Opinion: Tell A2Council to Pass the Comprehensive Land Use Plan tonight

 

The Future Land Use Map from the 4th draft of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan.

If you want Ann Arbor to be more affordable, and more sustainable, tell council tonight to adopt the 4th draft of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP). It will be the second public hearing of the evening. You can go in person, call, or write an email. 

Housing affordability and sustainability have been one of my main concerns since starting Damn Arbor, 15.5 years ago. Back then, the connection between allowing for more infill sustainability and affordability was less clear. Since then, a clear picture has emerged. In short, infill, like the new CLUP would allow is the pathway to a more sustainable and more affordable city. 

My original plan was to do a detailed literature review covering this, but the literature is so clear and intuitive, I will just touch on it briefly. 

On affordability the literature is clear: building more housing reduces housing costs. This is true even when this housing is non-subsidized, or market rate. The great thing about building more market rate housing in Ann Arbor is the city's Affordable Housing Millage. This means that a portion of property taxes from all new construction also goes towards the construction of subsidized housing. We are starting to see this housing come on line with Dunbar Tower on 4th at Catherine. By allowing for more housing to be built in Ann Arbor, the CLUP helps make market rate housing more affordable. The CULP also helps get more subsidized housing built by allowing more construction, which adds more to the Affordable Housing Fund through the Affordable Housing Millage. 

The CLUP also allows for Ann Arbor to grow more sustainable. Allowing for more infill means more people can live in relatively smaller houses on land that is already urban, instead of clearing forests and farmland in Livingston County. It means that new residents will be able to drive less, and bike or use transit more. 

The CLUP allows Ann Arbor to grow into a city that is greener, and where more people can live with dignity, please tell City Council to support it tonight. 

Previously: 

Ann Arbor for the Many, Not the Few