A2Council Meeting Summaries

Month: September 2022

Ann Arbor City Planning Commission: September 20, 2022

This meeting was held in person at City Hall.

Commissioner Abrons was absent.
Commissioner Hammerschmidt was absent.

APPROVED: Special Exception Use petition for Religious Assembly use at 529 Detroit, which includes 525 and 521 Detroit Street. Petitioners were granted a Landscape Modification for relief from the conflicting land use buffer requirement along the northeast property line.

APPROVED: Special Exception Use and Site Plan (Designated Marijuana Consumption Facility) for 3860 Research Park Drive.

APPROVED: Recommendation that City Council approved annexation of parcels at 1855 N Maple Road, 1875 N Maple Road, and 1921 Calvin Street and zoning of a PUD for construction of a 79-unit apartment community with a single-story clubhouse.

Legistar and Video Links

Legistar: https://a2gov.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=954620&GUID=1EFE12E6-D5EF-4ABE-9AE3-190887C73991

YouTube: https://youtu.be/gOaRE4HLg8U

CTN Video: https://ctnvideo.a2gov.org/CablecastPublicSite/show/7438

Meeting Length: 2h 37m

Ann Arbor City Council: September 19, 2022

This Ann Arbor City Council meeting was held in person at City Hall. Members of the public can participate in public hearings and public comment either in person or via phone.

Ann Arbor City Council Meeting Summary

APPROVED: Current City Hall mask requirements were rescinded. The City Administrator is directed to place signage at City Hall regarding mask requirements, consistent with revised guidelines from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Based on current CDC guidelines, in-person attendees at City Council meetings will only be required to wear a mask when community transmission rates are HIGH. The City administrator would be directed to follow any future changes to CDC guidelines regarding mask recommendations.  (Legistar)

APPROVED: $332,695 construction contract for two sentinel monitoring wells to detect 1,4-Dioxane contamination. One well will be located near Miller/Maple, another at a location to be determined. (Legistar)

APPROVED: Rezoning and site plan for a parcel of 0.15 acres at 340 Depot Street. The property is rezoned from C1B (Community Convenience Center District) to a PUD (Planned Unit Development). The PUD will allow a 7,830 square foot residential building with 4 residential units, 2,530 square feel of office/retail use, and 6 vehicle parking spaces at ground level underneath part of the proposed building. The site plan is primarily two stories and requires a minimum of 1,300 square feet of office or retail use on the first floor. This plan is approved with the condition that 4 feet of “Easement for Public Right-of-Way” will be vacated by City Council. (Legistar) (Legistar)

APPROVED: A development agreement for a 4 story residential building at 2424 E. Stadium (currently the site of the University Inn) to include 185 dwelling units with a $115,625 contribution to the City Parks department. (Legistar)

APPROVED: $938,000 construction contract with the Michigan Department of Transportation for pavement preservation – intermittent cold milling and asphalt patching, cape seal surface treatment (one course chip seal and one course micro-surface applications) – and new pavement markings. Existing bike lanes along the north and south sides of Glazier Way (between Green Rd and Earhart Rd) will be converted to buffered bike lanes. Traffic lanes on Huron Parkway (between Fuller/Geddes Rd and Hubbard Rd) would be narrowed to slow traffic. (Legistar)

APPROVED: Resolution directing the City Administrator to issue a traffic control order prohibiting on-street parking on the west side of Division Street from Hoover Street to Hill Street and on the east side of Division Street from Hill Street to Packard Street. Existing pavement markings on Division Street will be removed and replaced with markings, vertical elements and signage that will establish a two-way cycle track (separated from vehicle traffic lanes) to extend the existing cycle track to the Division Street terminus at Hoover Street. (Legistar)

DEFEATED: $134,271 budget amendment for a State Trunkline Jurisdiction Transfer Study. A study would have assessed the feasibility of the City assuming responsibility for maintenance and improvement of trunklines – Jackson Road, Huron Street, Washtenaw Avenue, North Main Street – which are currently under the jurisdiction of the Michigan Department of Transportation. Assessment would include the condition of the roadways, costs to bring the roadways up to an acceptable state of good repair, costs to operate and maintain the roadway in perpetuity, anticipated increases to gas tax revenues, as well as other positive and negative externalities. (Legistar)

