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Renaissance vote to be appealed
Renaissance vote to be appealed
Leah Square • leah.square@mcherald.com • December 7, 2007
Opponents of a controversial 13-story building are appealing a Tuesday evening aldermen vote that approved the building design plans.
With Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee casting a tie-breaking vote in the absence of Alderman Linda Davis, the design plans were approved 4-3 after an aldermen who favored the plans asked the board to reconsider its earlier 4-3 vote of disapproval.
Lawson Hester, an attorney who opposes the building, said opponent’s are appealing because it’s unlawful for a member of the losing side to make a motion to reconsider a final vote.
“It’s was voted down 4 to 3,” Hester said. “That was the final vote.”
According to Robert’s Rule of Order for fair and orderly meetings and conventions, a motion to reconsider can be made “only by one on the prevailing side who has changed position or view.”
But City Attorney Jerry Mills maintains the board has done nothing illegal.
“We do not strictly adhere to Robert’s Rule of Order,” Mills said. “It’s my opinion that the board is on solid ground.”
Aldermen who voted against the design said their chief concern about developer Buster Bailey’s design plans was a 7-level, 67-foot-tall parking garage to be built next to the office building, 200 Renaissance. The building, pinpointed for I-55 and Steed Road, is to house the employees of Butler, Snow, O’Mara, Stevens & Cannada Law Firm, Horne CPA Group and Regions Bank.
After the original vote of disapproval and an executive session, Davis made an abrupt exit.
Davis had voted against the plans in the original vote, citing disapproval of the parking garage. Later, she said she left before the final vote because she “couldn’t in good conscience vote for either position.”
In addition to appealing in Madison County Circuit Court on the basis of Robert’s Rule, Hester said petitioners will challenge the board vote on the grounds that the city zoning ordinance does not properly address height limitations on parking garages.
Community Development Director Alan Hart said the ordinance does not regulate the height of a structure that is at least 40 percent “open.”
“It’s not considered a closed building,” Hart said. “There’s no limitation on the parking garage.”
The office building has been a point of conflict in Ridgeland for months because of its original 17-story height design, among other things. Some residents said they felt the design was not in keeping with a “Mediterranean feel,” the theme of the surrounding development.
Bailey, in an effort to appease the opposition, moved parking levels to knock the building down to 13 stories.
The initial 17-story “glass wedge” building was also redesigned by decreasing the amount of glass surface by 25 percent by increasing the amount of concrete paneling.
Aldermen granted a special exception in October to allow the 13-story building in an area zoned for buildings no taller than four stories.
Some residents, including Hester, have appealed the aldermen’s October vote and are awaiting a court ruling.
Hester said opponents’ latest appeal may become part of the original appeal. He said it will be filed within 10 days of the Tuesday vote.
Bailey has said construction will move forward, regardless of an appeal.
Construction on 200 Renaissance may begin as early as next week, he said.
Pile tests and preliminary work have already been performed, and construction on the $60 million building will take about two years to complete.
Tenants plan to move into the building from downtown Jackson by October 2009.
Alderman walks out on high-rise vote
12/6/2007 5:00:00 AM
Alderman walks out on high-rise vote
By ANDREW UJIFUSA
Assistant Managing Editor
The high-rise at Renaissance was almost undone over a dispute about the height of its parking garage, but it survived after the unexpected departure of a city alderman and should begin construction in two weeks.
Ward 6 Alderman Linda Davis originally motioned to approve the design of the 13-story building at 200 Renaissance but reject the parking garage.
This move would have killed the entire project, according to Renaissance developer H.C. "Buster" Bailey, because of a lack of adequate parking space.
Following an executive session and a discussion with Bailey, Davis did not offer her motion again. Instead, she left the meeting room, leaving a vote in the hands of Mayor Gene McGee. Her decision counted as a recusal from the vote.
