Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome back.

We are now going to reconvene the planning and economic development standing committee for today, Thursday, November 20th, 2025.

Madam Clerk, hope you had an opportunity to grab some lunch and get a little recess.

We are back.

Okay.

Council President Pro Tim James Tate.

Here.

Councilmember Fred Dernhall.

Present.

Councilmember Letitia Johnson.

Present.

We have quorum, Mr.

Chair.

Thank you, man.

We have quorum, which means we're now in session.

We pretty much cleared the agenda minus uh all of the DCFC items as well as line item 8.1, which we brought back at the end of the agenda.

We're going to ask uh for motion to discuss, please.

Line item 8.1.

So move.

Thank you, sir.

All right.

I see Mr.

Mahoney there.

Uh, thank you for being here.

You can please introduce yourself for the record.

Good afternoon.

Keegan Mahoney, housing and revitalization.

Thank you, sir.

Um, this item, line item 8.1.

I kind of brought back a couple of times and may have been some lost uh translation.

I'll take responsibility for that.

My apologies.

But was trying to find out um, you know, proof of performance.

Like, what does this show us how the uh this this service actually has provided us uh a benefit in the city of Detroit?

And that's where I'm I'm trying to draw a conclusion.

I I don't see it just yet.

Not saying that it doesn't, but I'm I'm looking for that response, please.

Sure, absolutely.

Thanks for the opportunity to discuss.

Um, so it's uh within the the DNA of the housing and revitalization department to make sure that we are data driven in our recommendations and decisions around housing investments.

A lot of funding uh is invested through HRD into various housing programs and services, and it's important that that's done so in a data-driven way.

Uh, in addition, our team often is called upon to provide housing data to other city departments, uh, to uh city council and to community partners.

Uh and uh in order to do that, we often need to draw on a wide variety of data sets uh that are uh some of them are spread across city government on our open data portal in our VSA system and through a number of other city data platforms.

We also pull a lot of federal data from the census, uh, from the Postal Service uh and from um uh data regarding uh mortgage lending and mortgage denials uh and other uh public data sets.

And importantly, we have a lot of data around uh program performance within HRD.

Uh how much and where are home repair investments happening, uh, how much and where are dollars being invested into multifamily uh rental housing?

And so a lot of evaluation and analysis is always uh required of our departments.

Um, as you can imagine, knowing how to access and manage data from all of those different sources is quite difficult and and time consuming.

And it takes a lot of technical expertise uh to incorporate that data into GIS software and other other complex software platforms.

So, what this service does is it taps into all of those data sources and has a very uh easy user-friendly uh sets of layers that can be turned on and turned off so we can answer key questions about how our neighborhood uh housing values changing as a result of persistent investment in home repair, or you know, how are we seeing uh neighborhoods change as the result of a concentration of new multifamily housing developments and uh a wide variety of other types of analysis that can be done.

Again, this is typically very time consuming and and requires a lot of technical expertise.

So this software makes it much cheaper and much faster uh for us to do this type of of data analysis.

Okay, and uh just talk to me just last thing, and uh in terms of this being a sole uh provider, so to speak.

Does that cause any consternation at all?

Any you know, question because anytime we have a sole provider, and if they go belly up or if something happens with them, then it now leaves us in a situation where we're in a lurch because we've put all of our eggs in that particular basket.

Yeah, so this uh was uh uh uh procured and RFP was uh released uh in a previous contract cycle.

Um, and so uh we negotiated a contract and uh pay for a lot of the setup uh of uh of the Detroit configuration of this, integrating different uh those different data sets into this platform.

Uh so uh this is a uh uh an a continuation of uh uh building on what we've already uh invested in building the platform.

Um this was a new contract instead of an amendment to the previous contract because there was a merger between the the company that we originally contracted with and a new company, so we were unable to just uh request an extension of that existing contract, uh, which is why this is being presented as a new a new contract.

But this is building on work that was competitively procured and taking advantage of investment we've already made in building out this platform.

Okay, all right.

Uh I'm fine with that response.

Thank you.

Uh, no, we did a couple of bites at the apple.

This definitely helped a bit more.

Uh colleagues, I am definitely okay with the response that's been provided and would request a motion to approve if there are no objections.

So I'll move Mr.

Chair.

Thank you so much.

There's a motion to approve line item eight point one and sent to formal with a recommendation to approve.

Seeing no objections, that action shall be taken.

Thank you so much, Mr.

Mahomey.

All right, colleagues.

Uh if we can please take together line items eight point five, eight point six, eight point seven, and line item nine point thirty-five.

Excuse me.

Uh, before I uh we move that, Mr.

Chair, just very quickly.

Yes, sir.

Member for clarity.

Did we move eight point four?

Just to clarify.

We did move that one up.

Okay.

So move, Mr.

Chair.

All right, thank you.

Uh we did you say so move?

Mr.

Chair, we we haven't moved eight point six.

You said we have not done eight point six, not eight point six.

Right.

So I was I was moving right now eight point five, eight point six, eight point seven, and nine point three five together.

So move, Mr.

Chair.

Okay, cool.

Thank you.

All right.

Uh and I see Ms.

King with her hand up already.

Ms.

Uh, thank you, uh Mr.

Chair.

Um, just one quick um note.

So uh the provision agreement was referred to this committee last Friday at your formal session.

It is not on the agenda.

So we would also ask that the provision agreement um be walked on to be discussed um as well.

Uh colleagues, do we have that provision agreement?

Do you have it?

I don't have it in front of me right now.

Madam Clerk, do you have the provision agreement?

Okay, so we're gonna bring the uh that document up and provide it to uh colleagues or at least email it out so that everyone has it.

Um and once we have it in our possession, then we'll move to discuss that item as well.

Okay, all right.

So I know we have a number of folks that are going to be joining us regarding these particular line items.

Oh, Jackie just left.

No, Jackie, we come back.

Jackie.

Now you get just caught up in the work, right?

And she's going to get the provision document.

All right, so this is in the works right now.

So we're gonna make sure that everyone has the document before we vote on any uh provisional document.

Uh Mr.

Washington, we are not officially back on just yet, but yes.

Um just wanted to note that I did just for that out to the body and staff, and I can assist making copies as well.

Okay, appreciate it.

Uh clerks received it.

Just received it, madam clerk.

Clerk has it, and I have it as well.

All right, we're in business.

Colleagues, we good.

All right.

Also noting that it was shared on November 3rd via email with your offices.

Okay, thank you, ma'am.

I'd like to now call back to order the planning and economic development standing committee.

Madam Clerk, will you please call the roll?

Sure.

Council President Pro Tim James Tate.

Here.

Councilmember for a Durham.

Present.

Councilmember Letitia Johnson.

President.

Mr.

Chair, we have quorum.

Thank you.

We have a quorum, which means we're back in session.

Okay, we now do have this provisional document that is before us.

Uh and it was sent previously.

Um, but as a lot of things we got to get caught up to the day and time.

So uh we have it in front of us, colleagues.

Is there a motion to uh walk on this provisional document uh for discussion?

So move.

See no objections.

We should walk this item on for discussion, and action shall be taken.

Okay, so now we have a number of folks who's gonna be joining us as we talk about DCFC, uh, which is our last grouping of items for the committee.

Uh and actually the last grouping of items of the committee of this session officially.

And so uh once you see yourself on the screen, please introduce yourselves for the record.

I'll pick it off.

Edwina King Planning and Development Department.

Aaron.

There you go, popcorn.

Good afternoon, honorable members, Aaron Goodman Planning and Development Department, and my condolences to member Gerrall as well.

Okay.

Toss it over to somebody.

Uh Alexa.

Um good afternoon, everyone.

Alexa Bush, Director of Planning and Development, and I'll hand it over to my colleagues at DGC.

Good afternoon, Derek Head, D E G C uh David.

Good afternoon.

Uh David Howell, D G C.

Good afternoon.

Brian Bosper, D E G C and uh Detroit Brownfield Redevelopment Authority.

Thank you.

Will you toss in the two, Brian?

Oh, I'm sorry.

Um, I will pass it to uh Brian Co.

All right.

Morning, Brian Cove C of Detroit Law Department.

Come on, if you want to introduce yourself.

Dolores Hello, good afternoon, Dolores Prowis Laura, uh City Planning Commission, LPD staff.

Lake.

Yeah, I just won't play with me today.

Oh, Lakeisha Barcliff, LPD.

We've got two more individuals on the on the screen that have not introduced themselves.

So we can get this hearing going.

Hi, Sam Krasenstein, uh DPW.

Thank you.

Uh Sean Mann, DCFC.

All right, thank you.

All right, so I did say here and there's it's not a hearing.

These are line items that we're discussing at this moment.

So okay.

So we've been waiting for this moment to have these conversations uh regarding these particular line items that are before us, and I will allow you all to kick it off.

Okay, proceed.

Thank you.

So it's gonna be me.

Uh so again, Adwina King Planning and Depart Development Department, and good afternoon to this body as well as to the citizens of Detroit.

On behalf of the planning and development department, it is our absolute pleasure to present to you our 15th CBL Tier 1 project, the DCFC football club.

Yeah, DCFC uh report and provision agreement.

Uh before I begin, first want to say special thank you to the developers, to city council members and staff, residents, and most importantly to our NAC for your interest in this project, the advocacy, as well as working diligently 24-7 to present to you what is before you today.

So if we can get the slides up.

