Today’s meeting will be comprised of public comments, Director Saskia Thompson’s monthly report, and resolutions on current projects. Here is the agenda, and info to join this meeting may be found at buildingdetroit.org/events/meetings https://t.co/XjJvYrSs1O

Interestingly, aside from the Henry Ford Health and Avanath Development projects, all of today’s resolutions concern projects which were discussed in last week’s DLBA meeting, as documented by @DetDocumenters. You can find those notes here: detroit.documenters.org/documents/fina…

With three board members present, the meeting is called to order. Currently 46 people in this meeting with more joining.

Minutes from last month were approved, and we begin public comments.

Joanne Warwick in North End claims she was excluded from the planning process of the North End Landing project by Vanguard. Just having several community meetings where questions aren't answered is not enough.

Stephanie Miller, also in North End, agrees that the residents most impacted have not been adequately involved. She urges DLBA to delay votes until they can be.

Louis Gelinas, also in lower North End, does not support the sale of property to Vanguard. Residents want more resources or a park expansion, so please don't sell their only chance at green space expansion. The plan overbuilds the historical density of the neighborhood.

Susan in the North End feels the developers have not involved the residents in this. Opposes the building on Smith Street with excessive population density in the project. Does not want DLBA selling this land to Vanguard. 500 signatures of residents opposed, they don't want it.

Quincy Jones disagrees, states Vanguard has done plenty of outreach. The project brings growth and options to the community. Detroiters want density, and the Land Bank was created to support that. Vanguard is run by strong black women, who have been greatly disrespected.

Tyson Gersh repeats: 500 signatures in 5 days, all North End residents directly affected who are opposed to North End Landing. The lack of consideration to them is appalling. The Land Bank knows what the right thing is to do.

Linda Boyd of North End also opposes this development, and wishes for more green space instead.

Abass El-Hage strongly opposes sale of land to Vanguard-Avanath. The park is already extremely crowded, and adding 180-200 units across the street would exacerbate the problem. People are strongly opposed to this.

David Thomas on the East Side has a real estate improvement company attempting to purchase property. Why does it take so long to get decisions on property sales? What are the plans for the area around City Airport?

Chair Erica Ward Gerson replied that planning decisions are made by the City, not the Land Bank. She encouraged him to email DLBA so they can address his concerns.

Andrew Arends is opposed to the North End Development and feels most of the money made will go out-of-state. He was followed by another caller who also feels a lack of engagement. She urges the board to vote No.

Cornelius Harris, member of North End Block Club, also urges the board to vote No. Density in and of itself isn't always a good thing. Making North End look like Midtown or Downtown is a mistake. Detroit is diverse, and the city should reflect that.

Lynette Roberson, block club president of the Lower North End. She is opposed to this development. Only those who stand to make $ on this are saying this development supports the community. This should not be rushed to meet some arbitrary deadline.

We still have 13 citizens waiting to make comments! Samantha Meyer in North End opposes this development in an area already comprised of mostly single-family homes. Developments should invest in a community, not profit from it.

Joshua Kovarik states that an out-of-state developer should not become the largest land-holder/landlord in North End. The community wants investment, but this is not being done the right way. It doesn't check any of the priorities of North End neighbors, def not home ownership.

Mike, who owns property in North End, and is also a developer, thinks the negatives of this project outweigh the positives. This is a single-family neighborhood, and its character will be forever changed by this.

Joeleo Smith, also a developer, is sorry to hear so many people opposed to this. High and mid-density plans have been in the works for decades. Not everyone wants to cut their own grass, lots of people want apartments and would like to live in North End. He is for this project.

We still have another 8 hands up, but to summarize: The overwhelming majority of citizens making comments state they support development, but are opposed to this specific project. There are 84 participants in this meeting. The North End neighborhood expects to be heard!

The Chair has asked Donald Rencher to speak on this. He has worked extensively on North End Landings, and he explains that historically there were once dense, multi-unit apartment buildings in the neighborhood. They are in fact restoring it to its historical past. https://t.co/7IZMKgx7a7

Even if this is approved today, he states they still have 2 years to make changes and figure out where people will park. They are also offering to pay neighbors in the immediate vicinity $3,000 for exterior upgrades to their homes. Whose benefit is that for??

Vice-Chair Patricia Pernell Shelton just stated she does not feel comfortable moving forward on this until all the concerns of the neighborhood have been addressed. More ppl have joined this meeting, now 16 hands raised to make comments.

Board member Richard Hosey disagrees and feels the purpose of the Board, with its advanced understanding of real estate issues, is to move forward and make these decisions even if they are hard.

