Ann Arbor City Council Preview: April 15, 2024

 

It's #a2Council night gentle readers. Here's the agenda. 

The evening kicks off with the Administrator's proposed 2025 budget. 

After that we come to a scant, 5-item consent agenda. Of note, CA-1 a street closing for the 2024 Glacier Highlands Neighborhood Association annual Memorial Day Parade.

There are two public hearings on the agenda this evening. PH-1/DS-1 and PH-2/DS-2 are on releasing part of the road easement at 2845 South State. This parcel is essentially the parking lot around the 777 Building and is part of a very exciting TC1 development. 

There are four ordinance first readings tonight. C-1, C-2, and C-3 are routine amendments to the water rates, stormwater rates, and sewer rates. If you're looking for a good primer on water rates, check out this classic article form the Damn Arbor vault: Revisiting Water Rates in Ann Arbor. C-4 is a routine township island annexation. 

On to the resolutions! DC-1 is a resolution to issue a Downtown Development District Liquor License to Uplift Ann Arbor, LLC, Located at 210 S. First St. DC-2 is a resolution to revise and amend the list of establishments participating in the Main Street Social District. DC-3 is a resolution to acquire an easement for the Nixon Corridor Improvement Project. 

That's it, gentle reader. What items are you most excited for? Hopefully we will see you there. The CTN stream starts at 7 pm. Make sure you follow the action on the #a2Council hashtag or on a2mi.social. 

Ann Arbor City Council Preview: April 1, 2024

 Gentle readers, it's #a2Council night in Ann Arbor. Here's the agenda.

The evening kicks off with a modest, 14-item consent agenda. CA-1, CA-2, and CA-3 are street closures for the Dexter Ann Arbor run, The Event of Main, and Arbtoberfest, respectively. CA-9 is to accept a hazard mitigation grant from FEMA to Purchase and Demolition of 124 Felch Street and 112 E Summit. 

There is one ordinance first reading on the docket tonight. PH-1/B-1 is the second reading of changes to the Open Space and Parkland Preservation ordinance AKA the Greenbelt. This would, among other things, include some areas of Ypsilanti Township within the Greenbelt and also change some of the rules governing conservation easements. 

There are two ordinance first readings tonight. C-1 is for the PUD for 711 Church, which probably deserves it's own article. This would rezone 1.06 acres from R4C (one of Ann Arbor's most broken zones) to a PUD that would allow a 12-17 story LEED Gold building with 273 units. It would also make a sizable contribution to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Despite being across Willard street from the Forest Parking Garage and another high rise, this project has faced opposition from city staff and it also did not pass planning commission. Gentle reader, you will not be surprised to find that I do think this is a good project and that I support it. I hope this passes first reading tonight. 

C-2 is the first reading of an ordinance that would make it so that the city does a Multimodal Transit Impact Analysis (MTIA) instead of a level of service analysis for new projects. This is good, because level of service analysis only cares about car throughput. 

Finally we get to the resolutions. Tonight there are 4 economic development resolutions on the docket. DC-1 establishes an office of economic development and the administrator to "Prioritize Housing Development at all Income Levels to Support Housing Affordability, Sustainability, Tax Base Development, and Placemaking as the City’s Strategic Priorities for Land Development." DC-2 is a resolution to direct the City Administrator to implement new processes and programs for housing development at all income levels to support housing affordability. DC-3 directs the administrator to implement new processes and programs to support sustainability. DC-4 is a resolution to direct the city to implement new processes to support placemaking and tax base improvements. These seem good. Housing affordability is badly needed and a broader tax base helps everyone. 

That's it, gentle reader. What items are you most excited for? Hopefully we will see you there. The CTN stream starts at 7 pm. Make sure you follow the action on the #a2Council hashtag or on a2mi.social.