Okay, thank you kindly.

And next slide.

Next slide, please.

Okay, there we go.

So how and why are we here?

So of course, for those that are uh can you go back one, please?

Thank you.

Uh so why are we here today?

So, of course, a CBL Tier 1 project is triggered when a project requests more than a million dollars in tax abatements or to sell a city on land below market value and without competitive building bidding, excuse me, plus um having an investment of more than 75 million dollars.

Of course, with this project, it is valued or the investment rather is 192 million dollars, um, as we see on this screen for the construction of a soccer stadium, parking and housing, plus the request of a tax abatement valued at more than one million dollars.

And so if we go to the next slide, you will see the impact area for DCFC.

And so to the north, we have Martin Luther King Boulevard.

To the east, we have the Lodge or M10, 6th Street, Trumbull Street, 8th Street, Rosa Parks Boulevard.

To the south, we have parts of West Jefferson and of course our Great Detroit River and to the West, West Grand Boulevard.

So this impact area of roughly 5200 residents, includes all or parts of the following neighborhoods Courttown, Hubbard Richard, Mexican Town, North Corktown, Chatsey Condent, Central Southwest, and Westside Industrial.

It is also important to note that the size of this um particular impact area is roughly 30% more than what we typically do for a CBO project.

Next slide, please.

And so, of course, this is a way for those that wanted to be connected, um, were able to do so by either scanning the QR code or visiting our website.

Um, and it shows you the number of subscribers we have.

Next slide, please.

Thank you.

And so one of the things that um we did, and I feel like it was very successful uh with this project, is always having a meeting before the meeting.

And so for those that were in the impact area and in alignment with our mission here at PDD to provide meaningful engagement to residents.

Um we partnered with the Office of Councilmember Gabriela Santiago Romero, as well as doing development differently in Detroit or D4 to kick off our inaugural DCFC NAC 101 education series, and we did this prior to the start of the first meeting.

And so, what we did at this meeting, which was very well attended by residents in the impact area, we gave an overview of the CBO ordinance, talked about best practices for negotiating community benefits, um, and included a fireside chat with those citizens who have served on a NAC previous NAC experience that talked about their personal experience related to this.

And again, it was well received by the community.

Next slide, please.

And so, of course, with the tier one process, um, we have our NAC, our neighborhood advisory council.

So those members are selected to that are elected by residents in the impact area, three that are appointed by council members, of course, the two at large, and then the council member who represents the district, um, and then four that are appointed by the planning and development department.

Of course, with the eligibility, you need to be first and foremost a resident of the impact area.

Of course, you need to be nominated at the public CBO meeting, which is um be present for that second meeting, and have no conflicts of interest, and plus you need to be 18 years or older.

Next slide, please.

And so with that, I present to you our NAC.

So uh Martina Guzman, who was elected by the Impact Area residents, Brianna Urbree, um, who was also elected and served as the communicator for this NAC, Sam Butler, who was appointed by Councilmember Gabriela Santiago Romero, Mari Anisek, Anachek, excuse me, uh, who was appointed by Member Young, Sheila Cockro, who is appointed by Member Waters, Olivia Hubert, who served as our moderator, um, as well as my senior Charles Kosanki, Danielle Manley, who also served as the documenter, and Blandina Rose Willis, who was appointed by the planning and development department.

We do appoint an alternate, and that person was not other than Daniel Patton, who served in that capacity.

Next slide, please.

And so one of the things that this NAC was very um keen on is engaging the community independent of what we did at the planning and development department.

And so to that point, the NAC also um had a community survey um and held listening sessions uh with residents in the impact area and adjacent communities to hear feedback about what they would like to see in the agreement.

These things were done independent and outside of the NAC process, but again, it was done in a way to further engage the community to make sure that they feel heard and that they were truly represented in this agreement.

Next slide, please.

And of course, that was the contact information for the NAC.

Next slide, please.

And so with that being said, I'm going to pass it to my colleague who's going to go through the CBO meetings themselves, as well as talk, um, give a summary update on what is included in the agreement.

Aaron Goodman, the floor is yours.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Adwina, and thank you again to the council members.

And I what I'm going to do is I'm going to walk uh council members, committee through uh the CBO meetings, what took place there.

Uh in total, we had nine public meetings held in person at Mexican Town CDC Mercado.

Uh we had a hybrid option as well for each of the meetings, so people could join by Zoom and Zoom in addition to uh attending in person.

Uh, we also had Spanish interpretation, American sign language interpretation provided at each of those community benefits meetings.

In total, 371 unique individuals attended at least one of the public meetings, and public comment was uh part of each CBO meeting.

Nearly 300 total comments and questions uh were recorded uh either at the meetings or received by email via from the PDD or also the NAC.

Um, you know, we had very good participation, uh, some of the highest turnout definitely, particularly the first meetings with the uh the election.

That was uh very impressive.

And now advance.

So just to run you through, we started off on August 21st, first meeting, which is the introduction to the process and the developer presentation of the project, followed up in one week later, August 28th, uh, where as I mentioned, we had the election, the presentation of NAC candidates and the election of two members who are elected by impact area residents.

Um we had a week off where we had the main remaining NAC appointments from the uh both the council members and PDD.

And we also held a NAC orientation as has been uh customary for the last several years uh on September 4th, and where we provide them with a lot of information, several members of several members of the city team uh attended, including including Brian Co.

who was here from the law department, in order to let them know kind of some of the information about the best practice best practices and and how to be an effective neighborhood advisory council.

We came back on September 11th for the third public meeting, uh, where our colleagues from DEGC and the Drake Brownfield Redevelopment Authority presented on the on the tax abatements in the Brownfield plan.

And then we had a session uh dedicated really to parking and traffic issues, where uh DCFC and their uh consultant walked the NAC in the community through uh those parking and traffic plans related to the stadium.

And then in the fifth meeting, uh again, in keeping with the theme of the neighborhood advisory council and their commitment to engagement.

We actually had kind of a unique kind of session with featuring small breakout groups with attendees to really dig into some of the issues and the concerns that uh community members and residents have.

And that was led by the NAC, and and definitely appreciate the work they put into that.

As you can see here, uh these are some photos from that meeting where we had really good attendance and participation and engagement of residents.

And this is all leading up into uh the sixth meeting, October 6th, or I'm sorry, October 2nd, where the neighborhood advisory council, you know, kind of took all the things they had learned and and compiled those into an impact list and benefits request.

And um, those all those requests are about 57 in total, uh, really could go into one of these 10 categories of safety and inclusion, uh, construction mitigation, environmental quality, and neighborhood neighborhood livability, small business support, cultural community, neighborhood appreciation, and historic value, youth and education, mobility parking, traffic and pedestrian safety, jobs, wages and labor practices, housing affordability, home repair, and communication and transparency.

So, as I mentioned, uh the meetings continued.

Just talked about the impact list being presented, followed by DCFC and their team coming back on the following week to present kind of an initial response with community benefits proposals, also city departments.

Some of the things that were asked for as well, as we'll get into were things that were really best handled and done by city departments.

So we had representatives talk at that meeting.

And really, you know, that kind of dialogue continued between the you know the developer and the NAC.

We also had CREO present on the CBO enforcement and monitoring process.

And then finally on October 23rd, the ninth meeting, we had further kind of refinement of the agreement at the table, followed by a vote on whether the NAC would support uh the agreement as was negotiated there.

Also mentioned, and I think this is really important that this this was a very hardworking NAC.

Um I'll have to say, I think one member noted that each individual member put in about an extra 30 hours of outside time besides just attending these nine public meetings.

Um 300 hours of work went in beyond the each of these meetings that probably all last you know two to three hours sometimes.

So uh really appreciate them.

And you can see that they had you know, they had several you know, NAC working sessions where they met internally as well.

Um, all this leading up to the neighborhood advisory council support of the community benefits provision.

So at the October 23rd meeting, um the voting members uh passed uh by majority a motion in support of the community benefits package agreed to with the developer.

Uh we finalized all those kind of last tweaks to the agreement uh after the October 23rd meeting, delivered it on October 24th to the NAC for their review.

Um they drafted a support letter, and then following a one-week review period, uh those members who are supporting the agreement did sign that support letter, and that is attached in the community benefits report in section E.

Um, so I'm just gonna give a real high level summary of the community benefits agreement.

You know, and you know, folks really, you know, want to make sure that they recognize that the purpose of this process is addressing the project impacts and the mitigations to those impacts.

Um the NAC made 57 project identified 57 project impacts or benefit requests.

Um, of those, 56 of them were either resulted in you know, agreement to those requests or were addressed by the DCFC team and responded to.

And those are reflected in the community benefits provision.

And for further detail, you can look at section D of the report where we have a whole matrix of the request and how those lined up with uh the outcomes in the agreement.

Um, so just some highlights.

Uh, also, you know, we're not going to go through line by line the agreement.

Again, 56 items is a lot, but um, just uh there's non-monetary commitments I think are important to highlight, including uh not using facial recognition software at the stadium, know your rights trainings for um stadium employees related to immigration enforcement, uh, several commitments around environmentally sensitive design and construction, including bird safety, stormwater management, um, improvements and beautification of the 20th Street Viaduct.

Um, also the city is going to commit to conduct safety and beautification improvements to West Verner and Bagley via our Department of Public World.

