Birmingham Towers project postponed

By Grace Lovins

Following the Birmingham planning board’s decision to postpone a recommendation regarding the Birmingham Towers project, to be located at 479 S Old Woodward, city commissioners voted to postpone their decision on the project during the Monday, July 14, meeting until mid-August.

Birmingham Towers, a development having been in the works for about five years, is set to replace what was an existing building on S. Old Woodward with five levels: two levels of underground parking, one level of retail, two levels of office and two levels of residential.

Original plans for the development were approved in September of 2020. Both the city’s planning board and commission have reviewed Birmingham Towers’ applications a number of times over the last five years.

Following a contentious discussion between Birmingham’s Planning Board, members of the public and a private developer, the special land use permit application for Birmingham Towers was postponed for the second time during the Wednesday, June 25, meeting.

Birmingham Towers, a proposed five-story mixed-use building, has come before the planning board a number of times in the last five years. The original plans received final site plan approval from the board in September of 2020 but has undergone several adjustments sending the item before both the planning board and board of zoning appeals several times since.

At the June 25 planning board meeting the owners of Birmingham Tower were hoping for final approval of a modified site plan and design as well as a special land use permit. Planning director Nick Dupuis wrote in the meeting packet that the modified plans caused considerable change to the on-site parking. Per city ordinance, approving the special land use permit request would waive the parking requirements for the site.

Board chair Scott Clein noted during the meeting that the applicants, Birmingham Tower Partners LLC, submitted a parking analysis to the city’s planning department just a few hours before the start of the meeting. He said the submission was not only “very disrespectful to the time and effort” the city puts into the process but also inconsiderate to the members of the public who came out.

“In my opinion you have left us no choice,” Clein said. “It is our duty as a board representing the city of Birmingham and indeed the city of Birmingham to provide due process to your application so this board cannot in my mind take any action on your proposal tonight because we have a significant submittal from you that has not been vetted and the reason it has not been vetted is because that it was submitted late afternoon today.”

Birmingham Towers LLC’s attorney Patrick Howe, of JP Howe PLLC, said that the report was sent to the board as a courtesy and wasn’t meant to “slip under the door.” Doraid Markus, one of the owners of Birmingham Towers, offered to withdraw the report and submit it at a later date before the city commission reviews the application. To that, Clein asked how commissioners could analyze the board’s recommendation if the commission was receiving brand new information.

Only one planning board member, Daniel Share, disagreed with Clein, saying that he would not support a motion to postpone the item without giving Birmingham Tower partners the opportunity to completely withdraw the report.

While things heated up during public comment when residents expressed their frustrations with attending a meeting only to have the item postponed again, the board ultimately voted 5-1 to postpone the application until the Wednesday, July 23, meeting. Share was the lone vote against postponement.

At the meeting, planning board chair Scott Clein said that the applicant’s submission of a parking analysis to the city’s planning department a few hours before the start of the meeting was not only “very disrespectful to the time and effort” the city puts into the process, but also inconsiderate to the members of the public who came out to speak on the item.

At the city commission meeting on July 14, city manager Jana Ecker said that since the planning board has not made a recommendation on the project, the commission can’t make a decision and the city is therefore requesting to postpone the item until the first meeting in August.

Commissioners voted 5-0 to approve the postponement until the Monday, August 11, meeting. Katie Schafer and Clinton Baller were absent from the meeting.