McGee and three other aldermen voted to approve the design of the high-rise and the parking lot. The vote cleared the way for the construction of the 13-story building that is set to house offices for the Butler Snow law firm, the Horne CPA Group, and Regions Bank.
Reached by phone after the meeting, Davis said she felt the design changes to the high-rise were positive and made the building blend in more convincingly with the rest of Renaissance.
But she also said she had not expected the 1,066-space garage to be 67 feet high after seeing drawings earlier. Bailey reported this height to the board on Tuesday after initial reports on Monday that it would be 80 feet high.
"I was hoping there would be some way we could reduce it, maybe go with some underground parking," she said, "but it just became apparent in the executive session that that was not going to be an option."
Davis said she thought the garage, which is directly to the north of the building, should only be four stories tall, within the limitations she thought appropriate for development on Highland Colony Parkway.
Ultimately, however, Davis could not reconcile her feelings about the high-rise and the garage.
"I couldn't in good conscience vote for either side," Davis said, explaining her decision to leave the board room.
She said she suspected McGee might vote in favor of the design once she left, but said she had no prior knowledge about how he would vote.
Asked about people who might criticize her recusal, Davis responded, "I would tell them to please try to withhold judgment until they have walked in my shoes."
She said she received thousands of e-mails about the high-rise and met for more than 80 hours about the building, in addition to receiving dozens of phone calls.
Outside the board room, Bailey said he was pleased by the board's decision.
"Construction will begin in the next week or two," he said.
McGee said he was surprised by Davis' exit but had hoped for a consensus.
"I would like to have seen this one out with a unanimous 7-0 vote," he said.
The basic concept for the high-rise was approved at a six-and-a-half hour public hearing on Oct. 10. Davis was the last alderman to cast a vote, and said it was the hardest decision of her political career before voting to approve the building.
At that hearing, Davis also requested Bailey make design changes to the building to conform to other design elements within Renaissance.
As part of those changes, the high-rise utilized more sand-colored stone and less glass. The angle of the top of the original building design was also flattened.
"It does look better as far as fitting into the whole scheme of things," Bailey said on Monday.
But arguments on Tuesday centered on the parking garage, and whether the earlier approval of the high-rise meant the garage should be approved as well. The structure is over the regular four-story limit permitted for buildings in city ordinances.
At issue is whether the garage was a regular building and thus subject to normal regulations, or a different type of structure that could be considered contiguous to 200 Renaissance.
The garage has open-air ventilation on its east and west side and therefore fell under different rules, according to Community Development Director Alan Hart. Structures with two sides that have at least 50 percent of their area ventilated to outside air are not considered buildings in the regular sense of the term.
"It's not considered an enclosed building," he said. "Our zoning ordinances didn't contemplate parking garages in the first place."
Ward 5 Alderman Scott Jones then motioned to approve the site plan for the high-rise and garage, but it was defeated when aldermen Ken Heard (Ward 1), Kevin Holder (Ward 3), Gerald Steen (at-large) and Davis voted against it.
Davis then offered her motion to accept the building but deny the garage.
Before a vote on her motion was taken, Bailey rose to address the board and said rejecting the parking garage at its present height would eliminate the possibility of the high-rise.
"A vote to kill the parking structure will kill the building," he said.
The board then went into executive session that was closed to the public.
After Davis' departure and the 4-3 vote to approve the plans for both structures, Lawson Hester, a representative of residents who oppose the high-rise, told the board its conduct "arbitrary and capricious."
"I do not think there has been proper consideration of the site plan," he said.
When the parking garage's design was revealed on Monday, Hester said he was prepared to add it to the residents' appeal of the high-rise's construction.
Residents filed an appeal of the aldermen's Oct. 10 vote in Madison County Circuit Court. The appeal stated that approval of the building violated the city's own building ordinances.
Bailey would not comment on his plans to finance the building's construction, given that the building is under appeal and could be struck down by the court.
"I consider that private information," he said.