POSTPONED: The City Administrator is directed to prohibit right turns on red in the downtown and near-downtown area as bordered by Kingsley St., State St., Hoover Ave., and First St. (Legistar)

A2ELNEL Voting Chart

Ann Arbor City Council Voting Chart for September 19, 2022 Part 1
Ann Arbor City Council Voting Chart for September 19, 2022 Part 2
Ann Arbor City Council Voting Chart for September 19, 2022 Part 3

Ann Arbor City Planning Commission: September 7, 2022

This meeting was held in person at City Hall.

APPROVED: Recommendation that City Council approve:

Legistar and Video Links

Legistar: https://a2gov.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=954619&GUID=E3581283-57F7-4F33-8126-114A0FCC7F6D

YouTube: https://youtu.be/x-aE5Z7A2TA

CTN Video: https://ctnvideo.a2gov.org/CablecastPublicSite/show/7377

Meeting Length: 1h 56m

Ann Arbor City Council: September 6, 2022

This Ann Arbor City Council meeting was held in person at City Hall. Members of the public can participate in public hearings and public comment either in person or via phone.

Ann Arbor City Council Meeting Summary

APPROVED: A $458,797 professional services contract (plus $45,879 contingency) with 5 Lakes Energy, LLC to complete a feasibility study for a traditional municipal electric utility, other pathways, and next steps for initiation of a Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU). The Office of Sustainability & Innovation had already allocated $250,000 to this task, but an additional $208,797 was required for the contract. (Legistar)

POSTPONED: An ordinance to grant tenants a Right to Renew a lease, subject to specific exceptions (“just cause” for eviction). Landlords would adhere to a timeline for communicating terms of renewal (or explanation of non-renewal) consistent with the Early Leasing Ordinance: tenants will receive a good faith offer to renew (or notice of non-renewal with explanation) no later than 180 days before the end of the current lease period. A tenant will have thirty days (up to 150 days before the end of the current lease) to accept/reject terms of renewal. A landlord’s failure to comply will result in payment of relocation assistance to the tenant. (Legistar)

APPROVED: A grant application to the US Department of Transportation Safe Streets for All. This grant could result in $22,220,000 of investment over three years, with $5,520,000 (25%) local contribution. (Legistar)

  • The City’s grant application proposes these Transportation Safety Improvements:

    • Sidewalks
    • Accessible pedestrian signals
    • Crosswalk upgrades, including streetlights
    • Eisenhower Park path connector
    • Pedestrian signal performance measures
    • Bike parking
    • Protected bike lanes, bicycle boulevards, and other bike network safety improvements
    • Citywide speed reduction
    • Education campaign
    • Signal upgrades and near miss analytics
    • Traffic calming
    • Quick build projects
    • Micro-mobility enhancements
    • Program support and management
  • https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2022/09/22m-ann-arbor-proposal-calls-for-more-protected-bike-lanes-traffic-calming.html

APPROVED: A resolution expressing support for Michigan Senate Bill 58 and House Bill 4314, which would hold polluters accountable. These bills would require polluters to clean up contamination they cause to residential standards and restore affected aquifers to drinking water standards, unless meeting those standards would be technically infeasible. Council’s support for these bills would be communicated to any relevant party. (Legistar)

A2ELNEL Voting Chart

Ann Arbor City Council Voting Chart for September 6, 2022 Part 1
Ann Arbor City Council Voting Chart for September 6, 2022 Part 2

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My name is Elizabeth Nelson, and I believe that your local government should be accessible and transparent. Since 2018 , I have sent out a newsletter before every Council meeting with my summary of agenda items coming before City Council, plus news and events of interest to Ann Arbor residents.

After each Council meeting, I create and post voting charts so that you can easily see how Council voted, and update this website with meeting summaries that include links to the City’s Legistar website, CTN’s YouTube video, and articles published on MLive.