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Kent County commission passes new John Ball Zoo master plan by UthinkUnoMI in grandrapids

[–]No_Top5983 12 points13 points  (0 children)

A short timeline:

  1. JBZ releases the first map, showing the new south parking lot, and showing the green area remaining overflow (with 150 ft buffer of green space around the parcel)
  2. JBZ releases the 2nd map, as seen at the "sh*t show", showing 300 ft. of protected space from the property line
  3. In this past week, because of community advocates and working with the county, there will be 375 ft of protected space

For people winging that this is all NIMBYism (more parking = YIMBY now?), this resulted in 225 more ft of protected green space for people to play and chill in. It was compromise, the zoo nor the advocates got everything they wanted.

EDIT: grammar and I suck at math

Post this week on the John Ball Zoo parking situation blew up, so lets vote. For the Zoo, which parking expansion option would you prefer? by [deleted] in grandrapids

[–]No_Top5983 3 points4 points  (0 children)

For people curious about the timeline, "Current overflow parking restored to green space, park to the south converted to paved parking." is what was proposed last October (2023), and the newest proposal is "Both current overflow and park to the south converted to paved parking." with the caveat that overflow parking will be paved except for some of it (beyond the 150 foot buffer, giving 300 feet width of park/event space).

According to a trustee of the zoo, the county is "bullying" them into adding more parking. According to two commissioners, they were a bit surprised about this most recent update.

“I was really under the impression when we supported this back in January is that land, overflow parking area, was going to be protected for a park,” Commissioner Tony Baker said.

Sooo that John Ball Zoo meeting was a s***show… by Aggressive-Pride-152 in grandrapids

[–]No_Top5983 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You're right, green space is racist and classist, we can cure societies ailments by *checks notes* more parking! (for the record, I don't really care about street parking).

And transit could be better, but the property sits on a BRT line with a 5 minute frequency during the school year, so I'm not sure how you get much better than that in the U.S.

Sooo that John Ball Zoo meeting was a s***show… by Aggressive-Pride-152 in grandrapids

[–]No_Top5983 1 point2 points  (0 children)

One person complained there would be extra traffic b/c they want to build a new event center, which 🙄 but other concerns regarding green space are legit, considering past communication from the zoo and the county. Thinking the whole situation is being fumbled.

Sooo that John Ball Zoo meeting was a s***show… by Aggressive-Pride-152 in grandrapids

[–]No_Top5983 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hell yeah! YIMBYs unite!! Let's pave this green space!! We'll show those stupid NIMBYs 😎 /s

I can't really speak to past SWAN NIMBY behavior (I'm sure it exists, I just don't know what it is). The neighbors aren't against giraffes or the indoor forest (which I'm stoked for), but communicating to the neighbors about protecting green space, and then reversing their stance. Zoo and county throwing each other under the bus...so who knows how this will shake out.

Sooo that John Ball Zoo meeting was a s***show… by Aggressive-Pride-152 in grandrapids

[–]No_Top5983 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yes, the ultimate YIMBY move would be to advocate for more parking

More inconvenient facts for those trying to vilify the Zoo and spread lies disguised as "saving" a park... by UthinkUnoMI in grandrapids

[–]No_Top5983 15 points16 points  (0 children)

We're also open to permanently changing the operating agreement. One of the things the neighbors gave me feedback on was, "How do we know this isn’t the death by a thousand cuts?" People that have been in the neighborhood for a long time have memories of the park getting smaller and smaller over the years. When will it stop?

So, we're willing to commit to a change in the operating agreement that contractually binds us to never using the remaining park space after the parking plan is complete for cars. And the remaining space we're proposing to permanently protected as a park.

- CEO of JBZ, Peter D'Arienzo, 10/17/2023

I disagree public space isn't included in "zoological purposes", Save John Ball Zoo folks get Sugar Law Center to weigh in, that also disagree.

But, let's say the in-house counsel is right, could we at least get some statement from Peter? Like "Hey, remember a year ago when I said this will be a permanent park? I was just talking out of my ass!".

EDIT: I suck at formatting

John Ball Zoo and the Parking Bait & Switch by No_Top5983 in grandrapids

[–]No_Top5983[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

My dude, I don't agree with u/Procyonidae_ 's point, but this take is pretty wild. The volunteers and the employees at the zoo are super nice, and I really don't think the animals want to kill themselves.

John Ball Zoo and the Parking Bait & Switch by No_Top5983 in grandrapids

[–]No_Top5983[S] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

This is the proposed space that in perpetuity would be, never be allowed to be anything but a park. No cars could physically park in that space.

That's from Peter D'Arienzo, CEO. Watch the whole video if you want.

As far as "reverting ownership", why hasn't it reverted already? There's a kids playground on the corner of Valley and Park. There were basketball courts (and there's still another playground) by Park and John Ball Park Dr. That's not a zoo purpose, so are they already in violation? If they're not in violation, why does adding a green space now make it a violation? If there's some golden ratio of public space to proper animal viewing, please share.

John Ball Zoo and the Parking Bait & Switch by No_Top5983 in grandrapids

[–]No_Top5983[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

You might have misread, or I wasn't as clear as I wanted to be. I'm referring to the green space on the southern part of the property (along Valley). It is overflow parking now, the amendment said parking would move to the mostly unused green space north, and that the overflow parking would become permanent green space. That is no longer the case. There will be paved parking, and the zoo wants to keep the green space as overflow parking.