The records of the Ann Arbor Hills Association (AAHA) document the association's interests, concerns and general business. These records have survived and been sent to the Bentley Historical Library by Mrs. Elizabeth (Betty) Brown, one of the association's long-standing members and secretary for several decades. Perusal of the records will reveal the intricate intertwining of the association's life with that of Mrs. Brown.
The records have been divided into three series. Each series has been organized alphabetically, for the most part. Within sub-series the records may reflect subject organization rather than alphabetical or chronological organization. The 1996 accession has not been described in detail.
The Ann Arbor Hills Association (AAHA) was founded in 1924. Ann Arbor Hills is a prime residential area within the City of Ann Arbor, Michigan, lying roughly between Washtenaw Avenue on the west and south, and Huron Hills golf course on the north and east. Some 150 homes lie within the Ann Arbor Hills area.
The AAHA was founded for several purposes: to protect property values of homes within Ann Arbor Hills; to represent the interests of Association members in assuring effective services from the City of Ann Arbor, including such things as police and fire protection, traffic control, water and sewage services, and public education; and to beautify the area of Ann Arbor Hills through the cooperative volunteer action of its members, thus enhancing its attractiveness as an exclusive residential area within the City of Ann Arbor.
The AAHA has been vigilant in the pursuit of its purposes. Starting in 1948, the Building Committee records attest to the association's intent to assure compliance with their restrictions by careful monitoring of all real estate transactions, new building construction, and property modifications, to protect the value of all homes in the AAHA area. The AAHA maintains surveillance of all city services provided to its members, dealing over the years with such issues as major sewage problems (lasting a decade), a spate of silver theft requiring the attention of the Ann Arbor Police Department, problem traffic areas, better street lighting at key intersections, the establishment of a Recycling Collection Station within the Association's boundaries, and the formation of a Neighborhood Watch Program.
The AAHA takes very seriously its purpose to protect the value of its homes. Debate with the City Planning Commission over annexation to the City of Ann Arbor occupied the association between 1952 and 1963. Beginning in 1959, and spanning twelve years, the Padover Proposal concerned the AAHA'a struggle to restrict zoning within its neighborhood boundaries. In the 1970s and early 1980s the Association took legal action against several of its residents/members (every homeowner in Ann Arbor Hills is a member of the Association by virtue of that ownership). Some of the lawsuits concerned what the association considered improper use of residential property. The Robey and Spindler files concern members taken to court by the Association for attempting to establish private psychological practices in their homes. The Broomfield/Pollard file covers two years of correspondence and legal measures concerning the occupancy of a house during an academic leave of absence by people the association considered undesirable.
The decade of the 1980s was filled with intense activity for the AAHA. Property issues related to disposal and development occupied much of the association's attention. The association was as determined to exclude certain groups and activities from the Ann Arbor Hills area as it was to promote improvements and development according to specific standards within its restrictive covenants. The Cora Shoecraft property successfully became a park. Equally successful in its own way was the opposition to a half-way house and to the construction of sidewalks in Ann Arbor Hills.
Two issues dominate the history of the AAHA in the mid-1980s: the Bader School Property and the Huron Parkway intersection with the Ann Arbor Hills area. From contention regarding its closure, to energetic concern about its disposal, its eventual sale and the AAHA's subsequent wrangling with the purchaser, the Fellowship Bible Church, the Bader School Property consumed the association's attention from 1984-1991. The association's battle with the city over Huron Parkway began in 1959, continued through 1964, and re-emerged in 1983 with the proposed sale of the Mills Property.
