Monday, April 5, 2021

Ann Arbor City Council Preview: April 5 2021

 


Gentle readers, tonight is the first #a2council meeting of April. Here's the agenda, and here's the A2AF episode about the meeting. I am going a little out of order here, but I think the most exciting item here is DC-3, a resolution directing the administrator to develop an unarmed public safety response program. This is a great direction the city is moving. 

The evening kicks off with a respectable, 24-item consent agenda. Of note, CA-5, repaving S. Industrial. Looks like some mid-block crossings are going to be added. CAs 14 through 18 are all purchasing conservation easements in various forms. Neat. 

There are 6 public hearings on the docket this evening. PH-1/B-1 and PH-2/B-2 are rezoning parcels to make nature areas. PH-3/B-3 is a township island annexation. PH-4/B-4 is the second, second reading of the fair housing ordinance. On this one there will probably be a lot of landlords calling in to say they need to be able to discriminate against people who have been convicted of crimes. PH-5/B-5 is a restructuring of the dog license fees. PH-6/B-6 is the second reading of the reduction in fees for failure to shovel snow. 

C-1 is the first reading of an ordinance making it so that landlords cannot start showing houses or asking to renew leases until 240 days into a year long lease. Currently they can start showing houses 70 days into a lease. C-2 and C-3 are township island rezonings. C-4 and C-5 are ordinances to governing the rules for short term rentals.  

Elsewhere on the agenda we have DC-2, a resolution to support U of M's President’s Commission on Carbon Neutrality’s recommendations. DC-4 is a resolution condemning recent anti-Asian attacks and rhetoric. And DC-5 is a resolution to order the Attorney's Office to review ordinances related to police enforcement. The A2AF podcast has a good discussion of this towards the end of the most recent episode. Hopefully the report will recommend getting rid of statues that criminalize things like having drug paraphernalia and consensual sex work. 

As always, gentle reader, I am probably forgetting some very important items here. What agenda items are you most looking forward to seeing. I am guessing that tonight will be another late night around the virtual council table. Hopefully we will see you there. The CTN stream starts at 7 pm. Make sure you follow the action on the #a2council hashtag.

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