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March 12, 2006Snowden says he's got detailed plan documentsTRAVERSE CITY - A local developer disputes the city manager's contention that he supplied no documentation to back up a plan for an alternative, and possibly cheaper, public parking deck on West Front Street.City manager Richard Lewis downplayed Gerald Snowden's proposal to city commissioners on Feb. 27. At that meeting, commissioners approved a city bond issue of up to $16 million to pay for public parking and other improvements in a project by developer Michael Uzelac of Federated Properties. The Record-Eagle reported Feb. 26 that Lewis and Bryan Crough, Downtown Development Authority executive director, received a competing deck proposal from Snowden in January. He said a deck across the street from Uzelac's could have cost millions less. Lewis and Crough did not tell city commissioners about Snowden's plan. "With that letter there was no other documentation, no drawings...," Lewis told commissioners Feb. 27. Lewis' statements prompted Snowden to write a letter to commissioners to explain his proposal, with information he said he provided the city. "I felt compelled to respond...," said Snowden. "Here city commissioners: This is up for you guys to determine if a site plan and renderings and an estimate of cost is considered documentation." Snowden submitted a letter to Lewis and Crough on Jan. 24 that outlined a plan for a public deck at 305 W. Front St. Snowden said his plan could cost $7,000 to $10,000 per parking space less than Uzelac's $22,000 per space estimate. Snowden's partner retracted the letter Jan. 25, after State Sen. Jason Allen intervened. Uzelac associates contributed $32,000 to Allen campaign coffers. Allen said he suggested the letter be withdrawn because it created "confusion" for state funds earmarked for West Front Street parking. "I agreed to withdraw the letter after sensing an emerging political confrontation," Snowden wrote to commissioners. But Snowden said he met with Lewis and Crough on Jan. 30 to further discuss public parking and produced "supporting documentation." That included a letter from Rich & Associates, a parking deck architect, about the cost estimate and a picture of a deck in Sault Ste. Marie. Snowden wrote that he presented a site plan and elevations for a mixed-use development and parking deck at public meetings and said his plan was a chance for a "more affordable, flexible and less risky project." "If all that was not sufficient back-up for an initial proposal, I wish someone would have asked me for more," he wrote. Snowden's letter said Lewis took little interest in his idea. "Although Mr. Lewis commented on the information, he did not ask for a copy or take a copy for further consideration or evaluation," Snowden wrote. Lewis responded to Snowden by writing his own letter to city commissioners. In it Lewis said he "encouraged" Snowden to bring the proposal to the city commission "if he felt that strongly." Documents provided by Snowden "were not specific plans for the development site in question," Lewis wrote. Crough said he had "serious concerns" about using Snowden's site for a parking deck, even though the brownfield plan had placed it there. The brownfield plan was amended last year to move the deck - and the $5.49 million state funds earmarked for a parking structure - to Uzelac's side of the street. Crough sent an e-mail to Lewis Jan. 25, before Snowden withdrew the plan. In it he listed "obstacles" to Snowden's plan, including the loss of Uzelac's project. The site also might be too far away from the town center to serve those seeking parking, he said later. Crough's e-mail said the city "must further investigate Snowden's offer" and "let the public bodies provide direction." The alternative public parking plan never appeared on a city commission or DDA agenda. "When the letter was withdrawn, I assumed that they did not want to pursue it further," Crough said. Snowden countered in his letter to commissioners that he never said his parking deck option "no longer existed."
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