Um, there's uh significant support for Detroit small business vendors and local nonprofits with dedicated retail space at the stadium, a sports mentorship program for Detroit youth, traffic management plan and parking agreement, and transparency around that and communication.

Uh, a lot of support for alternative mobility, alternative mobility options for the fans and employees through an incentive program, bike parking, and also working with our transit agencies, uh, union neutrality for um for the workers, also for the permanent jobs.

There's going to be a process for priority screening for impact area residents and detroiters, um, $17 an hour wage floor for hourly employees on their housing component, there, you know, they they have significant affordability committed to, but also additionally committed to deeper affordability in regards to the the two bedroom units.

Um I believe that I don't remember, I think four of the two bedroom units are going to be at 50% AMI.

I got that number around, so hopefully hopefully someone will correct me.

Um also partnering with homelessness services, including the city outreach team and other agencies to support unhoused population, particularly near the stadium and in the impact area, and also extending the number of annual community update meetings.

So those are all the significant non monetary commitments, and then uh financial kitchen contributions, because I know people are also very interested in that.

Over 12 years, excuse me, to support funding for safe and healthy homes, um, and also support for cultural institutions and programming.

And that is um those are those specific identifications that DCFC and the NAC are committed to working together and that providing direction specifically where those funds should go.

So you know the NAC's work is not done in that regard.

Additionally, DCFC is uh committing 200,000 to a revolving loan fund for small businesses.

100,000 for a soccer mini pitch with equipment programming and other activation.

Um 3,000 complimentary tickets annually valued at about 60,000 a year for 12 years um during the tax abatement period.

And then $50,000 uh so that's $720,000 in total over 12 years, excuse me.

And then $50,000 dedicated for um artist installations and murals displayed in public areas of development, recognizing the history of Detroiters in the impact area, and specifically honoring the legacy of the former Southwest Detroit hospital.

So we have further details on all those um and certainly would invite the developer if you have specific questions about the commitments to um to chime in during the QA.

So with that, excuse me, um, I just want to say thank you uh for the time, the presentation.

Thank you to the neighborhood advisory council uh for all of your hard work and DCFC.

And thank you to the council members uh for your for listening and for uh your partnership on this and our other CBO projects that we have gone through.

With that, um I will yield the floor.

Okay.

So I know that we also invited a few uh we also extended the invitation to NAC members.

Did any of them take uh us up on the opportunity to say a couple of words?

Yes.

Yes, uh, we do have two NAC members.

Um Brie, the communicator on behalf of the NAC as well as the documenter, Danielle Manley.

Uh they are present.

And then there are other NAC members who are also um here.

But those two will be speaking on behalf of the NAC.

Okay, thank you so much.

I know this was a little different than our previous NACs that had a leadership, so to speak, uh chair and vice chair.

Um so uh again, what we wanted to do is hear from one of the NAC members who supported, one of the NAC members who did not support, and then also uh provided opportunity for all of the NAC members to be here and provide responses to questions that colleagues may have.

Um the two NAC members, thank you for joining us.

If you can please introduce yourself for the record.

Excuse me, Mr.

Chair.

I believe Danielle Manley needs to be promoted.

No, she's on she's on the screen.

He's on.

Oh, oh, I'm sorry.

Yeah, no.

My apologies, no worries.

All right.

Hi, everyone.

Happy to start with introductions.

I'm Brie Williamson.

I'm a resident of North Corktown, and I was elected to the NAC by um those in attendance at the election.

Thank you.

Ms.

Manley.

Hi, everybody.

My name is Danielle Manley.

I am a resident of Historic Corktown and was appointed by uh planning and development.

Okay, thank you.

Now, no, again, wanted you both to represent uh because it was a six-three split, if you will, of uh those who supported those who did not.

And uh we'll start with uh Miss Williamson.

First of all, uh you you were the communicator.

Talk to us about what that role position uh entails.

And then just and what we would like to know is a little bit about your experience uh on the NAC.

Uh anything that you would like to provide to this body in terms of learning experiences as we move forward, and the same would apply for you as well, Ms.

Manley.

Um, but then if you can just express uh why you felt uh it was uh uh why why did you vote no on it essentially?

And Ms.

Manley is saying for you what why did you decide to vote yes?

Yeah, happy to um thank you all so much for um having us here today.

Um when we were setting up um you know uh our leadership structure, we really wanted to have open communication, we wanted to have good moderation of conversation, and we wanted to make sure that everything was documented really well for public record.

So that's really where our mindset was, um, less on a unnecessary leadership structure and more on just creating an openness around communication um and clear and transparent information, um, and also a kindness because this process does set us up as uh being very adversarial between all of the parties involved by its nature.

So we wanted to, you know, try to make sure that that was kind of uh leveled out a little bit in our in our structure.

Um, so that's where that came from.

Being the communicator, I handled all of the responses to our um Gmail account, anything that came through social media, um, as well as providing the NAC members with that information in our meetings um and in general opening up the meetings to welcome the neighbors in.

So that was my role there.

Um, as far as myself uh voting no, I will really be honest because I it was down to the wire for me.

I was really sitting on a fence, and I thought about myself in that final moment of okay, we're three years out, and we have a soccer stadium, and there are 15,000 people there because I believe the DCFC can do it.

And my neighbors come to me and say, why did you let this happen?

Could I assuredly say to them that I believed that we got the best benefits for the impacts that they would experience, and I don't feel like we got there with our group, but I feel as though it is nearly impossible to get there, and I do not put that on the individual members of the NAC, I do not put that on DCFC, I really put that on the process.

Um, it is a process that, as currently designed, does not create the conditions for true community benefits.

It places residents in adversarial roles against each other.

Um, I had neighbors that I know that I was advocating for that were using threatening language to me publicly in this process, even though I was advocating for them.

Um, it pits us against developers and long-standing partners, and it shifts power away from city council, which is the body that is democratically elected to hold developers accountable, and it transfers all of the power to a group of residents who are expected to negotiate without real enforcement power or meaningful leverage at all.

Um so that was really where my no came from.

Um, after participating in the process, I don't feel you can get true community benefit for the impacts that development brings.

Um, and I think that really it is kind of up to the city to mitigate and advocate for the impacts that development brings, and it shouldn't be on the shoulders um of volunteers because that really limits the pool of who is able to step up to the challenge of taking on a NAC process.

Okay, thank you so much.

Yeah, thank you.

Miss Badley.

Hi, everyone.

Now we can see why Brie was nominated as a communicator.

She is very uh passionate and articulate.

And um, my role as the documenter, which I sort of saw um not just as a secretary, and I think that was important to us that we uh sort of reframed a little bit how uh the governance structure of our you know volunteer body was seen.

Um, I think that might be a reflection of just a member uh a few of us members who are um you know leading a new generation, sort of of how we are participating and showing up in our work, but I am uh much more uh confident in the written word.

And so I I would like to read you sort of why I am supportive of the proposal, and um so I'm so I'm gonna look off screen, but it's not because I'm not really interested in you seeing my uh my face.

And it's a personal story, right?

Um I am really happy to be here today.

I I really do feel grateful for the opportunity to um have participated in such a unique sort of governance structure.

I I feel that it um benefited me personally and professionally.

Uh, I've been a resident of Historic Corktown for 10 years.

Uh, but I you know, my story's not unique because I moved to Detroit um because it was a place that stoked my imagination and made me want to serve and it made me want to be a better person.

And I know I'm I'm not special.

There are lots of us here that feel that way.

And you know, there's sort of a wave of people in my neighborhood that around that time settled in Corktown.

You know, my husband and I in the last 10 years, we are nonprofit service driven leaders and have made a home here.

Um and I think what happens in the in the NAC process is that it really sort of lays bare this tension between our legacy uh residents who um have have made Detroit the city that I wanted to live in and the people like myself and my husband who moved here to to gentrify.

I I can't call it anything other than what it is, right?

We talked a lot in the NAC about the the risk of gentrification and and I if I'm really honest with you, I'm part of that, right?

Now I restored two historic houses up to their standard.

It took us eight long years, and I you know, I feel like I've earned my spot in my neighborhood, but um a lot of what we were grappling with was how do we serve both, right?

How do we serve our legacy neighbors?

And how do we create a city that is competitive and is desirable and makes mobile professionals with families want to move here.

And you know, Aaron stole some of my thunder because he you know rattled off all of the the monetary and non-monetary um benefits that we were able to negotiate.

But I think at the end of the day, you know, because my story is personal.

I moved to Detroit because I want experiences like alumnify field.

Um I would urge you to approve this.

And the reason that I um am supportive is because I want Detroit to have the amenities like the DCFC stadium and the opportunities that it affords everyone, right?

Not just those of us who are moving here for that kind of stuff, but those of us who have been here, the Detroiters who make this have made this city what it is.

That's why I ultimately um voted to support this proposal.

Thank you so much.

All right.

So just uh to let everyone know, uh line item.

We didn't move a number of items.

Uh 8.5 is a commercial rehabilitation certificate, uh a PA210, uh line item 8.6.

Uh it is for a commercial rehabilitation certificate, PA 255.

Line item 8.7 is a brownfield redevelopment plan, and 9.35 is the community benefits agreement.

That is the presentation that we're currently in right now.

What we did was we had the hearing for those other items, and we brought them all uh today, brought them all together today so that we would vote on them uh as a group as opposed to one by one by one.

So just for those who may not be fully aware of the process.

So I'll start, I'll kick off with uh just my big question.

