Call to Action: Tell Council what you think about the new Comprehensive Land Use Plan

Gentle readers, this is a call to action. If you don’t regularly engage with #a2Council or the City Planning Commission (CPC), it is imperative you share your thoughts on the new Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) draft with them. If you are one of the sickos who regularly engages with these groups, you have a different job: you need to reach out to your friends and neighbors, and make sure that they too are sharing their thoughts on the CLUP with Council and Planning Commission. The City is hosting feedback sessions on April 30th (today) and May 7th from 3-7 pm at the Mallets Creek and Traverwood Libraries, respectively.

However you choose to engage, it is imperative that you share your thoughts on the new CLUP. Council will be voting on this in the fall of this year and it is imperative they hear sustained support for this. This effort won’t stop once the plan is adopted. You need to keep advocating for this as the city adopts new zoning based on the new plan.  Make sure to tell all your friends.

Hyde Park, Chicago, IL. Some people are trying to make sure that this stays illegal in most Ann Arbor Neighborhoods

Ann Arbor is in the middle of revising the city’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP). This document serves as a template for the city’s land use going forward. Hopefully it will usher in major zoning updates. Ultimately, Planning Commission will create the new CLUP. Council passed a resolution instructing the commission to generate a plan that will increase affordability, sustainability, and equity. This is a great direction. CPC answered the call and generated a great plan. Full disclosure, I was on the CLUP Steering Committee, a group that helped advise CPC on the direction of the plan. 

The draft plan is very good. It allows more housing to be built throughout Ann Arbor. This is the single most important thing that the city can do for affordability, sustainability, and equity. Over the last decade, Ann Arbor has seen housing costs rise dramatically. The city’s current zoning dramatically restricts housing supply which causes price increases. Study after study shows that when cities allow more housing to be built, it dampens price increases across all market segments. Cities that have built lots of housing, like Seattle, Austin, and Minneapolis, have even seen rents decrease. 

The new CLUP is also a huge step towards making Ann Arbor more sustainable. Allowing more people to live on the same amount of land reduces sprawl and preserves important ecosystems outside of the city. By allowing more people to live in Ann Arbor, it will allow people to commute shorter distances. It also makes transit, biking, and walking more feasible. Shorter commutes and more transit/walking/biking lessens the environemntal impact of the city’s residents and workers. Studies show that allowing people to live more densely is one of the most important ways that we can reduce GHG emissions and other pollution. 

The new plan also helps equity. By allowing gentle density throughout the city, it makes things like neighborhood grocery stores more viable. The new plan also liberalizes rules for businesses in neighborhoods. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every neighborhood had a Jefferson Market or a Washtenaw Dairy? Beyond the fact that these are forbidden in most of the city's neighborhoods, many areas of the city don’t have the density to support these neighborhood businesses. Restrictive zoning is also associated with decreased racial diversity in neighborhoods and increased wealthy residents. 

I also think something like this is totally fine for most residential areas. But I guess it really freaks a bunch of people out. This is also in Hyde Park.

This is a call to action: Ann Arbor has a once in a generation opportunity to dramatically improve affordability, sustainability, and equity. Please take a moment and engage with Council and CPC on the CLUP. Drop them an email (City Council, CPC) or call in to the next meeting and share your thoughts on the plan. Since the plan’s release, the usual cast of anti-housing activists have been working hard to foment opposition. Ann Arbor has the chance to make the city a more equitable, safer, and vibrant city that more people can call home. We need to do this not just for the city’s current residents, but also for our children and grandchildren. It is important for the city to hear your voice.