Ann Arbor City Council Preview: May 19, 2025

 

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

The evening kicks off with a scant, 2-item consent agenda. CA-1 is for the YMCA Community Block Party and CA-2 is to accept a $200k Shared Streets grant for improvements around the Transit Center. 

There is one public hearing on the docket this evening, PH-1/DB-1 is for a routine township island annexation at 1155 Arlington Blvd.

There is one ordinance first reading on tonight's agenda. C-1 is an update to the UDC rules on land divisions. 

What this meeting lacks in ordinances and consent items, it makes up for in resolutions. DC-1 through DC-5 are appointments and I'm going to skip them. 

The next batch are fund allocations. DC-6 is for Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Intervention Programs. DC-7 is for Expanding Food Access and Supporting Local Food Distribution. DC-8 is for Shelter Diversion, Eviction Prevention, and Programming in Under-Resourced Communities. 

DC-9 directs the administrator to explore a replacement records management system for the city. 

DS-1 is allocating some of Ann Arbor's Marijuana Excise money to the Home of New Vision.

DS-2 and DS-3 are resolutions to accept sewer and water main easements from Midtown Ann Arbor. 

DS-4, DS-5, DS-6, and DS-7 are fee adjustments for the AAFD, AAPD, Public Service Area and Airport, and CSA, respectively. 

DS-8 is the big one. This is the resolution to adopt the city budget and property tax millage for FY26. 

Dad Arbor: YPT presents: Shrek the Musical this weekend at the Power Center

 

Ex-Damn Arbor editor, and current my spouse, Erika Jost, choreographed Young People's Theater's production of Shrek the Musical. The show runs Friday through Sunday at the Power Center. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for students and children. 

Jost is known for her dynamic ensemble work and Berkeley-esque showmanship. Shrek, will, no doubt, deliver. This is her second time choreographing a production of this outstanding show. The first was almost a decade ago so it will be exciting to see how Jost has grown as an artist in the intervening years. 

When I asked "how has your approach to choreography evolved since the last time your worked on Shrek?" Jost responded "I've been in the theater to 11 every night this week. Please, just tell people to see the show."  

All kidding aside, if you are looking for a fun show to see with the kids this weekend, take them to Shrek. The musical is tremendously fun, with rousing numbers like Who I'd Be and Story of my Life. It's hard to beat a nice spring show at the Power Center and YPT always delivers. 

Die-in tonight at City Hall

 

On Monday night, a pedestrian who was crossing Huron at 4th Ave was killed by a driver in a hit and run crash. This is the 4th pedestrian to be killed by a driver this year in Ann Arbor. 

In response, activists are organizing die-in tonight at Ann Arbor City Hall at 6:50 pm. Here are the demands:

1. To City Council and MDOT, hurry up the takeover of MDOT roads within the city
2. To MDOT, allow safety improvements and signal adjustments now
3. To City Council, turn on the GridSmart camera features that automatically create longer crossing times for pedestrians needing extra time
4. Allocate money for Stadium safety improvements to make changes on streets the city controls right now
5. Turn off all flashing yellow left turn signals that don't yet have a pedestrian walk button override

It is imperative that Ann Arbor improve the safety for all road users, especially pedestrians and cyclists.  MDOT is not just an obstacle to this, they are actively working against it. Please show your support for a safer Ann Arbor by participating in the die-in tonight. 

Ann Arbor City Council Preview: May 5, 2025

 

Gentle readers, tonight is the first #A2Council meeting of May. Here's your agenda. 

The evening kicks off with a modest, 13-item consent agenda. Strangely, no street closures. Of note we do have CA-1 the design agreement for 1209 South University. This will be a 19-story building and use a 30% sustainability bonus. 

There are 9, count them, 9 public hearings on the docket this evening. PH-1/B-1 is the second reading of an ordinance that makes some minor changes to the city's alarm code. PH-2/B-2, PH-3/B-3, and PH-4/B-4 are the second readings to ordinances that update the city's water, stormwater, and sewer rates, respectively. PH-5, PH-6, PH-7, and PH-8 are all public hearings and resolutions on updated fees for the Fire Department, Police Department, Airport, and Community Service Area. PH-9 is a resolution to adopt the city budget and update the property tax millage rates for FY26. 

There are 6 ordinance first readings on the agenda tonight. C-1 and C-2 are for township island rezonings on Stone School. C-3 is rezoning ~10 acres from R4A to Public Land to expand Hickory Nature Area. C-4 is the downtown library rezoning to D1. C-5 makes changes to Ann Arbor's rules around Planned Unit Developments (PUDs). C-6 would add green rental housing rules to the city code. 

On to the resolutions. There is only 1! DC-1 makes appointments to the Building Authority Board. 

If you want to follow the blow by blow tonight, make sure you check out the #a2Council hashtag on Bluesky.