Alderman walks out on high-rise vote
By ANDREW UJIFUSA
Assistant Managing Editor
The high-rise at Renaissance was almost undone over a dispute about the height of its parking garage, but it survived after the unexpected departure of a city alderman and should begin construction in two weeks.
Ward 6 Alderman Linda Davis originally motioned to approve the design of the 13-story building at 200 Renaissance but reject the parking garage.
This move would have killed the entire project, according to Renaissance developer H.C. "Buster" Bailey, because of a lack of adequate parking space.
Following an executive session and a discussion with Bailey, Davis did not offer her motion again. Instead, she left the meeting room, leaving a vote in the hands of Mayor Gene McGee. Her decision counted as a recusal from the vote.
McGee and three other aldermen voted to approve the design of the high-rise and the parking lot. The vote cleared the way for the construction of the 13-story building that is set to house offices for the Butler Snow law firm, the Horne CPA Group, and Regions Bank.
Reached by phone after the meeting, Davis said she felt the design changes to the high-rise were positive and made the building blend in more convincingly with the rest of Renaissance.
But she also said she had not expected the 1,066-space garage to be 67 feet high after seeing drawings earlier. Bailey reported this height to the board on Tuesday after initial reports on Monday that it would be 80 feet high.
"I was hoping there would be some way we could reduce it, maybe go with some underground parking," she said, "but it just became apparent in the executive session that that was not going to be an option."
Davis said she thought the garage, which is directly to the north of the building, should only be four stories tall, within the limitations she thought appropriate for development on Highland Colony Parkway.
Ultimately, however, Davis could not reconcile her feelings about the high-rise and the garage.
"I couldn't in good conscience vote for either side," Davis said, explaining her decision to leave the board room.
She said she suspected McGee might vote in favor of the design once she left, but said she had no prior knowledge about how he would vote.
Asked about people who might criticize her recusal, Davis responded, "I would tell them to please try to withhold judgment until they have walked in my shoes."
She said she received thousands of e-mails about the high-rise and met for more than 80 hours about the building, in addition to receiving dozens of phone calls.
Outside the board room, Bailey said he was pleased by the board's decision.
"Construction will begin in the next week or two," he said.
McGee said he was surprised by Davis' exit but had hoped for a consensus.
"I would like to have seen this one out with a unanimous 7-0 vote," he said.
The basic concept for the high-rise was approved at a six-and-a-half hour public hearing on Oct. 10. Davis was the last alderman to cast a vote, and said it was the hardest decision of her political career before voting to approve the building.
At that hearing, Davis also requested Bailey make design changes to the building to conform to other design elements within Renaissance.
As part of those changes, the high-rise utilized more sand-colored stone and less glass. The angle of the top of the original building design was also flattened.
"It does look better as far as fitting into the whole scheme of things," Bailey said on Monday.
But arguments on Tuesday centered on the parking garage, and whether the earlier approval of the high-rise meant the garage should be approved as well. The structure is over the regular four-story limit permitted for buildings in city ordinances.
At issue is whether the garage was a regular building and thus subject to normal regulations, or a different type of structure that could be considered contiguous to 200 Renaissance.
The garage has open-air ventilation on its east and west side and therefore fell under different rules, according to Community Development Director Alan Hart. Structures with two sides that have at least 50 percent of their area ventilated to outside air are not considered buildings in the regular sense of the term.
"It's not considered an enclosed building," he said. "Our zoning ordinances didn't contemplate parking garages in the first place."
Ward 5 Alderman Scott Jones then motioned to approve the site plan for the high-rise and garage, but it was defeated when aldermen Ken Heard (Ward 1), Kevin Holder (Ward 3), Gerald Steen (at-large) and Davis voted against it.
Davis then offered her motion to accept the building but deny the garage.
Before a vote on her motion was taken, Bailey rose to address the board and said rejecting the parking garage at its present height would eliminate the possibility of the high-rise.
"A vote to kill the parking structure will kill the building," he said.
The board then went into executive session that was closed to the public.
