City Council votes to return Manning Street to one-way
Michael Mayday
Issue date: 11/8/07 Section: News
The Hillsdale City Council voted 5-3 Monday night to change a portion of North Manning Street back to a one-way street. The council had temporarily changed North Manning Street between Bacon Street and Michigan-99 into a two-way because of construction on M-99. Local business owners disagreed with the outcome of the vote.
"The council said it was a temporary order, but nobody guaranteed that they would put it back," said Aimee England, manager of Volume One Books.
Bruce Sharp, councilman for the 3rd Ward, went door to door for local citizens' opinions. In all, he surveyed more that 130 people, and more than 90 percent of them wanted the street changed back. He voted for reverting to the street's original direction.
"I know for a fact the people want it changed back," Sharp said. He also listed the safety concerns of firefighters.
Shirley Curtis, executive director of the Reading Emergency Unit, cited two instances where ambulances had close calls with other cars due to the two-way street.
"We've had two very close calls with people who are trying to pull up too far and realizing that they can only make a right hand turn and then take a left hand turn," Curtis said.
Others challenged the idea of returning the street to a one-way. Business owners came to the meeting hoping to keep North Manning a two-way street. They said that while North Manning was a two-way street, local businesses experienced a boom.
"We went from having two to three people stopping at our store on a daily basis to having 10 or 15 people come in a day," England said.
England also spoke for the chamber of commerce, asking the council to postpone a decision about Manning until the topic can be reviewed further. Councilman David Williams suggested that the council monitor the street and decide later. Councilmen Jack Vettle and Doug Moon agreed but the council voted to change Manning back to a one-way regardless.
Another topic of contention was the decision on a Payment in Lieu of Taxes for Spring Meadows Apartments. In a vote of 7-1, Medallion Management, Inc., was denied the PILOT.
Medallion lost the PILOT because of economic, housing and tax concerns. The company currently owes the city more than $33,000 dollars in unpaid taxes.
"I am amazed at the condition of the [apartments]," Sharp said. "I talked to some tenants - their cupboards in the kitchen are nailed up, not screwed up."
Medallion had asked that the PILOT would help pay for repairs and attract more customers.
"There's a lot of stuff," Williams said. "If it could have been addressed, it would have been addressed by now."
Hillsdale College Collegian, 2007
"The council said it was a temporary order, but nobody guaranteed that they would put it back," said Aimee England, manager of Volume One Books.
Bruce Sharp, councilman for the 3rd Ward, went door to door for local citizens' opinions. In all, he surveyed more that 130 people, and more than 90 percent of them wanted the street changed back. He voted for reverting to the street's original direction.
"I know for a fact the people want it changed back," Sharp said. He also listed the safety concerns of firefighters.
Shirley Curtis, executive director of the Reading Emergency Unit, cited two instances where ambulances had close calls with other cars due to the two-way street.
"We've had two very close calls with people who are trying to pull up too far and realizing that they can only make a right hand turn and then take a left hand turn," Curtis said.
Others challenged the idea of returning the street to a one-way. Business owners came to the meeting hoping to keep North Manning a two-way street. They said that while North Manning was a two-way street, local businesses experienced a boom.
"We went from having two to three people stopping at our store on a daily basis to having 10 or 15 people come in a day," England said.
England also spoke for the chamber of commerce, asking the council to postpone a decision about Manning until the topic can be reviewed further. Councilman David Williams suggested that the council monitor the street and decide later. Councilmen Jack Vettle and Doug Moon agreed but the council voted to change Manning back to a one-way regardless.
Another topic of contention was the decision on a Payment in Lieu of Taxes for Spring Meadows Apartments. In a vote of 7-1, Medallion Management, Inc., was denied the PILOT.
Medallion lost the PILOT because of economic, housing and tax concerns. The company currently owes the city more than $33,000 dollars in unpaid taxes.
"I am amazed at the condition of the [apartments]," Sharp said. "I talked to some tenants - their cupboards in the kitchen are nailed up, not screwed up."
Medallion had asked that the PILOT would help pay for repairs and attract more customers.
"There's a lot of stuff," Williams said. "If it could have been addressed, it would have been addressed by now."
Hillsdale College Collegian, 2007
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