Trinitas Ventures is taking legal 
action against Ann Arbor after 
City Council denied a proposal for 
a student housing complex north 
of campus. The Indiana-based 
developer filed a claim of appeal, 
arguing the project complies with 
relevant zoning regulations and 
calling for a reversal of the city’s 
decision on the development.
In September, City Council 
rejected the proposal — in which 
Trinitas planned to construct the 
complex at 2601 Pontiac Trl., more 
than two miles away from both 
North and Central Campus — in 
a unanimous vote. Then, in 
November, it voted unanimously 

in favor of a $150,000 contract 
to retain outside legal counsel to 
fight the developer’s claim against 
the city.
City Councilmember Zachary 
Ackerman, D-Ward 3, said despite 
the fact legal precedents in the 
state tend to favor developers, 
he was pleased the council was 
taking action to block the Trinitas 
plan.
“Precedent is set by our court 
system and generally not by 
legislative branches, and the 
precedent that’s been set in 
the state of Michigan protects 
developers who believe they have 
the right to build a certain way on 
a property,” Ackerman said. 

Between alumni, parents and 
general Michigan fans, people 
flock to Ann Arbor on Saturdays 
during the fall. The Ann Arbor 
Airbnb host community has 
seen this firsthand and earned 
$1.55 million in supplemental 
income from 8,900 guests during 
University of Michigan home 
football game weekends this 
season, according to Airbnb. This 
included 
the 
$117,000 
in 
projected 
income 
from 
the 
Indiana game on Saturday.
The $1.55 million in Airbnb 
income is up from $1.2 million 
during the 2017 football season. 
Janice Cutting, an Airbnb host of 
several local properties, said she 
has no trouble finding guests for 
football weekends.
“If you have a football game, 
clearly the demand is much 
higher and you can raise your 
price,” Cutting said. “But when 
it’s a little bit slower, you need to 
lower your prices.”
Cutting 
is 
a 
Superhost, 
meaning she has a 4.8 rating or 
higher, a 90-percent response 
rate and zero cancellations. 
After staying in above-average 
Airbnb properties, Cutting said 
she wanted to provide her guests 
with an excellent experience. 
Cutting provides coffee, creamer 
and soap products for her guests, 
and 
she 
hires 
professional 
cleaners between each guest.
“About 80 percent of the time 
they’re booked,” Cutting said. 

“When I first started out, my 
prices were a little bit lower and 
I used to get them booked up in 
the 90 to 95 percent of the time. 
But when I’m pricing it lower 
I have found that you don’t get 
quite as nice a clientele, so they 
didn’t treat the properties quite 
as well.”
Jack Savas, also a local Airbnb 
Superhost, decided to use his 
home for Airbnb because he 
travels often and his daughter 
attends college overseas. After 

four years as a host, Savas said he 
has learned communication and 
honesty is essential to finding 
guests who will respect the 
property.
“Surprisingly, 
I’ve 
had 
excellent guests,” Savas said. 
“In many cases, they leave 
the house cleaner than when 
they arrive. But I think the 
key to maintaining a residence 
that’s clean and immaculate is 
transparency with the guests 
and pricing your house at the 

right amount of money.”
Savas currently maintains two 
Airbnb properties and is planning 
on listing a third. Especially for 
hosts who maintain multiple 
properties, Savas said Airbnb 
can present a great opportunity 
for earning extra income.
“A peak month I did $14,600 
but on average on average I earn 
between $5,000 and $7,000,” 

Students and faculty gathered 
Friday night for a Native American 
Heritage Month event, a historical 
discussion of the Burt Lake 
Burnout led by historian Richard 
Wiles and the Burt Lake Tribal 
Council. The event first centered 
around the history of the Burt Lake 
Band of Ottawa and Chippewa 
Indians, and later discussed the 
band’s ongoing struggle to achieve 
federal tribal recognition.
On Oct. 15, 1900, the government 
forced the relocation of the Burt 
Lake Band of Chippewa and 
Ottawa Native Americans, burning 
their village and giving the land to 
a local developer who claimed to 
have purchased the property. The 
University later gained ownership 
of some of this property in 1909, 
and the U-M Biological Station 
currently sits on this land.
Last December, native students 
and faculty submitted a request 
to the University to investigate 
the land ownership belonging to 
the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa 
and Chippewa Native American 

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Monday, November 19, 2018

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

City council 
seeks legal 
counsel after 
 
 
 
appeal claim

Workshop talks combatting white 
supremacy, power of organizing

ANNIE KLUS/Daily
LSA senior Hoai An Pham speaks at the breakout session held by the Michigan Student Power Network during the Organizing Against White Supremacy conference 
in Mason Hall Friday. 

