Thursday, January 16, 2014

Ann Arbor City Council preview for January 21, 2014

Ann Arbor City Council meets on Tuesday, 21 January 2014, because Monday January 20 is MLK Day.

Council and mayoral races have already seen multiple people throw their hats into the ring. Here's a short rundown of who is running:

For Mayor:

  • Sabra Briere, currently First Ward council member
  • Sally Hart Petersen, currently Second Ward council member
  • Christopher Taylor, currently Third Ward council member
  • Stephen Kunselman, currently Third Ward council member
For Council, the new faces in the race:
  • Second Ward: Kirk Westphal
  • Third Ward: Julie Grand
  • Fourth Ward: Graydon Krapohl
It promises to be a long and interesting race.

Agenda follows! As always the Ann Arbor Chronicle preview has exhaustive detail.

UPDATE 21 January 2014: No council meeting preview would be complete without agenda modifications, noted 



MC-1 Mayoral appointments and confirmations. Appoint the Pedestrian Safety and Access Task Force.

PH-1. Public hearing on downtown zoning changes. A few parcels get rezoned, and "mandatory compliance with core design guidelines" will be required for parcels to get premium incentives for increased density.

PH-2. Public hearing on the Pizza House development, 624 Church St.

A-1. Meeting minutes approval

Consent agenda is usually routine business dispatched without debate.

CA-1. $45,000 for mental health services for the Sobriety Court.

CA-2. $23,200 for drug abuse screening for the Sobriety Court and the Veterans Treatment Court.

CA-3. $37,700 for network cabling for City Hall.

CA-4. $64,040 for annual software license for financial systems from New World Systems.

CA-5. Insurance board to settle claims; dollar amounts for claims not included in meeting minutes. (Why not?)

CA-6.  Close part of East Washington Street for the Winter Warriors Fundraising Event on Saturday, February 1, 2014.

CA-7. Street Closings for the Shamrocks and Shenanigans 5K Run/Walk - Sunday, March 9, 2014.

CA-8. Street Closings for the University of Michigan Big House 5K on Sunday, April 6, 2014

C-1. Zoning change from unzoned to C-1 (Local Business District) for the "Hoffman Property", 1643 & 1645 South State Street; this is the site of Biercamp. The original request for C3 (Fringe Commercial) was denied, so the parcels were unzoned after annexation from the township.

UPDATE: DC-1 through DC-3 were added later to the agenda.

DC-1. Liquor license for The Lunch Room.

DC-2. Class C liquor license (an upgrade from a tavern license, i.e. liquor and not just beer/wine) for Silvio's Organic Pizza.

DC-3. $25,500 to Atwell for Environmental Site Assessment for 2500 S. State St. (Edward Brothers Malloy facility).

DB-1. Downtown zoning changes (see PH-1).

DB-2. 624 Church site plan (see PH-2).

DB-3. Public Art Administrator contract, $20,500, 8 votes required.

DS-1. Waldenwood Drive (King School) sidewalk, $6,818, 8 votes required.

DS-2. Pontiac Trail sidewalk project.

DS-3. $272,490.00 for a sign inventory and pavement assessment project to Transmap Corporation.

DS-4. $4,000 annually for a lease of a city parking lot on Mary Street to the University of Michigan.

F-1 . A new condo development is going in at 500-504 Spring Street.

F-2. Public hearing notice for Malletts Creek Stone School Drain Project.

F-3. Radrick Farms Golf Course is a Clean Corporate Citizen.

F-4. Reviewers for Coordinated Funding for FY 2015-2016.

UPDATE F-5. A citizen writes to complain about the lack of landscaping in the 624 Church Street (Pizza House) site plan, and says that our streetscaping for large buildings compares unfavorably with street trees in Japan.

Minutes are routinely approved; this weeks minutes include the Energy Commission, Parks Advisory Commission, the City Planning Commission, the Taxicab Board, and a second much-delayed set of minutes from last May from Parks Advisory.

3 comments:

  1. It's interesting that the Pizza House Development has drawn so much less controversy than 413 E Huron. I wonder if we will see CMs start their mayoral campaigns at the meeting.

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  2. Ben, I think that the surrounding neighbors think of it like they thought of Zaragon West - that is to say, there's enough of a neighborhood there that can absorb big buildings without putting a shadow into some homeowner's yard.

    There had been some pushback from the owners of Zaragon Place ("Zaragon East"?) because the construction had been planned to go all the way to the lot line and they were worried about interference with apartment dwellers. I think, but I'm not sure, that that has been resolved.

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  3. or maybe that there's not much (if any?) owner-occupied housing in the area, so no neighbors to complain?

    ReplyDelete