I know everyone's heard we kind of talked about it with uh some of the uh folks from the various departments about um parking, and it's not one of those issues that's quiet and I've heard it, email folks have called us about it.

We've called in uh to uh public comment about it as well.

Let's walk through what the parking plan looks like because it is a little it's a bit concerning when we have 15,000 seats and noting that there won't be of course I don't believe 15,000 vehicles um as a result of the patrons, but we still do have I think a couple of hundred employees that may have their vehicles as well.

Uh, we're looking at uh a parking structure that is going to be uh created, but that parking structure is also going to be uh shared with the uh apartment units that are uh going to be located nearby as well.

So kind of walk us, walk us through uh the parking plan and why why should folks not be as concerned as they are in their calls, emails uh to our offices.

And anyone can respond.

Um I can just uh uh kick that off from a high level.

And we also have uh Adam McArthur, our consultant from WSP, uh who helped guide our parking and traffic plan.

But um Yeah, City Code has it um, you know, for a venue of our size, we're supposed to have 2500 uh parking spots.

And so um, you know, as we envisioned this, um, it's walking a fine line between having adequate parking, but also not in a dating, you know, uh a neighborhood, uh, our neighborhood uh with a lot of surface parking.

Uh we want to create a dense uh walkable uh amenity that ties into the existing neighborhood, right?

So you know uh with that we have the parking deck that's 421 units.

Um 57 of those would be set aside for the tenants uh in the apartment wrapping the parking deck.

The rest is for events or everyday usage.

Uh but along those lines, we've also uh been acquiring land um south of railroad tracks and on the other side of 20th Street um that DCFC uh owns and would operate.

And so with that um land that we own ourselves, we're at 1200 uh parking spots already.

Um we have options on other parcels uh to acquire.

Mr.

Man, just Mr.

Man, we're real quick, just trying to again because I don't see it a document uh that's that's on the spin.

If you have a document that'd be helpful because you know, again, we're in a public setting, we won't want to walk folks through this.

Sure.

If I can share my screen, absolutely see it.

Uh yes, it is a little difficult to reach.

If you can expand it just a bit.

Trying to sorry, um that's much better.

Okay, so that's the overview.

This is overview of the site.

Um in the center here, we have the stadium.

Um, and as I was mentioning, um, on the north side of the stadium site itself is the parking deck uh with um 350 spots that would be set aside for use for the stadium and for events and everyday use, the remainder set aside for the apartments.

We've also acquired land on the other side 20th, and then we acquired um these parcels over here um uh south of the railroad tracks, um uh via accessible via the viaduct on 20th street.

So all told with the land that we own and control ourselves right now, um, we're at 1200 parking spots.

Um we also have options on other parcels um in this area as well as um uh over on the other side of 96 uh in this industrial area.

Uh with those uh options we have not exercised yet.

Uh there's another 200 spots, but then with the idea of not looking to add more surface parking that's needed, you know, we are working with uh existing property owners, existing parking lots.

Um and so we have an MOU in place with Mexicatown CDC uh to leverage their parking down here and uh with some of the industrial uh owners over here.

Uh and with that we're I just want to slow you down just a little bit because I will actually want to talk numbers because you're saying that we've got to deal with this person, we've got to deal with give us some numbers.

What what is anticipated in terms of spots?

So that we actually again we what we know is that the there's a 15,000 capacity in terms of seats.

That's that is a for certain.

Uh what we do know for certain, you mentioned the the lots that you uh current well, the the parking structure that will have 421 spots uh available.

Uh and then you mentioned about the surface uh parking uh that you uh will be uh that it's on your land that you're gonna be acquiring uh and transfer into a uh parking lot.

So let's talk actual numbers, uh not just for your um collection of properties, but for the partnerships and the the conversations you're having as well.

Let's talk about numbers so we can start putting uh putting the ease to the the mind to ease to some of the folks who have some major concerns because when we just talk in in umbrella broad, you know, kind of statements, you're not really explaining what the goal is in terms of the numbers of the city.

Yeah, so um I mean the goal, um the bare minimum, right?

Per code is 2500 out of for 15,000 seat venue as uh Detroit code goes.

Um so right now we own or have options on land that gets us to 1400 and we have partnerships in place that get add another 450.

Um and we are in due diligence or contract phase with either acquiring more parcels or entering into partnerships with existing parking lots that gets us well past uh that 2500 number all told.

Um so like we feel not only are we gonna get there, we're gonna go past it, but on top of that, and I can if we can bring in Adam, our consultant, maybe we would show that um that that is you know, um, it's a good number to be at, right?

Um, and that with the traffic flow in this area, um, and comparable car-centric cities and urban settings, like the this where we have our code at is uh you know, it's a good number, like it can accommodate what we're anticipating in terms of crowds and where they're coming from and how they're getting there.

Now if Adam's available to hop on.

Yeah, let's bring Adam on because it needs some additional clarification.

Yeah, no, and you should can you guys hear me now?

We can, yes, is Adam McArthur.

Excellent.

Okay.

Yeah, so as part of this study, um, what we did is we looked, we did a mobility analysis and looked at similar soccer stadiums um throughout the Midwest and similar capacities, and we also looked at some that had more capacity and some that had less capacity to assess their parking.

In addition to that, we looked at mode split and what the mode split is is how many people are taking a car to the stadium, how many people are riding transit, how many are riding their bike or walking just because they live nearby.

So, as part of that analysis, what we're able to look at is a need of about 3,000 spaces, is where you're at, and what that considers is those benchmark venues, but then also data on occupancy, where typically on sporting events like this, we have about 2.7 occupants per vehicle.

So just purely in those spaces alone, you get around nine to ten thousand of your people that are showing up are gonna be in those cars that are in those three thousand or less spaces, right?

And I'm seeing on the screen now is are some of our benchmarks that we looked at here of you know where we're at with our on-site spaces compared to some of the other stadiums there.

Um, and you know, as part of that, we presented it to the NAC, all of our data there, and just so that they can see, you know, one, what we're looking at, and then two, how we came up with our assumptions and estimates related to this.

Um, so with you know, with with those numbers and things, we're we're confident that you know the amount of parking that is provided on site is enough to support the demand that's gonna exist there for a 15,000 seat stadium.

Okay, so are are you when you look at the the uh other shared parking and even off-street?

Are you anticipating the fact that Quartertown's pretty busy, especially on the real nice sunny fun day?

Uh and it's a lot of activations that take place over Roosevelt Park and uh so it's a lot of things going on.

I'm I'm jealous.

I would love to have that activity over in district one without a shadow of a doubt.

But the fact that it exists in such a concentrated manner, um talk to me about how that's been you know thought about as well.

I mean, when you have parking that's at you know what feels like capacity some days currently, how do you think that you're going to um be able to shake free additional parking?

Well, a lot of those uses end up being where you know somebody's gonna park in those spaces and they're gonna go to multiple events and things like that.

But what we're doing here and what we're looking at is just on site, what do they have to house, you know, not just per the code, but like what do we think is actually needed for the stadium to accommodate that demand there, and that that's where the benchmarking comes into play, and then that occupancy.

So we did that analysis, which is informed you know what Sean and his team is doing with getting those MOUs in place, and then also you know, the the parcels that they already own there.

So that's how we arrive at that count, and that's just considering the stadium itself in terms of like what their parking needs are.

So we're looking at that as you know, going beyond what exists today there.

So and then in addition to that, when we looked at the traffic impacts and did the analysis there, when we took the counts, we took them on a day where there were other events and things going on.

And the idea behind that was to capture that background activity, you know, whether it's at Michigan Central or even you know, people passing through to get to Kamerico Park and things like that that are you know far farther down the road there.

But the idea with that is we wanted to get a higher demand scenario for our background so that way when we were assessing the stadium, you know, in context with that, that it was appropriate for one of those you know, higher energy, higher demand type of um events going on with a lot of activity.

Okay.

I'm gonna pass also with the oh sorry, I just added uh with the events in our stadium.

Um, like we know our schedule typically six months out, uh, any other um and we have a good relationship with Michigan Central and with uh PAL.

Um, and so I think there's you know, those large drivers in the area, there's um strong relationships to build off in terms of coordination and communication, and that's something that we reflect in the CBO agreements is um taking lessons from the folks in the community that do well with this and you know, having a strong line of communication with folks to know when events are happening in the neighborhood.

Colleagues, any additional questions, comments, concerns uh member Johnson.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Um, so I'm not sure I fully um understand how we are getting to the 2500 parking spaces, which is the requirement.

So I saw the 400.

Um there was a potential of 1500 within the lots.

What's what assurances do residents have that those 1500 are actually going to come online?

Are they parking lots that exist?

Is there an agreement with the owner of the parking lot?

Is there ownership of the land?

Help me understand that a little better.

Yeah.

And so I mean, this is something that's actually captured by the uh CBO agreement.

Um that, you know, we have to um share um what our partnerships are uh with the existing parking lot owners in addition to the parking lots that we're developing ourselves.

And that's something that um on an annual basis we have to report out um what parking lots we're leveraging um and how they're being used.

Um but um you know, going back, you know, of that 2500, you know, at this point, more than half of that is on land that we own and will operate.

And then we are entering into either uh actually leasing land um on an ongoing like year-in, year out basis uh where we would have surface parking, or we're entering into partnerships with existing parking lot owners where we would be using and staffing those parking lots for our events, which are principally on nights and weekends, right?

