Small crowd doesn't hurt auction spirit By MICHAEL BEAUDOIN University President Harold Shapiro's tie didn't draw a big crowd, but organizers of yesterday's second annual Celebrity Auction at the Track and Tennis Building said it was a success. The audience of 25 was smaller than expected because "publicity did not come through in some cases," said Marcia MacMullan, president of the Washtenaw Council for Children at Risk. THE COUNCIL received the profits from the auction, which was sponsored by the University's athletic depar- tment. "The Council consists of at least 36 organizations that provide services to children and youth," said MacMullan. It was formed in 1975- to consolidate many organizations' efforts against, cnila abuse and neglect. Even with the small turnout, the spirit of the auction wasn't lacking as several items drew vigorous bidding. One young man explained, "I just had to have it," after buying a one-of-a-kind Houston Cougars Phi Slama Jama hat. A VARIETY of items were donated, ranging from Shapiro's "M" tie, which sold for $10, to a hockey stick autographed by the 1984 Detroit Red Wings. Several volumes of original stock 78 rpm records featuring Count Basie and Duke Ellington drew special attention from the audience. Even though the size of the crowd was smaller than the organizers would have liked, every item up for auction was sold. Univesity Regent Emeritus Gertrude Huebner offered to step into Ypsilanti for a price - and even that sold in the auction. University law prof. Beverly Pooly and Manchester Police Chief William Zsenyuk served as the primary auc- tioneers. Neil Staebler, former congressman and co-author of How to Argue with a Conservative, personally auctioned off his own Harold Shapiro tie that he had purchased years ago. MacMullan said the next year's auction will receive more long-range publicity and hopefully will draw a bigger crowd. DOUG McMAHON/Daily Two bargain seekers listen as items are auctioned off in the Track and Tennis Building yesterday. Housing-commercial development conflict escalates (Continued from Page i) the public eye and avoid the necessary City Council approval of the zoning variances for the plan. Kerson acknowledged that it will be difficult to rezone the area with a Republican majority on Council, but said he will continue to fight downtown commercial expansion unless it is tied to low- or moderate-income housing in the same area. COUNCILMAN Lowell Peterson (D- First Ward) is studying the possibility of requiring developers to include housing in any new construction, a proposal that will surely face opposition from Republicans and developers. Ann Arbor presently is facing its largest flurry of development in many years. Although Tally Hall, a com- bination retail space/parking struc- ture, is the only visible construction site, there are several others in the works. The Downtown Club, located at 110 N. Fourth Ave., will soon be renovated into high-rent office space. Several mem- bers of Council formed an ad-. hoc committee to save the former rooming house for single-room oc- cupancies, but they eventually con- ceded that the building had been neglected for so long that restoring.it to its former state would be economically impossible. AN INTERESTING twist to the con- flict was the fact that Mayor Louis Belcher was part-owner of the proper- ty, and Peterson and Councilman Larry Hunter (D-First Ward) hinted that Belcher may have had a conflict of in- terest when he approved a site plan for the building 18 months before he pur- chased it. * Belcher responded by saying he hadn't known that he would be pur- chasing the property when he approved the site plan, and City Attorney R. 'There's a lot of rhetoric about housing downtown, but not much is done about it.' - Doris Preston Fifth Ward Councilwoman Bruce Laidlaw sided with Belcher. Peterson and Hunter wanted to trip up Belcher's plans to turn the building into office space because they wanted to see the building converted to low- income housing, but they recently gave up that struggle. ANOTHER controversy has been brewing over a house at 415 N. Fourth Ave., owned by developer Carl Brauer. The city had planned to lease the house for use as a homeless shelter a few months ago, but the deal fell through when a church near the site objected to the plan. Recently, Brauer announced plans to turn the back yard of the house into a parking lot to make the house more suitable for commercial use. But the plan faces opposition from the same group which opposed the Braun Court conversion, the Downtown Neighbors' Association. The group supports a proposal by Peterson to rezone the entire block as strictly residential - a proposal that faces stiff opposition. Republicans hold a six to five Council majority and it isn't ,)erir whether allt h Democrats will support the rezoning. COUNCILWOMAN Doris Preston (D- Fifth Ward) supports the push for low- Incorne hosing 'f-o, but she acknowledged that developers who bought property expecting to use it commercially may sue the city to collect damages if the zoning is changed. , "You cannot just pull zoning out from under (developers)," said city planning commissioner Martin Overhiser. Brauer said he supports the need for housing downtown, but said "you could not justify renting this at residential rates." NEARLY ALL interested parties say that housing is vital to the downtown because it makes the area safer and supports business at night. The con- troversy arises over what type of housing should be supported and what role the city should play in downtown development. The issue is split largely across par- tisan lines. Republicans traditionally support more of a laissez-faire program that the Democrats, and Preston, the only Democrat on the planning com- mission, said "they essentially don't believe in zoning." "There's a lot of rhetoric about housing downtown, but not much is done about it," Preston said. Preston said that the Downtown Development Authority, an advisory commission for Council, should "develop the low-cost housing in those transitional areas." JOHN SWISHER, chairman of the DDA, said "I think there's a demand for all kinds of housing: the question is money." He said he sympathizes with Braun Court's residents, but "maybe Braun Court has outlived its use as a residence ... it's not very attractive." Developer Peter Allen said he foresees more housing downtown, but it will be geared towards "the high- income yuppie market." Allen said that low-income people "are being priced out of the market to a certain extent." Several other buildings are also being contemplated, partly due to the present low interest rates. Swisher said the projects that are being talked about are not new projects, they simply are star- ting now because the economy is recovering. MAYOR BELCHER and his partners are planning to tear down the Sun Bakery at Fifth and Liberty to put up a new office building. Another developer is planning.an office building near City Hall. A third is pushing for a convention center on the corner of Fifth and Huron. These projects represent the first significant developments in about fifteen years. In essence, the controversy is a philosophical one. Most Republicans feel that government should set the tone for development but should basically let the market determine what sort of development is needed. Most Democrats feel that the city should be far more involved in planning than it currently is. For example, some Democrats point out that there is a glut of office space downtown, but there are still plans to build more office buildings. They add that some developers don't care if their buildings remain vacant because they receive benefits through tax write-offs. But the Republicans say that the market will determine when there is too much office space, and Council should not interfere. The controversy is not likely to be resolved soon. As Councilman Gerald Jernigan (R-Fourth Ward) said, "I think the problem has been there for a long time; it's just coming to fruition right now."