Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette About 30 people attended the Houghton City Council meeting Wednesday, where the council voted to abandon an easement on a walkway leading to the Lakeshore Drive parking deck.

HOUGHTON — After a lengthy public comment period, the Houghton City Council voted 4-2 to abandon an easement on a walkway adjacent to the former Hellman Transportation Center Wednesday.

The abandonment was sought by Braveworks, which owns the walkway and the building at 326 Shelden Ave., most recently used by 5th & Elm Coffeehouse. The city had owned the easement since the transportation center was built about 40 years ago, and retained it when the building was sold to the Western Upper Peninsula Planning & Development Region.

Conceptual renderings submitted to the city show an additional four floors above street level, plus a basement floor. Plans call for a mix of business on the ground floor and residences on the higher floors. The current walkway area would hold a resident entrance leading to an elevator and staircase.

The existing walkway leads to the Lakeshore Avenue parking deck, which the city plans to demolish as early as next spring. There are no short-term plans for anything in the deck space, City Manager Eric Waara said.

Braveworks co-owner Jon Julien said access to the walkway would be maintained until the last minute to minimize disruptions for people using the deck.

“As long as we can maintain that access, we certainly will,” he said after Wednesday’s meeting. “I personally feel that the deck will probably come down before we get to a point where we will have to cut that access off.”

The decision to abandon the easement, as well as the overall development, is opposed by Edward Cole, who owns the neighboring Hall building. The 120-year-old structure now houses the Douglass Agency. The upper floors of the Braveworks building would obscure much of the building’s eastern facade.

After the Houghton Planning Commission approved the site plan, Cole sued the city, alleging the Braveworks project would negatively impact his property, and damage the historic nature of downtown.

The Houghton County Circuit Court issued a temporary stay on Sept. 29 against enforcement of the Houghton Planning Commission’s approval of the site plan. Judge Charles Goodman wrote that based on Cole’s motion, he would suffer “immediate and irreparable injury or harm” if the stay was not imposed until a hearing.

Hall’s attorney, Michelle Halley, argued the stay meant there was no need for the council to make a final decision Wednesday.

“When this council voted to bear on your intention to vacate the easement, one of the prongs of that statement was that it would be based on an approved site plan,” she said. “The site plan is technically approved at this particular moment. But the stay is in place, stopping that site plan or anything about it from being executed.”

In September, the council approved the notice of intent to abandon the easement between Shelden Avenue and the parking deck. It had previously approved the easement unanimously in August before receiving advice from the city’s attorney to hold a public hearing.

The Planning Commission voted in September to approve the site plan for the building. Braveworks co-owner Jennifer Julien, who sits on the commission, abstained from the vote and discussion.

About 30 people attended Wednesday’s meeting. Of those who spoke, most opposed granting the easement. Some residents and downtown workers brought up safety or convenience issues, preferring the walkway to less-attractive staircases leading below the deck.

“The current pedestrian public access from Lakeshore to Shelden is not adequate for life after the deck, or even life with the deck,” said Norma Veurink, who said the staircase adjacent to the Hall building “dark, damp and littered with pigeon droppings.” Other access points are also flawed, she said, whether because of condition, lack of signage or poor location.

She and several others advocated for the city to maintain its easement until it knows what will replace the parking deck.

Some residents also questioned the lack of a parking requirement. The city ordinance exempts downtown businesses from the minimum parking requirements, with the exception of lodging facilities. As there would be long-term residences, the planning commission determined the addition was not considered lodging.

Others criticized the look and size of the development. Jeffrey Loman praised the Vault, Braveworks’ hotel at the former First National Bank site. But he felt this addition would be out of character for the downtown. He compared that area of Shelden to the “old town” areas of European cities like Vilnius or Tallinn.

“I would just ask at the end of making your decision that you make that decision based on your responsibility to the people and then take into account the importance of your old town, your history,” he said.

Supporters of the project said granting the easement would be a step forward for the project, which could bring business to downtown and address critical long-term housing needs.