So uh to the agree that there's offices in the area with surface parking, uh, those are conversations that we're finalizing to leverage that parking to be used um on the weekends and nights when we have our large-scale events.

Um but this is part of the CBO is that we keep coming back and talking and keep people informed of not just what we own, but where we're operating parking and making sure that we're meeting um that threshold uh ongoing.

Uh, Director Bush, I wonder if you can um help me understand the parking.

So I know we've had numerous conversations about relaxing the parking requirement.

And this scenario is one of the reasons that I push back a little bit because I'm saying we know that there is already um density in these areas when we bring on additional development, it creates traffic issues, parking issues within the residential area.

So, how are we ensuring that the residents won't have to deal with this when there is a game?

So it's one thing for the developer to have to come back and say, this is what we're doing, this is what we're planning to do.

What's the requirement for them to do?

Um, and because they owned land doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to be parking for as long as the stadium is in use.

So what assures the residents that their neighborhood won't get any more parking issues or have to deal with any more parking issues than they do today because we already know that there's a challenge with parking.

A lot of residents in the area don't have driveways, don't have garages, they park on the street.

Now we bring in all of these visitors, and the residents have to deal with that experience.

How are we helping them to alleviate the challenges that come with parking for this particular development?

Through the chair to member Johnson, thank you for that question.

And yes, we've had quite a good and robust parking conversation of late.

I think, you know, as we're all working to see more development, more amenities in the city, in some ways it's a great problem to be stepping into of how do we start to address this challenge, um, where we do have residents, we are seeing really exciting opportunities, and we are working through the reality of how to best accommodate um you know, more cars, more vehicles, more people moving around while still preserving the density and walkability that we want to see and not just trying to you know build surface parking throughout a really wonderful walkable and dynamic community.

Um I think there's really two pieces to this because I think the um work that the development team is laying out in terms of what the stadium will do in this neighborhood is one component, but we're also aware, as mentioned by um uh Pro Temptate that you know there's already a lot of activity happening in Corktown, and both of those things are happening at the same time.

To speak specifically to the stadium development, um, as mentioned by the developer, you know, per the code, they would be required to provide based on the size of their stadium, you know, the 2500 spaces.

Um, that will be part of their their site plan commitments, as any developer would do to meet the requirements of the zoning in which they are um operating.

Um so there will be that piece of their permits will speak to you know being able to provide and have that parking available um as part of that set of regulatory requirements.

As mentioned also by the developer, you know, I think they are trying to go above and beyond in being thoughtful about this, that they have benchmarked other stadiums, they're being very thoughtful about um, you know, balancing again where they can find these parking resources where they might be building new, and where we could better leverage existing parking structures and decks in in the neighborhood to not have to build more surface parking.

Um, I think the other opportunity with some of the parking that they're building is outside of their schedule of games every year.

These might become parking resources that could support other activities in Corktown that could be explored.

Um, the second piece of this is there are a number of commitments in the development agreement related to that this question of employee parking.

Where do those folks park?

Might there be incentives offered to offer alternative mobility options, be that bikes, be that bus passes, et cetera, that the developer has committed to.

Um, and third, you know, I think they know from their existing ticket holders that some of them do reside not so far from the stadium itself.

Um they've been quite thoughtful about thinking about who might walk, how to accommodate um bike parking, where should it be, what should that look like to allow users to use multiple modes.

They've also been considering ride share in that mix.

Um, the other commitment that I'll just point to in the agreement has to do with between our team, public works, and the developer.

Uh, there's been a commitment to within a year of the stadium actually opening, right?

It's a dynamic environment.

We'll make our best plans, um, but they've agreed also to revisit and look at this so that we can make modifications as necessary.

Um, so I think there's both, you know, this question of building new surface resources, trying to utilize existing resources to the maximum extent possible, and providing and encouraging other modes of transportation as you know, they can fit and see where their um ticket holders and visitors come from.

As I mentioned, though, the stadium is coming into a neighborhood where there is a lot going on.

Um, and we know and have heard from residents about the challenges of multiple projects that have opened over the last decade in Corktown.

Um, we are working on our second version of a parking study.

Um, we will be completing that study by year end.

This really originated from our 2020 Corktown neighborhood framework plan that looked at North Corktown, historic Corktown.

Um, it doesn't overlap 100% with what was defined as the impact area for this project.

So we're trying to be very thoughtful to look at you know, how is development growing, what is the demand for parking, how is this changing over time?

Our team in planning and development will be um completing and sharing recommendations from this larger parking outlook.

Um we don't think there's a singular solution, but a number of different initiatives that we've spoken with residents about continuing.

Some of these are exploring if there are opportunities for residential parking permits.

This is a process that we have that's initiated by resident petition.

But we think it would alleviate that issue of you know, having someone not park right in front of your house all the time, or you know, all those pieces of um encouraging visitors to Corktown to park in more appropriate places, existing surface lots, existing structures that already exist and are underutilized.

We're working with municipal parking to explore metering.

We know that MDOT will be improving Michigan Avenue, which may create more parking spaces as well.

But in this very dynamic environment, we'll be continuing to look at and work with our partners at the city in public works and municipal parking to continue to find opportunities and solutions.

We've also, through the development agreement, sort of codified a commitment to looking at other tools we have beyond just enforcement, be that a corridor improvement authority, be that better leveraging the existing transportation innovation zone.

Um, but you know, recognize that we are gonna make a plan that we think is a baseline for what we can do and do commit, particularly once the stadium opens and we really get a sense of what is that mix of modes, how do we continue to refine that plan and recommendations and make sure we're meeting those needs as they evolve.

Well, thank you.

I appreciate everything that you share.

There's still a lot of uncertainty around parking to me in this community while we all recognize that there are challenges there.

Um, and we have thoughts around how we can address it or recognizing the challenge that exists by quantifying that.

Um I hear you saying that you're looking into it or watching it to understand how much of a challenge it is.

Um there I I hear you saying that you're looking into it or watching it to understand how much of a challenge it is, who's addressing the challenge because there's a challenge that exists today, right?

Even before the stadium is built.

There's a challenge that exists today.

We've we hear it regularly.

Um we heard it when people were talking about uh Michigan Central uh and bringing activating different parts of that building.

So that was again the reason that I was pushing back saying, okay, to the city because this is a very vibrant area that is getting parts of it getting reactivated on a monthly basis.

What are we doing as a city recognizing that the development creates more and more of a challenge for the residents that are there today?

Um so I appreciate the conversations.

I'm really interested in what is going to happen.

Um when it's going to happen, how it's going to happen, and who's going to do it.

Um, so I do want to pivot a little bit and talk about maybe something that I get really excited about.

Um, stormwater management and the the stadium itself.

I I saw some of the plans and was really excited about the permeable um aspect of the stadium.

So can you all just talk about that?

Yeah, um I would call in our owners rep at Segel uh to speak to the stormwater math.

Um I don't see him on the screen anymore.

Oh, there I am.

There he is.

So, yes, we're uh doing two different things as far as uh through the chair, excuse me.

Um we're doing two different things as far as excuse me sir.

Can you please introduce for the record?

Yes, sir.

Uh through the chair.

Uh my name is Ed Siegel.

I am the owners representative from DCFC for this project.

Thank you.

Uh we're doing two different things as part of the um uh stormwater management plan.

One is a below playing field surface below the playing field um water retention system called thermoboid system, which captures stormwater right on site and holds it in place.

Uh the other items that we're doing um is actually a backup system as well.

So we should be able to hold uh about 160,000 cubic feet of water uh at any given time uh as a stormwater retainers.

Uh we are also looking into uh another item here, which is to treat that uh stormwater to be reused uh for landscaping purposes uh on the field as well.

All right, thank you.

That's something I'm really interested in.

Um there was a thought or consideration about a center in the city of Detroit that uses a lot of water, and my question was can they use stormwater instead of um freshwater to be able to address the challenges?

So I'm I I would love to have an offline conversation with you about that.

Um and then I know Mr.

Chair, you indicated that there were other NAC members that were present.

Um I did see a couple on the screen.

I see one now, but I'm really interested in hearing feedback from them because one of the things I thought was interesting that Ms.

Williamson talked about is essentially the community, the volunteers from the community, um I guess maybe having more of a challenge in creating these benefits and holding the developer accountable, like it's it's city council's responsibility.

I do think I have always felt like the community should be sharing with us what it is that would be beneficial to you and that we would advocate for it.

But in this instance, that you can advocate for it on behalf of the community.

And if there is something, I think historically, if there was something significant that did not get included in a CBA, uh council members have advocated on behalf of the community to put in some additional uh benefits.

I I would love to see us not do that, uh, but that the community uh is able to pull together a community benefits agreement that for them is beneficial.

Um it is I guess for the most part what residents are asking for and for the residents that are on the NAC feeling as though they can push that they can uh really make sure that the CBA speaks to the need of the community and that the developer has addressed it prior to it coming before city council.

Um I'm not sure why some folks may feel that does not happen or cannot happen.

Um, and so I'm really interested in hearing from some of the other NAC members about your experience.

I know we've had conversations about the ordinance and some of the challenges within the ordinance, and I know as a part of the equitable development task force, Sam Butler is um on the Equitable Development Task Force.