CITY

Developer company took action after 
A2 denied housing complex proposal

LEAH GRAHAM
Daily Staff Reporter

Michigan Student Power Network centered the workshop on importance of collective action 

In response to the growing 
visibility 
of 
white 
nationalist 
movements across the country 
and 
subsequent 
debates 
about 
free speech, the social justice 

nonprofit Michigan Student Power 
Network hosted a workshop Friday 
afternoon about the power of 
community organizing and action. 
The workshop was one of many 
events hosted during the conference 
“Building 
Power: 
Organizing 
Effectively 
Against 
White 
Supremacy,” which discussed topics 
like nonviolence and the Black 

Action movement.
Inspiration for the conference, 
which described itself as “Black-
led,” stemmed from controversial 
events last year that received 
pushback 
from 
students 
and 
campus 
organizations. 
In 
November 2017, white supremacist 
Richard 
Spencer’s 
request 
to speak at the University of 

Michigan incited protests from 
the Black Student Union and the 
University’s chapter of the NAACP. 
Spencer cancelled his request to 
speak in January and canceled all 
national college tours after violence 
broke out at his stop at Michigan 
State University.
MSPN member Hoai An Pham, 

LIAT WEINSTEIN & 
ZAYNA SYED
Daily Staff Reporters

Burt Lake 
event talks 
Biostation 
recognition

CAMPUS LIFE

University research station 
situated on stolen acres of 
Native American land

KATHERINA SOURINE
Daily News Reporter

 

WESTERN MICHIGAN

SEPT 7 – 8

720

Guests 

$76,000

SMU

SEPT 14 – 15

960

Guests 

$134,000

NEBRASKA

SEPT 21 – 22

1600
Guests 

MARYLAND

OCT 5 – 6

1300

Guests 

$293,000
$218,000

 

Ann Arbor Airbnb Host Income 
During Home Football Game Weekends

 

WISCONSIN

SEPT 7 – 8

$343,000

PENN STATE

$371,000

INDIANA

SEPT 21 – 22

940

Guests 

$117,000

 

SEPT 14 – 15

1720
Guests 
1700
Guests 

CASEY TIN/Daily

Ann Arbor Airbnb hosts take in $1.5 
million during football Saturdays

The host community housed over 8,900 guests throughout the season

JULIA FORD 
Daily Staff Reporter

One to go
Michigan set itself up for one 
final showdown with Ohio 
State — for all the marbles 
— by defeating Indiana on 
Saturday, 31-20. 

» Page 1B

See NATIONALIST, Page 2A

The 
University 
of 
Michigan’s 66th Annual Economic 
Outlook 
Conference 
discussed 
research on the national and state 
economic future, especially as a 
recession rapidly approaches. The 
program’s 10 presentations, held 
between Thursday and Friday, 
spanned talks from “Election 
Implications for Small Business 
Spending and Hiring” to “NAFTA, 
Tariffs, and the U.S. Automotive 
Industry.”
The conference was organized 
by the Research Seminar in 
Quantitative 
Economics, 
a 
modeling and forecasting unit in 
the Economics Department that 
provides quarterly forecasts for 
the U.S. and Michigan economies. 
The conference is the longest 
running one of its kind in the 
U.S. , and is attended by upper 
level government and business 
economists, economic analysts, 
and academics.
RSQE Director Gabriel Ehrlich 
spoke about Michigan’s economic 
outlook at the conference on Friday. 

Economics 
conference 
emphasizes 
education

BUSINESS

University hosts Economic 
Outlook panels, featuring 
research and forecasts

SONIA LEE
Daily News Reporter

GOT A NEWS TIP?
Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail 
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.

INDEX
Vol. CXXVIII, No. 34
©2018 The Michigan Daily

N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

CL A S S I F I E DS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 B
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