Organization

Jackson City Council puts Phase 2 of Armory Arts Village on hold

By Fredricka Paul
Jackson Citizen Patriot
Wednesday April 22, 2009

Ruth Ojeda clutched old marketing material promoting the Armory Arts Village as she addressed the Jackson City Council on Tuesday.

“It was all a lie,” Ojeda, a resident of the artisan community, told the council.

Residents voiced concerns about no heat in the main gallery and an increasing number of nonartists living in the community. They stressed they would like to see the entire vision of the project fulfilled, but they cannot see Phase 2 succeeding with Phase 1 incomplete.

Ojeda’s frustrations, and those of several other residents, helped convince the council to vote 5-2 to delay moving forward with the second phase of the Armory Arts Village. Councilmen Daniel Greer and John Polaczyk cast the dissenting votes.

“Artists are not moving there to live in low-income housing,” resident Judy Gail Krasnow said.

The planned unit development district for Phase 2 of the project would consist of 49 housing units for people 55 and older. A second part would consist of 39 more units to be built within five years.

The second phase also includes an outdoor common area, commercial retail space and an additional gallery.

Scott Fleming, president and CEO of The Enterprise Group, the county’s economic-development agency, has said no language is included about the complex being an artisan community in a Phase 1 agreement between The Enterprise Group and project developer Excel Realty of Shaker Heights, Ohio.

He was going to ensure that would not happen in Phase 2, during which Excel plans to invest $6.5 million.

On Tuesday, Fleming said he has been negotiating with Excel Realty and could spend about $46,000 to install a new heating system. He called the heating issue a “boondoggle.”

Polaczyk said the city is “just stalling the process,” because residents’ biggest issue was heating, which Fleming made clear was being addressed.

“The answer is not to do nothing,” Greer said.

Mayor Jerry Ludwig said he agreed with Polaczyk but voted for delaying the decision because he needs reassurance that the issues will be addressed.

Krasnow said the council’s action brought tears to her eyes because before Tuesday, many residents felt they had not been heard.

“We are the voice of the Armory Arts Village,” Krasnow said. “We have been silenced in more ways than one. Thank God we are finally being heard.”