We've had conversations about the CBO and how do we um provide additional support, and and one of the things that we've talked about is the planning and development department providing a little bit more assistance uh to the NAC members for um residents to know development and you know, helping with um facilitating the conversations and prior to the conversations actually happening.

So Mr.

Chair, if if it is okay, um there, and I'm not sure if there are any other NAC members that are um joining us via Zoom who may be interested in in sharing their experience about this process.

Yeah, we have uh any additional NAC members that are present.

We can uh promote them and pull them over.

Uh Ms.

King.

Yep, so through the chair, um Sam Butler is on the screen.

We've also um promoted Blandina Rose Willis, um, one NAC member who is present has declined to appear on camera.

Okay.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

No specific question, but really just trying to understand what their experience was like on the NAC, good, bad, or indifferent.

Hi, I'm Blandina.

Can you all hear me?

Yes, ma'am.

Good afternoon.

All right.

Uh I didn't want to jump in front of Sam, but I'll be glad to share my thoughts.

Uh, first of all, I have been a member of uh the NAC for the first time.

I learned a lot from all of my members, and um I learned a lot from the members of the community.

And indeed, your interest in talking about uh what's going on with parking was a big issue in the community.

Many of the members of the community felt like um you are not um you're not going to be able to see what's going on in with parking and traffic for at least a year after the stadium is built.

So I was very glad when um uh Alexa mentioned that um in another year we would be looking at the parking and traffic one more time.

I would say also that many members of the community felt that the amount of um money that's going to be provided for housing upgrades is really a drop in the bucket for what needs to be done for the members of the community and for the housing.

Um but we felt like we put together the best plan that we could, and we were very interested in um long-term transparency.

So we want to make sure along the way that we're definitely paying attention to how the process is going and how the community benefits are going.

Would we like to see more community benefits?

Absolutely.

Do we think that it was fair?

Not exactly, but um, do we think we did the best that we could with the uh situation provided and the time limit provided?

Um I think the members of the community are not satisfied, but they are willing to work with it.

Most people are delighted to see the stadium coming and are concerned about parking and community benefits.

That's about all I can add.

Anyone else want to share?

I see we've been joined by someone else uh on the screen there, but we'll go with Sam Butler first before that individual speaks.

Sure.

Um yeah, through the chair, thank you for the time.

Um I think one of member Johnson's questions was about like, are there any reflections on how to reform the community benefits ordinance?

I personally feel like absolutely we should be talking about how to reform the CBO next year.

I personally believe that we should be thinking about perhaps like a floor or preset menu of community benefits, similar to what, say, Cleveland does and what some other cities do around the country.

Because you know, every CBO, we are talking about the same things for the most part, arguing over the same things for the most part.

So if we could establish some sort of floor or like a tiered menu, but then still allowing for the NAC or some community representation to still identify unique externalities, you know, to that specific project.

I think we can create kind of like a hybrid model.

Um those are just my thoughts off the cuff at 356 in the afternoon.

Um regarding this current uh you know CBA with DCFC, I will say one of the reasons why I voted yes and yes, and some of the things that I'm most proud of is that we worked really hard to ensure uh workers' rights for the stadium employees.

And you know, I think credit goes to DCFC for working with us on that.

So we have prioritized local hiring, we have union neutrality uh and a $17 uh wage form.

So I mean, I think we've done the best we can to really make sure that Detroiters are getting these jobs and that these are you know decent jobs uh for folks.

Parking, I obviously a big issue.

Um I mean, I think this body was correct in identifying it as the number one issue.

It by far was, you know, traffic and parking by far was the number one issue that we heard from the community.

Um frankly, you know, this NAC like struggled to identify what are some good solutions around that.

So we we pushed for greater transparency around the auxiliary lots and understanding where those 2500 spaces are coming from.

But I think it also is worth noting that Michigan Avenue is going to look entirely different over the course of the next few years.

Not only is MDOT, you know, making its changes, uh, but there also is potentially a Amtrak station coming to Michigan.

Um it's unfortunate that the MDOT study was completed by the time we went through this process, uh, because otherwise we could have you know incorporated some of that feedback into the MDOT study.

But this is part of the reason why we felt it was very important to put in there that we need to revisit all of this one year after the stadium opens, because I feel like um, you know, the parking and traffic, it's gonna shake out in some unpredictable ways.

And so we're gonna need to see how it goes before we can come up with some really smart solutions.

The last thing I'll say about parking is um parking is a double-edged sword.

And we so we heard from community members that they are not only concerned about there being not enough parking, but then community members also expressed uh concerns around there being a proliferation of like unsightly surface parking lots, right?

A few people mentioned the old Tiger Stadium days, which I think was a stadium that had you know 50,000 seats and no garage associated with that.

Um so that is one of the reasons why we were glad that PDD uh and other various city departments are willing to work with us to think about like are there policy solutions that we can come up with related to perhaps design standards for those service parking lots, um, or maybe there's something related to the transportation innovation zone that we can come up with.

I mean, I think we need some smart people in the room to talk about that because while parking probably will be constrained for 44 days of the year, uh, and 44 days of the year comes from the the anticipated number of events happening at the stadium.

We also want to make sure that surface parking lots aren't creating a blighting um use, the other 320 days of the year and therefore you know hindering economic development in the area.

So I will I will seed uh the ground and kick it over to Danny through the chair, of course.

Yes, sir.

Thank you.

All right.

I think so.

We've been joined by another gentleman.

Uh please introduce yourself for the record.

And I believe you are also a member of the NAC.

Uh and you are free to respond to the member Johnson's uh question as well.

Yeah, thank you very much, and good afternoon.

Uh through the chair, introducing myself.

My name is uh Danny Patton, and I was the alternate um member of the NAC.

And uh the NAC was was very gracious in in allowing me to really kind of fully participate um in the process and and uh you know have a have a voice.

Um I'd like to just share two things as I reflected on the experience.

And the first is, you know, when I think about the fundamental purpose of a community benefits ordinance, at least in my mind, right?

It's to protect the community from bad actors, right?

Recognizing that there often is a power imbalance between developers and an individual residents.

How do we create a structure that protects residents from bad actors that are going to make decisions that are going to be at the detriment of that local community that aren't going to have the, you know, they're going to have an asymmetry of power to be able to respond?

Well, one of the things that I think really struck me as we got further into this is the process doesn't, in my mind, take into consideration when you have a good actor who is in the community.

And one of the things that I was really struck by as we get to spend a lot of time with the DCFC team is that the ways that they've demonstrated already in Detroit of being a good actor, right?

That they have their own version have started youth programs, have engaged with local charities and thought about sustainability and local business.

And I think rightfully so, as we thought about the agreement, we thought about incrementality, right?

What additional things to address maybe the specific aspects of this plan or this project need to be addressed?

Um, but in some ways it at times it kind of felt like the other things that they already have done and we're planning to continue to do suddenly almost become like inadmissible to the conversation, right?

Because we want to think about what else?

And I think that's a shortcoming.

Because I think what we want to do is we want to reward good actors.

We want to allow them to be able to succeed and flourish when developing our communities.

And I don't think the process currently takes that into account.

I think I think DCFC is a great example of that.

I was I was really impressed by the team.

The second thing that I want to share, and I think this is alluded to in some of the things that we shared and how it can create um real tension and enmity um between the key stakeholders, the community, the NAC, the city, the developer.

And I wonder if there's a way in which uh these processes don't become the community's only way to try and have a voice around large scale, multi-generational macroeconomic challenges, of which there are plenty that we live with in Southwest and throughout the city, right?

But I think a lot of times what we saw is you know, the things that were consistently raised time and time again really were those large-scale macroeconomic problems, like housing, like uh, you know, deferred maintenance on housing, right?

In a hundred-plus-year-old neighborhood, right?

These are huge, huge problems, right?

Disparities in transit access, things like that are huge, huge problems.

And it felt at times because the CBA process provides a lot of voice in public hearing and opportunity to come in that it's like, well, if we can't get it done here, we can't get it done anywhere.

But I think it sets us up for failure.

And so I wonder if there's a way for us to be able to say, how do we use it as a way to gather that in, but to create a bit of a pressure release valve to say, okay, we're hearing a lot on you know, deferred investment in libraries.

We don't really think that is uh, you know, a kind of a core uh issue related to this, but how do we connect people into other processes?

How do they give them voice to say like that still matters, right?

Without it saying, well, if we don't address all of those things, then somehow this process was a failure.

So I'd love for the for the group to think about in the future.

You're gonna get those, like you're gonna get that feedback, but how do we allow a NAC to say a little bit more focused in terms of what is controllable and what is really relevant for that particular development?

And I and I think we can end up with a sharper outcome without having residents feeling like you know, their their bigger concerns were dismissed.

Um I think that's all I have to share today.

Thank you so much for uh for giving us this opportunity.

All right, thank you so much.

Thank you, Mr.

Todd.

Okay.

Um member Johnson, the floor remains yours if you still have any additional questions, ma'am.

Thank thank you, Mr.

Chair.

I did just have one um additional question for the developer, and just want to say thank you to the NAC members for sharing your experience.

Um and uh Sam Butler, I know we will continue to have the conversations about the community benefits ordinance and how we can improve it for the benefit of the residents or in the community that is most impacted.

Um as a result of the development, recognizing that the entire city is impacted by these development projects.

But I do think it's important to hear from residents who live near the development project to get an understanding of what life is like for them and how do we improve uh the quality of life for them around these development projects.

