20.10 were approved. Sheffield and Whitfield-Calloway were no votes on 20.4.
21.3 was removed from the agenda and will be brought back next week when the producer is present, as originally planned https://t.co/jxWbBgyoXN
All items under section 21, with the exception of 21.3, are approved
Returning now to amendments to the District Detroit agreement(s).
Sheffield raised a concern about language not being included in the proposed amendments regarding commitments to prioritize “disadvantaged businesses”. Olympia said that was left out at the direction of Corporation Counsel.
Corporation Counsel Conrad Mallett Jr. said he believes they’ve gone as far as they can in accordance with the state constitution to address the concerns raised about disadvantaged businesses.
Councilmember Johnson is asking for reasons why they can’t put “disadvantaged” into the language even though the developer is alleging the intent is there. The answers that have been given haven’t provided much clarity.
Corporation Counsel said they cannot combine disadvantaged businesses with Detroit-based businesses.
Corporation Counsel: “With that degree of specificity, and saying it has to be disadvantaged and Detroit, frankly, is constitutionally limiting to the degree that it’s just simply not gonna be sustainable.”
Councilmember Durhal is speaking about legislation that limits the city’s ability to prioritize Detroit businesses due to the fact that it creates bias
Now discussing whether Olympia Development can voluntarily pay a 2% surcharge on all ticket sales. Corporation Counsel says a developer can voluntarily impose a tax, fee, etc.
A motion by Council President Pro Tem James Tate to request DEGC conduct an audit on all tax incentives that are active, but expired. This was approved
Sheffield said she’s disappointed that the executive order was left out of the development agreement. She said she still has issues she’d like to hash out but feels confident in their ability to work those matters out in a “third party agreement”
Santiago-Romero asked if there would still be time to hash out some of councilmembers concerns before the certificates, which authorize the actual abatement for some of the incentives, come back before council.
The answer didn’t really speak to the ability, rather it addressed why they would need this approved in advance of approving tax abatement certificates. Specifically, in order to finalize agreements with development partners
⚡️The resolution terminating a previous Brownfield TIF plan for the Detroit Life building is approved. 6-3 vote with Sheffield, Tate and Santiago-Romero voting no.
⚡️City Council has approved the transformational brownfield plan for District Detroit by an 8-1 vote.
Now voting on items 19.11 through 19.18 which are other tax incentives for District Detroit
Waters: “This project is not a damn district. This is a misconstruct that I will not enable.”
Waters said she wants to see Olympia be a better corporate citizen and feels the NACs work was sloppy.
Whitfield-Calloway said most of her requests her denied including a request to establish an adaptive reuse plan.
Whitfield-Calloway said she’s supporting the District Detroit project today noting the opportunities for current and future residents.
Whitfield-Calloway: “My office and this council is fully prepared to hold all parties accountable.”
Durhal said he’s also supporting the project. “I am tired of seeing development go to other cities besides the city of Detroit.”
Durhal said he thinks this body is one of the best the city has had in a long time.
Durhal noted the factory a developer is looking to build in Marshall and the Burger King locations that will be closed in the near future, resulting in a loss of over 400 jobs.
Johnson said she supports the District Detroit project because it’s mutually beneficial.
Johnson: “While I do support development, I also live in the city of Detroit. I’m a native of Detroit and I’ve been doing volunteer work in the last 15 years. One of the things that I focus on is making sure that projects are mutually beneficial.”
Johnson says “stay tuned” as the Equitable Development Task Force, which she chairs with Santiago-Romero, seeks to make changes to the Community Development Ordinance
Young is relating to residents who need an income, to buy groceries, who struggle to pay for their medication, etc. as he voices support for the project
⚡️City Council approved neighborhood enterprise zones and commercial rehabilitation districts for District Detroit. Sheffield voted no on 19.11 through 19.18.
⚡️City council has unanimously approved the community benefits agreement for District Detroit.
And that’s a wrap on the District Detroit tax incentives for today. The transformational brownfield plan is now headed to the Michigan Strategic Fund for final approval.
City council still needs to approve certificates for the NEZ and commercial rehabilitation districts that were approved today, before the incentives are in effect
Moving forward on the agenda, items under sections 23 through 27 were referred to appropriate standing committees.
Now discussing how city council will move forward with it’s first executive session which was scheduled to begin at 2:00pm today.
City council approved a motion to schedule a special session to approve the budget for April 10th.
Benson added the parks and recreation and library budgets to executive session.
This concludes the Detroit City Council Formal Session meeting on Tuesday, March 28th, 2023.
For more meeting coverage, check out http://documenters.org 💃🏼
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Detroit City Council
The Detroit City Council is the legislative body of Detroit, Michigan, United States. The Council is responsible for the creation of local laws—called ordinances. Additionally they pass resolutions, motions, and the proposed city budget. The full-time council is required to meet every business day for at least 10 months of the year, with at least eight of these meetings occurring at a location besides city hall. The council may convene for special meetings at the call of the mayor or at least four members of council. Areas of responsibility for the Budget, Finance and Audit Committee include, Budget, Finance and the Auditor General.
City Council members are elected on the same cycle as the Mayor and will be elected in 2021. Seven members represent the seven council districts, while two members are elected at-large.