Monday Ann Arbor City Council will consider a resolution that would designate about 10-thousand square feet of the surface lot on top of the Library Lane parking garage as the site of a future park. City officials have long stated a portion of the area will become park space, but this resolution would nail down the specific location.
Council Member Jack Eaton is introducing the resolution that was drafted by the Library Green Conservancy. He says it identifies about 20 percent of the current surface parking lot as park space. It also calls on the Park Advisory Commission to develop possible park uses for the site for City Council to consider in the fall.
The resolution comes as Council Member Stephen Kunselman is researching a possible resolution to urge the city to sell the rights to the land above the underground structure. Kunselman doesn’t see the park proposal hindering the sale of the land. He believes whatever development takes place could even cover some of the park to create a unique covered venue for the city.
Kunselman thinks the best solution to the issue would be for a new library to be built on the lot and the existing library land be sold for development.
Council member Christopher Taylor agrees that everyone wants parkland on the site but doesn’t believe a decision on the specific location should happen before development plans.
A copy of the resolution can be found here.
— Andrew Cluley is the Ann Arbor beat reporter, and anchor for 89.1 WEMU News. Contact him at 734.487.3363 or email him acluley@emich.edu.