So, my other question to the developer is recognizing the um the workforce that will be created as as a result of this development project.

And I know that you are doing housing as well.

Um, will the employees of the stadium have the benefit of being able to reside in the housing that is being developed?

Um through the chair.

Um first off, I just uh would want to reiterate my thanks to Mac.

I think you saw here that we had a very thoughtful and engaged snack that went above and beyond and uh very appreciative for everything they've done and went through as a developer who was in the impact zone and who's known several of the numbers for a long time.

I know it wasn't easy.

So I would be glad to be part of that conversation about how the CPOs could be uh going forward.

Uh yeah, uh, but uh thank you to all them.

Um to the question about the affordable housing, uh, you know, we've committed um that the 76 unit apartment building would be all affordable units, uh, between 40 and 80% AMI.

So for our full-time staff, um, outside of um, you know, the entry-level full-time salaried staff, uh you know, most of our workforce full-time works of course would not qualify for housing there, uh given where our wages are.

Um but you know, for the you know, uh part-time hourly uh folks, uh, you know, given as mentioned, we commit to $17 an hour uh floor um, you know, if they're working full-time at that rate, you know, they would fall into that range.

Um obviously we'd be mindful of all you know uh fair housing practices and make sure that the apartments are available, you know, to anyone uh qualified um in the community.

And that's part of the CBO is advertising that the folks in the impact area uh opportunities to reside in the structure.

Um but uh yeah, we did commit that the house that there would be for folks between 40 and 80 percent AMI.

Thank you.

And do you have a percentage of the levels, the varying levels of AMI that's proposed?

Um 40 to 80 uh is the bracket with the average being 60, is what we're targeting.

Um I don't have the exact projected breakdown by unit.

Um we did commit that you know it's a modular build that um is affixed to the three sides of the parking deck.

Um so it is limiting in terms of floor plans available.

So there's only eight two-bedroom units, and we committed that uh four of those two bedroom units uh would be at a 50% AMI.

Okay, I would I would love to see the breakdown.

Um I'm not sure if you've already identified the total breakdown for the 76 units, but if you can uh share that with me, I would appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Thank you.

So I want to go back just a little bit.

I know we talked about parking like crazy, but you know, again, it's top of brain.

Um Director Bush, uh what what would be the litmus test to determine if parking is adequate?

And and I say that uh on the front end.

Right now we're still kind of talking what may happen, could happen, uh, what possibly should happen.

Um what's the litmus test before the stadium opens up?

Because by the time it opens up, and if it's you know doesn't go the way we want it to, we're in a bad situation.

And we've got to now figure it out really quickly.

What's the litmus test on the front end before the ribbon is cut and before the first uh soccer ball is is kicked in in the stadium?

What's that litmus test to determine if there is indeed adequate parking?

For the chair, um, great question, timely topic.

Um, I would say, you know, really it comes down that the first tool we have and the one that I mentioned before that I'll just um lift up again for everyone's sort of comfort of what that baseline is is really through through the zoning ordinance and sort of what's required in code to have parking to service a stadium of this size.

Um that is the the 2500 spots that would be required um in the permitting process for this development.

Um yeah, that that's kind of the the baseline of what would be needed.

I think what is great to reinforce that is that the development team with WSP really did benchmark this against other stadiums.

So, in addition to sort of the code requirements that we have on the books, um, it seems to be pretty well validated looking at other stadiums of this size in cities that also don't have you know as robust of a of a transit system as we are we are working on continuing to build and improve.

Um so in terms of a baseline, that's where we're starting from, you know, we appreciate that there are other developments in Corktown.

And so I think there are, as I mentioned before, you know, the stadium will be working to manage the demand for um the additional use that's being driven by that stadium.

But we appreciate that there are other challenges happening.

So that would be our starting point.

And I think we are optimistic, and um we'll be continuing to support the developers continuing to support employees, ticket holders, and others having access to other modes to ride share and other tools.

And I think um that's where we will be considering parking as a key piece of our mobility picture, but also looking to see how um we might be able to diversify and support other modes as well.

But the that 2500 will be our baseline starting point, and we will be able to adapt from that point.

Okay.

So I want to uh pivot.

Um this will be my last question at this moment regarding the uh commemorating the cultural history of a Southwest General Hospital.

Uh so Mr.

Man, I know this is one that I put forward and also uh sounds like it came from the NAC as well, and it was discussed there.

Talk to us about what is being anticipated, uh and how solid uh are the plans.

Uh I know there was a commitment to do something, but talk to us about what that something looks like, where we're you know, anticipating that something to be, um, how do we get to that something, uh, whether it's a mural, whether it's uh sculpture, uh, and how does it honor uh not just one family, but all of the the doctors that uh played a major role in providing a service for not just Southwest Detroit, but you know, for Black Detroiters in the city of Detroit in the whole.

Yeah, I appreciate that sure.

Uh so since last time we talked on this issue, I've had uh a couple meetings uh with the Detroit-based art gallery.

Um and uh I have uh it's on me, I have a contract uh to engage them on uh commissioning uh a piece um as well as doing community engagement around um what that piece would look like.

Um but the general framework we're working from is that uh we'd be salvaging some of the you know somewhat uh iconic aluminum facade of the structure before it's demolished and repurposing that into an RPC uh that would be living outside uh the fence of the stadium.

So uh it'd be along 20th Street, uh, and we're looking at the northeast entrance, which is the primary entrance uh into the stadium, and um and uh working with um various bodies uh here in the city on this historic front to have uh some type of plaque uh commemorating the the hospital and its origin and you know um with uh people behind it.

Um but yeah, um looking at you know uh working with a notable gallery here in town to do uh communication around it and with that uh commissioning RPC that repurposes the facade.

So when you do community engagement, talk to me about again the you know how the thumbs up or thumbs down, so to speak.

Uh is it all at this point community engagement?

You will you know take an advisement or is it uh majority rule if folks are in the room, how does that work out?

Uh yeah, I mean, um, you know, the our gallery of mine is pretty well established here in the community and their ideas is in particular uh working with some of the African American community here in the city, and they have ties uh to a broader reach of uh families that have ties to the hospital, but then um uh folks who live in the impact zone as well.

Um so I don't um I think it's great to repurpose the facade uh in some ways, but um that's kind of the extent of you know my design element there.

Uh so very open to community feedback.

Um, but I think it's appropriate to have it positioned there outside the fence to the stadium, so it's accessible at all times and you know, the way the stadium set up there, um we have that little plaza um right at the main entrance.

So from my perspective, uh it's capturing it um doing a communication I think it's buy-in, and that's not a place that's accessible um at all at all times.

Okay.

So I'm going back again in terms of the uh uh so-called approval process.

Is that totally lie in your hands?

I know again, you get the feedback from the community, but who uh has the the final say so, so to speak, you know, as we talk about community, what is that true community um uh level of of approval, not just engagement.

You know, as we talk about community, what is that true community um uh level of of approval, not just engagement.

I'm listening to you, I hear you, but you know, uh that doesn't sound like you have to take it into a uh into account, it just saying I'm engaging you.

Yeah, um, I mean, I think within communication, um, it's a disappointment for the people who are involved if they don't see a tangible impact of their input, right?

Um, so um, I think there's obviously some guardrails we'd establish in terms of like budget and scale uh given to the site.

Um, but um outside of location, um, I don't have a strong sense of ownership other than making sure it does justice uh to people have a strong attachment to the structure.

So again, it comes down to you.

You are the final yes, final approval.

I'm just again, this is official public meeting.

Really, yeah, yeah.

I guess uh I would have final say on uh the budget, I guess, and the scale.

Uh, but outside of that, um, you know, I uh don't have uh any sense of ownership as to like what that you know final product looks like very abstract.

Uh so what what about the uh the NAC?

What what's their role in identifying or assisting with the uh commemoration of the history, the cultural history of that that location?

What's your thoughts on that?

Um there's a lot of items um in the CBO where we have specific callback for input from the NAC, but I don't believe that was one.

Um I mean this um uh I mean this was something that we were looking to do uh from the very beginning of us acquiring the site.

Um so I mean glad to share with the NAC for any feedback or reclude them in any of the community engagement.

Um but um it's not something that's specifically called out, but glad to incorporate them into the engagement we're planning around the piece.

Okay.

And lastly, when do you plan on having that engagement?

So that uh again it get more people because a lot of times folks feel that I didn't know about it.

I wasn't aware.

Yeah, I would think uh it would be the first half of 26 um with an eye towards having something installed when the stadium opens in 27.

Okay.

Well, asking uh for uh communication to be made to this body so that we can stay aware and abreast of that one in particular, seeing that it is not one of those items that the NAC requested for to come back to them.

Uh but though you did indicate that you would be willing to uh provide them an opportunity as well in the overall uh community engagement process.

Okay, colleagues, any additional on this particular item?

All right.

Uh we did walk on this item, so now let's go through our approvals here.

Uh is there a motion to approve and or further discuss line items 8.5, 8.6, 8.7, uh, and 9.35, as well as the walk-on.

So it's a motion to approve.

Motion to send to formal with a recommendation to approve, Mr.

Chairman.

There's motion to send to formal with recommendation to approve the excuse me, the line items in addition to the walk-on that I just mentioned.

Any objections?

Seeing none, I'm still a little challenged about this parking.

Seeing none, that action shall be taken.

All right.

Thank you so much.

