This meeting was held in person at City Hall.
Commissioner Abrons was absent
APPROVED: Site plan for 2900 South Main to build a 36,872 square foot, four story apartment building with 45 units. The 1.17 acre parcel is zoned O (Office), and is currently vacant. (Legistar)
- According to the staff report (link) “A Development Agreement is required for the voluntary parks contribution of $26,250 and the $60,024 Street Tree Recovery Fund payment. If the site plan is approved by the Planning Commission, the Development Agreement will need to proceed to City Council for approval.”
- https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2024/07/45-new-ann-arbor-apartments-coming-with-4-story-development-approved.html
- City Council approved the development agreement on September 3, 2024. https://a2council.com/ann-arbor-city-council-september-3-2024/
APPROVED: Four amendments to the Unified Development Code (UDC) related to Exceptions to Height Limits, Stormwater Reviews, Development Activity Approval, and Finished Grade Definition. (Legistar)
- The staff report (link) describes the proposed amendments.
- UDC Section 5.18.4 Exceptions to Height Limits would be amended “to allow elevator, escalator, stairwells, and overruns as exceptions to height limits in mixed-use, nonresidential and special purpose zoning districts”. The amendments allow up to 12 feet to be excluded, and “are the result of numerous requests and comments noting that strict application of height limits to elevator overruns and stairwell ‘doghouses’ require buildings to be almost a story shorter than expected given the maximum height limit.”
- UDC Section 5.22 Stormwater Management and Soil Erosion would be amended “to change the stormwater review responsibility of the Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner (WCWRC) to only sites in its jurisdiction and reorganize numbering and headings for improved navigation”. All sites not in the jurisdiction of WCRWC will be reviewed by the City of Ann Arbor, which may delegate review back to WCRWC. The amendment “aligns responsibility solely along geographical considerations rather than land use types of development circumstances. It is a cleaner approach and does not obligate any agency to operate outside of their jurisdiction while not preventing voluntary cooperation”.
- UDC Section 5.29.6 Table 5.29-1 would be amended “to change the required approval for interior construction to site plan approval not required”. This would remove the requirement for Planning Manager review of site plans for interior construction in buildings with 5 or 6 dwelling units, and would also eliminate the need for Planning Commission approval of site plans for interior construction in buildings with 7 or more dwelling units.
- UDC Section 5.37.2 would be amended “to revise the definition of Finished Grade to improve clarity and to revise the definition of Rules of the WCWRC with current references”. According to staff, “The change to measuring six feet from exterior walls of a structure from five feet is proposed for consistency with the formula to measuring building height in the Michigan Building Code.”
- City Council adopted these amendments at second reading on October 21, 2024. https://a2council.com/ann-arbor-city-council-october-21-2024/
APPROVED: Proposed changes to the UDC for Transit Corridor (TC-1) Additional Standards and Parking Structures will be sent to City Council for approval. (Legistar)
- According to the minutes, “Chair Lee recused himself due to his company’s involvement in the project”. According to LinkedIn, Wonwoo Lee is the Chief Real Estate Officer for Oxford Companies. At the July 18, 2023 meeting, Wonwoo Lee was elected Chair of the Planning Commission.
- According to the minutes, “Andy Andre, Oxford Companies, spoke to the proposed request”.
- These changes were proposed in a letter dated March 22, 2024 (link) from Midwestern Consulting “on behalf of our clients Crawford-Hoying, and Oxford Companies”.
- The Planning Commission Ordinance Revisions Committee reviewed these changes on April 23, 2024. (Legistar)
- The Planning Commission reviewed these changes in a working session on May 14, 2024. (Legistar)
- The staff report (link) describes the proposed amendments to UDC sections 5.17.7 and 5.16.3 as related to the Transit Corridor (TC-1) district.
- UDC Section 5.17.7 Table 5.17-8 (Transit Corridor Additional Standards) addressing Curb Cut Limits for TC-1 zoning would be removed, which allowed sites less than 250 feet wide to have one curb cut, and sites over 250 feet to have two curb cuts. After the amendment, TC-1 sites would follow Section 21.1 Curb Cuts and Driveway Approaches, which allows one curb cut for the first 100 feet of width, another curb cut for the second 100 feet of width, and additional curb cuts for each additional 600 feet of width. According to staff, “Although a comprehensive analysis was not performed, the proposed change will only significantly impact lots between 101 and 200 feet. The current standard for the TC1 district limits those lots to one curb cut. The normal standard provided in Section 5.21.1 allows those lots two curb cuts.”
- UDC Section 5.17.7 Table 5.17-8 (Transit Corridor Additional Standards) addressing Building Dimensions for TC-1 zoning would increase maximum allowable building width parallel to the street from 250 to 300 feet, and increase maximum allowable building diagonal dimension from 360 to 450 feet. According to staff, the changes “enables purpose-built structures such as parking structures to initially have the most efficient use of space and in the future better able to be reconfigured to different uses”. Additionally, staff noted that “A brief analysis of existing buildings downtown revealed a minor difference in the pedestrian experience between buildings around 250 feet in width and 300 feet in width. Both take about the same amount of time for a pedestrian to traverse, and the goal of this standard is to ensure that pedestrians can manageably navigate across and through a development to reach all destinations.”
- UDC Section 5.17.7 Table 5.17-8 (Transit Corridor Additional Standards) addressing Building Frontage would be removed. This required minimum building frontage of 70% of lot width, after allowing 30 feet between the building and side lot line normally, increasing to 45 feet when adjacent to a Residential Zoning District. According to staff, removal of this section “provides a great degree of flexibility to property owners to realize new development along established transit corridors. The 70% building frontage standard can result in distinct challenges between sites of varying sizes.”
- UDC Section 5.17.7 Table 5.17-8 (Transit Corridor Additional Standards) addressing Development Arrangement would be removed, which required sites of more than 62,500 square feet to be designed as two or more blocks. According to staff, “this standard is confusing”, and “Upon reflection, the development arrangement standard does not provide for any further design principle, standard or requirement not already addressed by other standards.”
- UDC Section 5.17.7 Table 5.17-8 (Transit Corridor Additional Standards) addressing Specific Building Types would be amended to remove standards based on building type, but “retaining and clearly articulating the standard for the first floor facing the street, and at least one wall of interior buildings, must have high quality building materials, must be at least 15 feet in height, and have 60% windows or glazing”
- UDC Section 5.16.3.L for Parking Structure would be amended to remove separate standards for TC-1, and merge into existing standards for D1 zoning. According to staff, these changes “will allow off-street parking use on the first floor of parking structures not adjacent to designated transit corridor streets. This is in keeping with the allowances for parking structures in the D1 district adjacent to secondary and front yard streets.”
- City Council adopted these amendments at second reading on October 7, 2024. https://a2council.com/ann-arbor-city-council-october-7-2024/
Legistar and Video Links
Legistar: https://a2gov.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1147110&GUID=5AE14D8A-53E3-4071-B5B4-AD6676108BA4
YouTube: https://youtu.be/bQ66f5A4j3I
CTN Video: https://ctnvideo.a2gov.org/CablecastPublicSite/show/9783
Meeting Length: 2h 1m