“Universities, hospitals, technology companies, manufacturers and every small-business employee in the Keweenaw depends on it,” said Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance Executive Director Jeff Ratcliffe. “They’re desperately short of long-term housing of all types. We need more viable spaces for small businesses supported by the downtown. And last but not least, new development will spur the increase of value of property in the downtown.”

Karyn Olsson of The Marketing Department said opponents had inflamed tensions through social media posts and other communication, including a full-page ad in this paper.

“If you look at the city’s online reputation, we appear to be a very challenging place to do business to current and potential investors including the State of Michigan partners,” she said. “I hear concerns regularly that we appear toxic, and to potential residents, employees and visitors we appear to be a politically enraged community.”

The council also voted in September to sell 10 feet of city-owned property to the north of the building for the development.

Construction on the back side will fill eight of those feet, architect Barry Polzin said at the Planning Commission meeting in September. There are a couple of prospective tenants for the lower level on Lakeshore and the street level on Shelden Avenue, he said; Keweenaw Coffee Works has since announced a business moving into the former 5th & Elm Space. The floors above will have a mix of two-bedroom units facing the water and studio apartments.

The council voted 4-2 to abandon the easement. Mayor Bob Backon, Mayor Pro Tem Robert Megowen and Councilors Mike Needham and Joan suits voted for it, with Councilors Brian Irizarry and Craig Waddell voted against. Councilor Jan Cole, the sister of Hall Building owner Edward Cole, abstained from the vote and the discussion.

Needham said abandoning the easement would help facilitate the kind of downtown improvements also coming through the city’s upcoming Lakeshore Drive streetscape plan. Addressing people concerned about walkway safety, he pointed out the city owns the sidewalk and ramp on the west side of the Braveworks building.

“If something happens where it’s conducive to have Shelden-level access to the back of buildings like we have now, we have that space to do it, and we could do both,” he said.

Suits reminded the crowd the council was voting on the easement, not the development. The stay also means there will be no progress on the development for at least another month, she said.

“I wish more people would show up at the planning commission meetings and the council meetings to see what’s going on and maybe get involved before they read something in the media … the social media is not the place to get your information, you’re going to get somebody’s opinion of the information,” she said.

Waddell wanted to see the two sides enter mediation, possibly agreeing to a shorter building as a compromise.

“There’s an old saying that when elephants fight, it’s the grass that suffers … I would ask that the parties work together to try to find an outcome that both can live with,” he said.

Irizarry said he’d heard persuasive arguments on both sides: Ratcliffe’s talk of economic development and housing needs, Loman’s evocation of “old town,” or the concerns about parking safety. He also agreed with the need for a height restriction in downtown.

“Either make it a height restriction or just know that if you’re going to have someone building something more than a couple stories, there’s going to be a lot of people that are upset about that,” he said.

During September’s Planning Commission meeting, commissioners noted other buildings in the downtown that were taller. It was also closer in height to surrounding buildings than single-story buildings nearby, they said.

Wednesday, Halley argued the lack of a height restriction would lead to downtown businesses competing with each other for unobstructed views. She noted during a 2020 Planning Commission discussion on height limitations, Jon Julien had suggested a sliding height restriction to prevent buildings on Lakeshore Drive to obstruct second-story views from Shelden Avenue.

“It will encourage the owners of the historic buildings in town to tear them down, or maybe to add on to them, until eventually you’re going to end up with an unrecognizable downtown,” Halley said. “That’s what will happen, people will want to maximize and maximize as much as they possibly can.”

At the end of Wednesday’s meeting, Waddell requested to add height limits in the downtown as a future agenda item.

Afterwards, Julien thanked the council for a factual deliberation.

“This easement served a purpose for a long time, and very shortly from now, it will not serve any purpose to the public,” he said. “And as we continue with the plan for developing this property we’re excited about how it will improve access between Lakeshore drive and Shelden through the development. It may not be public access, but it’ll be practical access. We’re just excited to be able to take another step forward and hopefully we’ll provide a great project for the community.”

Halley said Cole would consider all options in response to the vote, including further litigation.

“I think that vote was incredibly short-sighted,” she said.