6-21-2021 1:34pm

City Council Says 'No' to Extending Purchasing Agreement for Stalled Fairdene Development

A fenced pond and a large hill of dirt is all that's come of the proposed Fairdene Development on South Monroe Street.

Saline City Council has given up on the stalled Fairdene development at 207 S. Monroe St.

Council emerged from closed session shortly after 11 p.m. during the June 7 meeting and several councillors explained why they would not acquiesce to the developer's request to again extend the city's purchase and development agreement with High Meadows LLC, of Ann Arbor.

At a meeting in April, developer Damian Farrell pleaded with council to extend the purchase and development agreement. On June 7, Kyle Gonzalez, project manager for Damian Farrell Design Group, reiterated Farrell's plea and said the planned 30-unit condo development now had the backing of Ron Weiser, the U of M Regent and founder of McKinley Associates.

But council, tired of promises unkept since the city council decided in 2014 to sell the 3.5-acre parcel to High Meadows Development, has had enough.

Councillor Dell'Orco, long opposed to plans to increase density on the parcel, opened the discussion when council reconvened. He said it was with "some degree of difficulty" for council to agree to not amend the purchase agreement.

"There have been significant issues through the course of the last five years that we've been unable to overcome with this development and it is important for the community to be able to move forward in a new direction that enables us to come up with a new vision for what we hope to achieve with this parcel," Dell'Orco said. "There there has been every effort made to work with this developer to see that this project was completed in a timely manner and my personal view is I just haven't been able to arrive at a place where I feel confident that the project can move forward, as intended, without moving in a different direction."

Councillor Dawn Krause said she had lost confidence in the developer's ability to follow through on the project.

"I think the prudent decision when you had a loss of confidence in a large project like this is to take the opportunity to make a new start," Krause said.
Councillor Janet Dillon agreed.

"This has been five-plus years. There have been a lot of extensions and a lot of promises. Here we are today. At this point, due to all of those experiences, I just have a vote of no confidence," Dillon said.

Councillor Kevin Camero-Sulak said the poor condition of the site influenced his opinion.

"With the amount of time that's gone on and the condition of the site of being unsafe for an extended period of time and not much communication, it contributed to not wanting to move forward," Camero-Sulak said. "Ultimately we're answering to the citizens of Saline and their voices have spoken. Looking at it through their lens, it's hard to have the confidence that things are going to be any different."

Notably, Mayor Brian Marl and councillors Jack Ceo and Dean Girbach did not speak to the issue.

After the meeting, Marl was asked what he wanted to see happen.

"What I'd like to see happen is for the development to be expedited on that site for our housing stock to be diversified and for additional revenue to be generated to support the valuable public services we all rely upon," Marl said.

He was asked if he agreed with the publicly-stated assessments of his council colleagues.

"I'll say that the majority has spoken and it is the responsibility of the mayor to execute the will of the majority and I will do my utmost to make sure that there is a fair and reasonable outcome to this particular matter," Marl said.

So what happens next? Well, according to the purchase agreement, the land revert back to the City of Saline. Does that mean the process is going to start all over again?

"That remains to be seen," Marl said. "Let's let Mr. Farrell and his representatives and our representatives talk. I think we'll have something tangible to consider and digest at one of our upcoming meetings."

The City bought the property at 207 S. Monroe St. for $100,000 in 2011.