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.
CM Song was absent
CM Ghazi Edwin attended virtually
A2Council Update Video
Ann Arbor City Council Meeting Summary
In a procedural first, Ward 3 Council Member In Ayesha Ghazi Edwin attended this week’s Council meeting virtually. In February 2022, Attorney General Dana Nessel issued new policy, allowing elected leaders to attend in-person meetings virtually as an extension of rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
- You can read a summary of that policy here: https://mml.org/inside208/2022/02/10/michigan-atttorney-general-issues-new-opinion-regarding-virtual-public-meetings/
- Detailed explanation from the AG office: https://www.ag.state.mi.us/opinion/datafiles/2020s/op10397.htm
APPROVED: Amendments to the ordinance regulating gas powered leaf blowers will add permissible uses: “to prepare or conduct a lawful controlled or prescribed burn for ecological maintenance or ecological restoration” and “when necessary to maintain public facilities”. (Legistar)
- The original ordinance regulating gas power leaf blowers was approved in December 2023. https://a2council.com/ann-arbor-city-council-december-18-2023/
- https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2024/09/ann-arbor-carving-out-new-exception-to-gas-leaf-blower-ban.html
- https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2024/09/gas-leaf-blower-ban-changes-get-8-2-final-ok-in-ann-arbor.html
APPROVED (First Reading): A parcel of 0.51 acres at 444 Huntington Place, recently annexed into the City, will be zoned R1B (Single-family district). The parcel’s current use is consistent with the adjacent zoning, land uses and comprehensive plan. (Legistar)
- Planning approved the annexation and rezoning of this parcel on April 16, 2024: https://a2council.com/ann-arbor-city-planning-commission-april-16-2024/
APPROVED (First Reading): A parcel of 0.05 acres at 110 Algebe Way, recently annexed into the City, will be zoned R1B (Single-family district). The parcel’s current use is consistent with the adjacent zoning, land uses and comprehensive plan. (Legistar)
- Planning approved the annexation and rezoning of this parcel on April 16, 2024: https://a2council.com/ann-arbor-city-planning-commission-april-16-2024/
- According to the Planning staff report (link) this parcel became orphaned when US-23 was built. The property owner intends to combine this parcel with an adjacent 36 acre site for a proposed “South Pond Village” development.
APPROVED (First Reading): Amendments to the Home Energy Rating Disclosure (HERD) ordinance. (Legistar)
- Amendments will clarify that:
- An energy rating must be posted continuously in a publicly accessible real estate listing for as long as the property is on the market for sale
- A report must align with templates from the federal Department of Energy (DOE)
- A report will include recommendations for improvement in CO2 emission reductions
- The HERD ordinance may be enforced by staff other than Building and Rental Services Unit Employees or Development Services Inspectors.
- The HERD ordinance was originally approved in September 2023 (https://a2council.com/ann-arbor-city-council-september-5-2023/) requiring home sellers to provide a Home Energy Score Report completed by a Home Energy Assessor (certified by the US Department of Energy).These reports estimate annual and monthly energy use and cost by fuel type, as well as comparative Home energy scores for similar dwellings. These seller disclosure requirements may be waived at the “sole discretion” of the Director of the Sustainability and Innovations department (Dr. Missy Stults).
- HERD requirements do not apply to multi-story/multi-family housing, accessory dwelling units, mobile homes, or commercial buildings. This week’s amendments rephrase terms emphasizing that they do not apply to a single unit for sale within a vertically-stacked multi-family structure.
POSTPONED: Amendments to the City’s nondiscrimination ordinance will add a requirement that employers in any business – e.g. manufacturing, retail, store, department store, laundry, hotel, restaurant, fast food and drive thru establishments, hairdressers, barbers, and estheticians – make seating available to employees where sitting would not interfere with the duties of employment. This must be provided regardless of any employee disability. The employer must demonstrate seating would actually interfere with the duties of employment. (Legistar)
- This item was postponed to the October 7, 2024 Council Meeting
- This addition to the City’s nondiscrimination ordinance is related to terms from the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). As an accommodation for people living with disabilities, the ADA would grant employees the right to sit. Asserting such a right under the ADA, an employee would request the accommodation with evidence of disability. The proposed changes would reverse that negotiation: an employer would have to demonstrate standing as a job requirement, rather than the employee demonstrating a personal need to sit.
- Last year, the Guardian wrote about the “right to sit” and inequities between jobs where sitting is permitted and where it is not: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/28/sitting-at-work-employees-rest-worker-rights
- The amendments proposed this week are consistent with reform happening elsewhere. E.g. The state of New York is in the process of approving similar legislation: “Sitting is Tiring” (SIT) Act in New York State: https://www.billtrack50.com/billdetail/1608352
- https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2024/09/ann-arbor-standing-up-for-the-right-to-sit-down-at-work.html
POSTPONED: By resolution, City Council would assert spending priorities for millage rebate funds that will be received if a Washtenaw County millage is approved. This refers to the extension of a County-wide millage from 2017 to fund mental health services and the County Sheriff’s department. The terms of the millage include a ‘rebate’ for those communities (including Ann Arbor) that maintain their own police forces. The Millage rebate funds will enter the City’s general fund untethered as to purpose. (Legistar)
- This item was postponed to the October 7, 2024 Council Meeting
- City Council would approve the following spending priorities for the 2024 County millage rebate:
- 40% to unarmed response
- 40% for supportive housing services through the Ann Arbor Housing Commission
- 20% for bicycle and pedestrian safety
- Seven years ago, in anticipation of the original County millage, Council approved a similar resolution directing priorities for the rebate. In 2017, Council approved the following priorities to spend the County millage rebate:
- 40% toward construction, renovation, and capital improvements of affordable housing assets
- 40% to effect the goals of Ann Arbor’s Climate Action Plan
- 20% to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety
- A significant number of voters were completely unaware of that resolution; for these voters, the ballot offered no indication that allocations were “promised” or that any of the funds were committed to goals other than community mental health or public safety. Alternatively, local environmental nonprofits were well aware of the 2017 resolution and helped promote the County millage among their members, relying on the promise of funding. After approval of the millage, advocates for mental health services challenged allocations that strayed so far from the language that voters saw on the ballot.
- Ann Arbor was the only municipality to anticipate this County millage rebate with a resolution directing future allocations. In the other six municipalities that received this rebate, elected leaders recognized that the funds were entering local budgets untethered as to purpose, and allocation decisions would have to happen in the context of a regular budget process, among the leaders in office during that process.
- I wrote about it at the time: A2ELNEL: Additional Thoughts (Mar 3, 2019) – Mental Health Millage Rebate
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