Um look forward to having additional conversations again about this parking issue because I know um I'm concerned about it, and I don't even live over in the area.

I ride through it all the time, and I'm I'm very concerned.

Um, but I will yield to the wishes of the folks who live in the area.

All right, colleagues.

Uh looks like we've dealt with all of those.

No, we've have one additional item in front of us.

What do we have here?

I know Mr.

Todd was whispering something in my ear while I was cheering, so I don't know exactly what we're looking at.

Mr.

Chair, if I may.

Yes, sir.

Member Vice Chair.

Well, we have before us are two uh walk-on resolutions uh to ensure that two of those zoning ordinances that did not pass are able to be taken up next year.

Uh next council session.

Gotcha, these two extensions.

Uh there's an extension for one of the uh proposed walk on is an extension of a review period for proposed zoning ordinance.

Text amendment sixth general text amendment.

uh to ensure that two of those zoning ordinances that did not pass are able to be taken up next year uh next council session got you these two extensions uh there's an extension for one of the uh proposed walk on is an extension of a review period for proposed zoning ordinance text amendment sixth general text amendment uh and then the other is a zoning text amendment chapter 50 of the 2019 Detroit City Code to update regulations procedures and definitions relative to housing and parking requirements um with an emphasis on R2 zoning district classification as requested by uh Office of the Chief Operating Officer that's right these are the items that the zoning items that that the council did push off until next year colleagues there a motion to walk these two items on for vote so move for today there's a there's a motion to walk on both of these items for a vote today in committee seeing no objections that action shall be taken colleagues is there a motion or further discussion on the two walk on items uh move to send to formal with a recommendation to approve there's a motion to send both of these items to formal with a recommendation to approve with discussion member Johnson thank you Mr.

Chair I just want to share with everyone that next month while we are on recess I will be working with everyone who has reached out to me about this R2 zoning ordinance.

So you all keep your ear to the phone look forward to the meetings that's for folks within City Hall and externally because I've seen some posts on social media that allude to some things that I said while we were here talking about this.

And what I think is important is to make sure that we have conversations that we have conversations about things so that we can understand where one another stand where we're coming from and we can work through that.

I'm always willing to work through things.

So with that being said Mr.

Chair I look forward to running around Detroit in December meeting with everybody so that we present at the beginning of the year uh something that's palatable for me and hopefully for my colleagues thank you Mr.

Chair thank you ma'am that's motions again to uh approve the two walk on items any objections did Mr.

Chair um member rush member Johnson thank you Mr.

Chair uh through you to vice chair did you make a motion I I did I have already made a motion for both of the resolutions uh you may you made a motion to walk them on I'm not sure that there was a motion made to approve we did to send a former with the recommendation to approve all right thank you I and just brief discussion I know member Johnson I won't be here next year I know you're so excited about that other ordinance sad to see it die uh this year but it is my hope um through engagement and meetings that uh it becomes better uh sometimes legislation as I say is like food that tastes better enough and then the microwave so gotta let it cook a little bit longer but uh I'd I'd appreciate uh uh your efforts to make that better and hopefully you sponsor it member Johnson uh uh next session I might be asking for a lot but Mr Chair uh I have already made a motion on those two resolutions to send a formal with the recommendation to approve thank you sir any objections colleagues seeing none then action shall be taken all right I think we now have cleared the table all right well colleagues that takes us to our last uh voting action item of this uh of this term um in PED it has been an absolute pleasure it has been an absolute honor to work with you uh both um you know been here for for for quite some time now and I will say that this has been uh a very thorough uh committee um you all have you both have come kept me on my toes and made sure that all of the folks who come before us they are on their A game as well and we've done our best to try to listen to the community in the best way possible I know that you know sometimes because these agendas are so stacked it becomes challenging to have the long conversations that we want and then sometimes even need to have with with these items.

We've tried to over the years pause just a bit and have discussions where we didn't get a chance to do that before and we had to push back on some of those items that were coming our way so we can literally have some space just to breathe and discuss these items that the community has been talking about and concerned about for quite some time and I'm very proud of that and look forward to as a uh incoming council member in the incoming term uh in furthering that community engagement I think that is what um separates some of the things that we may have been accused of doing in the past but that was very clear uh at least to those who are truly paying attention and not the and I'll say it the haters because we got the haters but we work very hard to make sure that we engage as many people as we can um to break down the information uh prior to uh a number of years ago people would just ask questions and they would just stay in the atmosphere but we make sure that people that the the public commenters uh whether they are you know friends of ours or not that they get their questions responded to and to me that is what uh true community engagement is that's what true uh service is and I am deeply honored to have served as the chair of planning economic development for two terms now back to back and so the past eight years and to see all these projects that we vote uh here at the table

But we make sure that people that the public commenters, uh whether they are you know friends of ours or not, that they get their questions responded to.

Uh, and to me that is what uh true community engagement is.

That's what true uh service is, and I am deeply honored to have served as the chair of planning economic development for two terms now, back to back.

So the past eight years, and to see all these projects that we vote uh here at the table when you get an opportunity to go out and you see them, it's it's it's amazing to see the amount of you know work that we've done in this building outside of this building.

I'm very, very proud of the work that we've accomplished um as a body and as a committee.

So thank you.

Thank you, thank you, and thank you for working and and and being patient with me as I fumble and bumble through this thing sometimes as well.

Uh we all got each other's back, and I truly, truly appreciate you so much.

Um member vice chair.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair, and I just want to publicly uh thank you uh for your leadership.

Um as a first term council member, uh I would be remiss if I didn't state that I learned a lot from you uh and how you chair uh your decorum, uh your ability to gain transparency through these meetings and this process, and as a chair of another committee uh who has uh a good amount of items on the agenda, but not as many public hearings.

Uh I don't know how you do it.

Uh and uh you have done so uh again in fairness, uh, which you've been doing for a long time now on this council.

Uh but I did want to thank you personally for your leadership.

I wanted to thank you personally for your friendship, uh, thank your team as well.

I mean, they have always been responsive under your leadership as well, contacting my team, uh knowing that it is not an easy feat.

Uh and also thankful to serve with member Johnson.

Um this is my favorite committee, even though my favorite committee is kind of one I chair.

But um, you know, I I believe that the folks that sit on this committee, uh, even if we have disagreed at times, uh, it is all about the information and what is best for the residents of the city of Detroit.

I believe everybody on this committee does their homework.

Uh, and everybody on this committee really takes what we push forward to that table seriously.

Uh, and I have uh come to appreciate that.

And although I may not be far away, uh, and hopefully I don't dread being on the other side of this thing, but what I would what I would say is I know um for the term to come uh that we will be in good hands between you as well as Member Johnson.

So uh wanted to put that on the record uh let you both know that I appreciate you very much.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Thank you, brother Lovey.

Thank you.

Member Johnson.

We're doing members' reports as you're talking about.

Okay, thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Um I went first this time.

I love y'all too.

Uh thank you.

That it has been a journey, actually.

Um, so joining this committee four years ago, I really didn't know what to expect.

Um walked into it knowing what economic development is, but just not realizing just how impactful uh this committee is to the city of Detroit, to residents.

Um it has been a pleasure to serve with the both of you and extremely appreciative of my team for delving deeply into everything, um, starting to think like me, and and helping me to ask the questions and and make sure that we are always rooting for cheering on uh our community, our residents, and economic development, how they can all come together to be beneficial to one another.

Uh, and so just really glad to have had this experience.

Don't know what's going to happen next year.

Um, but I'm looking forward to next year as we continue to push forward as we continue to press on, um, perhaps in different ways, perhaps in some similar ways that we have uh been moving this year uh in this term.

So just want to say thank you to both of you.

Um as a newly elected official, this has been very eye-opening for me.

I appreciate the information that your teams have shared with me.

Um really helping me to be the best council person that I can be here in this committee.

So thank you all for that.

Now, my members' report that I want to share is Director Ribrine asked for me to make sure that we put on record so that everyone knew, and I apologize, I wanted to share this earlier before uh folks left us, if any of them left us, um, that there is going to be a BZA rules hearing that will take place on December 15th at 9 15 a.m.

So for those who have called in asking about amendments to the rules and what city council can do about BZA's rules, you have the opportunity to weigh in and share with BZA board members the rules that you'd like to see amended again December 15th at 9 15 a.m.

It will take place in the Irma Henderson Auditorium.

If you would like to join them via Zoom and would like to get the information, the link to join via Zoom, please call the zoning appeals department.

The office number is Area Code 313 224595.

Again, 313-224-3595 to join in.

All right, thank you all so much.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Thank you.

We appreciate you so much.

And I I did neglect to thank my staff personally and I'll thank my team.

It's been a lot of transition over time.

And it just keep on swinging, keep on swinging and keep on doing just a phenomenal job.

So thank you, team.

Thank you to the clerk's office.

As we sit here for eight hours sometime, the clerks off the clerks have to sit here as well and make sure that we're on point.

All the information that we uh discuss here, it is always you know there, available for the community.

Uh so you keep us out of trouble for one.

Um so make sure that everything's on the record, but two, make it so that we can actually go back and seek the record and know what we actually did and and did not do, uh, according to some other folks.

So thank all of the staff, honestly.

And if we can give you a round of applause, I want to do it myself.

All right.

And with that said, colleagues, is there a motion to adjourn the final PED community committee for this session?

So move, Mr.

Chair.

This meeting now stands adjourned.

God bless.