Board member Miranda Morrow-Bartell expressed her own hesitation to approve this project when so many resident's concerns have not been considered. Debate continues amongst the Board over whether it's wise to replicate Midtown in North End.

Chair Gerson is hearing that members of the Board do not feel they have enough information to make a decision. However, she is personally comfortable approving this today, as it would still go before City Council before getting the green light.

Hosey restates that Board members should make this decision based on questions/answers with the developers here and now, rather than "abdicate this to the clamor that they hear" from the public.

We are no longer following the agenda. Public comments have been put on hold and Ronald McDonald and Daryl Carter, the developers here in this meeting, have unmuted their mics and are now taking questions from the Board.

Daryl Carter (out-of-state but graduated Cass Tech), stated that every development they've done increased property values around it. They are a diverse company, use minority contractors, and while they "want to be in Detroit, they don't have to be".

He continued that while he encourages more African Americans to own homes, the majority do not. For that reason, building rental units should not be seen as a negative. It's supplying housing to minority people who need it.

Miranda Morrow-Bartell would like the developers to answer what the ratio is of home owners to renters within a 1-mile radius. She agrees that there is nothing wrong with renting, but she would prefer to support home ownership as it creates wealth.

Board member Shelton is now speaking for the 538 residents who have signed the petition opposed to this project. They want their concerns addressed, and she can not support this until that occurs. The Chair and member Hosey are concerned the developer will give up and walk.

Speaking of giving up and walking away, around 10 people with their hand up waiting to make public comment have now left the meeting.

Chair Gerson proposes to now hear from the remaining members of the public who have been waiting to speak, and then move this item up and vote on it immediately following.

Kimberly Jallow, resident on Smith St, has owned her home for 40 years. She has witnessed many changes, and supports the development which she believes will help restore the neighborhood. The Block Club has never approached her and does not represent the entire neighborhood.

Phillis Judkins has been a resident since 1972. Rentals are nothing new in the neighborhood. She supports Vanguard and feels they are good partners. She supports this project.

The next caller says no one has ever asked them how they felt and no one knocked on her door. They were never informed of the meetings, and many neighbors knew nothing about this.

Victoria Bulgakova points out that talking about community involvement is a narrative. 538 signatures opposing this development is a fact. The Land Bank should listen to facts and not the developer's narrative.

Jason Jones explains that community engagement should occur after a developer has been given site control. That is not how this is occurring, and wishes the Land Bank would clarify what the order and process should be to avoid setting an unfortunate precedent.

Ette' Garth, who has been a resident and property owner for over 50 years, supports this project as it will return North End to how it looked years ago. She also stated she sits on both the board of Vanguard as well as the Lower North End Block Club.

The current commenter thanks Patricia Shelton for supporting the concerns of the community. The onus is on Vanguard to hold more meetings, and there is an opportunity for education on both sides, where they can ultimately come to a win-win agreement.

Linn Wiggins: Does the board really want to ignore the wishes of over 500 residents? That is the only question they need to answer.

Julia Gelinas is the last caller. She is asking the Land Bank: Why can't Vanguard spread out the units they are building across the neighborhood? Why do they all have to be in this one-block area? No one bothers to answer her. They are going to vote.

Motion to approve made by Hosey. Miranda seconds.

Hosey is now answering the question from Julia Gelinas: A denser project makes more sense regarding construction economics and efficiency.

The only member of the board to vote against the motion was Patricia Pernell Shelton. The resolution concerning item xiii, Avanath, was approved.

Saskia Thompson took all of 30 seconds to give her Executive Director report. She mentioned two numbers which I missed. They are flying through this meeting now. Items i and ii have both been voted on and approved.

They skipped the Henry Ford Health item, and have approved the Hosmer Holdings resolution.

Marjorie Street Garden project to build an urban garden also approved. It was item v.

They returned to the Henry Ford Health item iii, for a sterile facility. Resolution approved. https://t.co/GKUkrehrBP

Resolution item vi, sale of land to MDOT for the I-94 modernization was approved. i94detroit.org/i94-project/ad…

Resolutions iix and ix, for an oversized lot and a sale of a parking lot to the 7th Precinct Police station for an RC racetrack were both approved.

With no need this month for a closed session, and as board members had somewhere they needed to be, this meeting was adjourned at 2pm.

For those of you keeping track of the time: The Board took only 8 minutes to present, discuss, and vote to approve the remaining 8 resolutions on the agenda. 1 minute each. Lots of consideration.

The next meeting of the DLBA Board of Directors will be on May 18, 2021 at 11:00 am. As always, more information on this meeting may be found at documenters.org.