After Davis' departure and the 4-3 vote to approve the plans for both structures, Lawson Hester, a representative of residents who oppose the high-rise, told the board its conduct "arbitrary and capricious."
"I do not think there has been proper consideration of the site plan," he said.
When the parking garage's design was revealed on Monday, Hester said he was prepared to add it to the residents' appeal of the high-rise's construction.
Residents filed an appeal of the aldermen's Oct. 10 vote in Madison County Circuit Court. The appeal stated that approval of the building violated the city's own building ordinances.
Bailey would not comment on his plans to finance the building's construction, given that the building is under appeal and could be struck down by the court.
"I consider that private information," he said.
Ridgeland mayor clears way for 13-story building
December 5, 2007
Ridgeland mayor clears way for 13-story building
By Elizabeth Crisp
elizabeth.crisp@clarionledger.com
RIDGELAND — With Mayor Gene McGee casting a surprise, tie-breaking vote Tuesday night, city aldermen approved final architectural plans for a 13-story office building that has been a point of conflict in Ridgeland.
Plans for 200 Renaissance appeared to have hit a snag earlier in the meeting because of a proposed seven-level parking garage, but Ward 6 Alderwoman Linda Davis abruptly left the meeting, leaving McGee to cast the final vote and pave the way for the building's construction.
Buster Bailey, developer of the 200 Renaissance building near Highland Colony Parkway and I-55, said construction could start as soon as next week.
The building, which will be home to the Butler Snow law firm, Horne CPA Group and Regions Bank, is expected to take about two years to complete. The tenants currently occupy the AmSouth Plaza building in downtown Jackson and plan to move to the new building by October 2009.
Before the final vote in favor of the architectural plans, aldermen had voted 4-3 against the design, with Davis saying she did not approve of the parking garage.
Ward 5 Alderman Scott Jones prefaced the vote by telling fellow aldermen that rejecting the plans could mean the city would lose the building and its prestigious tenants.
"Before we vote, does everyone understand that?" he asked.
The board later went into executive session, and when it ended, Davis immediately left.
The plans were brought back up for vote after she left, leaving McGee to cast the tie-breaker in favor of the developer's plans.
After the meeting, Davis said she left because she did not think she could vote in good conscience either way.
"On one hand, I think this will be a good thing for the city," she said. "But I don't want to feel like I'm betraying the trust of the citizens."
Other aldermen who voted against the proposals also took issue with the developer's plans for a 67-foot-tall parking structure.
The city's ordinances do not regulate the height of parking garages if at least 40 percent of the structures are "open," said city Community Development Director Alan Hart.
Alderman-at-large Gerald Steen said he wanted the city to review that policy before approving Bailey's request.
When Bailey first presented plans for the project several months ago, he had asked for a 16-story building that included three levels of parking on the bottom, as well as an adjacent parking garage.
After concerns were brought up by city officials and residents over the proposed height, Bailey retooled his project and presented new plans for a 13-story building that did not include parking levels within it.
Instead, the levels of parking that had been planned as the lower levels of the building were moved on top of the existing parking garage, increasing the number of levels there. The final plans, including the parking garage, were approved unanimously by the city's Architectural Review Board last week.
Bailey told aldermen the city would kill the project if the parking garage was not approved.
"We've acted in good faith," he said. "We've spent lots of time and money trying to make this work."
Several residents opposed to the building have filed an appeal in Madison County Circuit Court to the aldermen's 4-3 vote in favor of the height variance.
Their appeal has not yet been reviewed by a judge.
Dinsmor resident and attorney Lawson Hester, one of those named in the appeal, spoke to aldermen during Tuesday's meeting, saying that he represented "hundreds of citizens of Ridgeland" in opposing the building.
"I do not think proper consideration has been given to these plans," he said of the six-story parking garage.
He also said he did not think it was proper of the board to vote in Davis' absence.
To comment on this story, call Elizabeth Crisp at (601) 942-9019.
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