The Michigan Daily-Thursday, September 4, 1980-Page 15-A sIIIAU'Iq IAfLDI! The saga of an adult bookstore Daily Photo by PAUL ENGSTROM THIS MODEL OF a proposed 32-story high rise was presented by local developer John Stegeman to the Regents last February. ~ighrises may By STEVE HOOK a To many residents, the c Arbor has a distinct char is best illustrated by the v bience"-a quaint, sn character that sets the from others in the state a These residents believe t a essentially large enough a future large-scale dev -'should be discouraged. Or hand, many residents fe - ' could use more cox development to attract m (particularly conventione Arbor; and to increase the - .base. bIn the past year, these t have been at odds over pr two high-rise commerci Lv tial projects-one in the ci . University business distri : downtown. The first' proposal, a "mixed-use" facility (al condominiums, retail stor corner of Washtenaw and 'Was issued by local devel Stegeman last winter. uproar resulted after the Regents voted to give i. who is responsible for t high-rise buildings in A -(Campus Inn, Maynar - Tower Plaza), an option J 1 Fpiece of University proper s where his proposed buil be. According to many loc " ts, and some Regents, th was made too hastily. SR .A2 yline K "In effect, three out of eight ity of Ann Regents made the decision," said acter that Regent Deane Baker (R-Ann Ar- vord "am- bor), referring to the fact that the nall-town motion to offer the land to Stegeman city apart was not on the agenda for their nd region. February meeting, and many he city is Regents were unaware it would be s it is, and discussed. Baker said he was out of elopment the room making a telephone call a the other and was "completely surprised" el the city when he discovered the motion was mmercial about to be made. ore people Stegeman's proposal, which is rs) to Ann being presented in conjunction with w sa new company called the Quadrium camp twoCorp., still needs to be approved by oposals for the city's planning commission. apo-aesdfor Several City Councilpersons, in- al-esien- cluding Earl Greene (D-Second itys South Ward), doubt that will happen. "I ct and one think the scale is probably too large a 32-story for the area. I don't think the plan partments, will ever withstand planning com- es) on the mission review," Greene said. S. Forest, Yet there is support for this Loper John proposal-much of it coming from A minor the businesses along South Univer- University sity, that would directly benefit from Stegeman, the proposed facility. hree other The other proposal, meeting with knn Arbor somewhat less opposition, is for an d House, 18-story conference center at the to buy a corner of Huron and First St. The ty that lies plan, called "Huron Plaza," has ding would been submitted by local developer al residen- Dick Berger, who was unsuccessful he decision in a previous attempt to build a similar conference center near the By MITCH STUART The fight was on when a contingent of women from the "North Avenue Coalition" dumped 450 letters signed by city residents on Mayor Louis Belcher's desk in protest against an adult bookstore on N. Fourth Ave. The Danish News, which sold erotic magazines, filmstrips, and other assor- ted paraphernalia, opened its doors last April under a permit allowing for a 'movie arcade.' MEMBERS OF the Coalition insisted the bookstore was in violation of a city zoning ordinance that prohibits the establishment of adult bookstores within 700 feet of a residential area. Af- ter the city administrators got wind of the violation, City Attorney Bruce Laidlaw filed suit against the Danish News and the landlord of the building housing the bookstore. The group attempted to get a court in- junction May 21 to shut down the bookstore while the main issue of the zoning violation was considered. Cir- cuit Court Judge Henry Conlin post- poned the ruling for one week, much to the dismay of the Fourth Avenue Coalition and city politicians. "OUR PEOPLE were upset that the injunction was delayed," said a disheartened Belcher. "We feel it's a travesty of city law." ON May 30th Conlin did indeed order the bookstore closed, but like a flotilla of Cuban refugee boats breaking a line of U.S. Coast Guard cruisers, the Danish News remained open, with its spokesman claiming the city zoning or- dinance was unconstitutional. Although bookstore spokesmen said the ordinance violated their first amen- dment rights, some community mem- bers disagreed. "I DON'T SEE it as a first amen- dment issue. It's a zoning issue," said. Amy Coha, the manager of the Women's Crisis Center which is located directly above the bookstore. Huron River on North Main St. (The plan was nixed by opposition by neighborhood groups). The new proposal calls for a 400-room hotel, a large conference center, 150 con- dominiums, and 25,000 square feet of retail space. The facility, if con- structed as proposed, would employ about 1,200 people. The resulting tax payment would total two and a half million dolars. In addition, the ap- proximately 5,000 people the com- plex would bring to Ann Arbor each week would spend an estimated $65 million in the city. Clearly, this plan would provide a strong shot in the arm to the city's convention in- dustry, which Mayor Belcher has called for since he took office. For now, both projects remain in limbo, as developers Berger and Stegeman await approval of city of- ficials before their proposals can materialize. Meanwhile, public debates continue 'on the necessity and appropriateness of each. "I think it's really dangerous to take as a sacred a right as free speech and use it further one's economic status," said Mary Franklin, a worker at Bread and Roses, which is affiliated with the Crisis Center. Danish News defied the temporary injunction to close for more than one week, claiming the injunction's language was unclear, and did not legally stop the store from operating, since it only required the bookstore to remove certain items. But Judge Conlin later amended his injunction and clarified the store was to be shut down. ACCORDING TO City Attorney Bruce Laidlaw, Conlin's amendment withdrew the bookstore's permit to operate, preventing the operation of business of any kind in the store's location. "The judge said that we should go down and close it, and if we didn't close it we could go down and pick up some bench warrants for arrest," Mayor Belcher said. On June 19th, two Ann Arbor police officers entered the Danish News and informed the lone employee there of the court order to close the shop. The em- ployer subsequently telephoned the store's manager and was directed by him to close the shop. DANISH NEWS attorney William Swor, reached at his Detroit office, said he was aware of Conlin's amendment to the order and had advised his clients to close the store. He said the injunction's wording was completely ambiguous. But since it was made completely clear, he said compliance with the order was essential. "You can't win a fight with the court. There's no need to fight the court," he said. The bookstore attorneys asked the Michigan Court of Appeals to review the Conlin injunction, but the request was denied, and the Danish News ..remained closed. AND MORE Wall Weavings ' Plants ' Lamps Imported Boxes .'Pottery Books Unique Cards " Baskets ' Mirrors Plant Supplies ' Candles Wicker Cut Flowers Pictures * Jewelry And much more 1202 Packard Plenty of free parking (Side Dewey-and rear) Serving the U-M and Ann Arbor community for 6 years 19% OFF Plant with This Ad Open: MTWS, 10-6 ThF, 10-9 Sun., 12-5 DOLLAR P4- COPYING 611 church 665-9200 OPEN 7 DaYs featuring the new Xerox 9500- You must see the incredible quality of the 9500 COURSE PACKS Resumes-Dissertations Color Copies-Photo T-Shirt Transfers * - - smmmmmmmmmininE PIN Join the Business Staff I DOLLAR 0111 COPYING 10 FREE COPIES *Regular Copying-Good only Oct., 1980 611 Church 665-9200 . OpE I OI * in 7 Days S r . 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