{"id":800,"date":"2025-04-09T18:47:53","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T18:47:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/04\/09\/ann-arbor-city-council-discusses-brownfield-project-and-land-plan\/"},"modified":"2025-04-09T18:47:56","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T18:47:56","slug":"ann-arbor-city-council-discusses-brownfield-project-and-land-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/04\/09\/ann-arbor-city-council-discusses-brownfield-project-and-land-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Ann Arbor City Council discusses brownfield project and land plan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Ann Arbor City Council met in Larcom City Hall Monday evening to discuss progress on negotiations for the city to participate in the new<a href=\"https:\/\/a2gov.legistar.com\/View.ashx?M=F&amp;ID=13924290&amp;GUID=D9B7EACA-B170-4E90-97D5-67762309B0AB\"> Arbor South project<\/a>, specifically regarding the construction of parking structures in the southern area of Ann Arbor. City Councilmembers also approved the realignment of city operations with<a href=\"https:\/\/www.a2gov.org\/engineering\/ann-arbor-moving-together-towards-vision-zero\/\"> Vision Zero<\/a>, a goal to eliminate all traffic casualties in 2025, and approved further progress on the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.a2gov.org\/planning\/comprehensive-plan\/\"> Comprehensive Land Use Plan<\/a>, which would reform guidelines around construction of new homes from single family to low-density residential.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Maura Thomson, executive director of the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.a2dda.org\/\"> Downtown Development Authority<\/a>, provided the council with a brief overview of the new development plan the authority will propose at the next City Council meeting. The plan features updates to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigan.gov\/egle\/about\/organization\/remediation-and-redevelopment\/brownfields\/act-381-tax-increment-financing\">Tax Increment Financing<\/a> capture, which finances long-term infrastructure projects in Ann Arbor, and an expansion of the DDA\u2019s jurisdiction.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With the new TIF capture, Thomson said DDA would receive 70% of tax revenue allocated for infrastructure development and 30% of revenue allocated for taxing units. Thomson clarified that even if expansion of the DDA\u2019s boundaries occurred, more citizens would not necessarily be taxed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShould our TIF cap be adjusted, it would allow us to expand the work that we do,\u201d Thomson said. \u201cSpecifically, it would allow us to establish a downtown service team. We could fund more projects. We could fund larger scale projects and basically maintain areas within our boundary to a higher degree.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>During public speaking time, participants communicated their perspectives on<a href=\"https:\/\/a2gov.legistar.com\/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7288863&amp;GUID=40570100-7954-459F-975A-BD7584B00DA6&amp;Options=&amp;Search=\"> Resolution DC-3<\/a>, which aligns city operations with Vision Zero, and<a href=\"https:\/\/a2gov.legistar.com\/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7291194&amp;GUID=FCC5827B-1596-49AA-912B-BBCA51EE07D9&amp;Options=&amp;Search=\"> Resolution DC-5<\/a>, which provided further opportunity for the council to discuss public feedback and councilmembers\u2019 opinions about the implications of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If put into effect, the Comprehensive Land Use plan could end<a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/business\/ann-arbors-new-comprehensive-plan-could-end-single-family-zoning\/\"> single-family zoning<\/a> in Ann Arbor and update zoning laws to accommodate low-rise residential buildings, increasing the concentration of homes and businesses in certain areas. The city is currently in the drafting stages of the plan. Speaking on Resolution DC-5, Ann Arbor resident Mary Henderson said she was opposed to the elimination of single-family zoning and did not believe the plan would be helpful in achieving the city\u2019s<a href=\"https:\/\/www.a2gov.org\/sustainability-innovations-home\/carbon-neutrality-home\/\"> A2Zero<\/a> sustainability goals or creating more affordable housing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLower housing costs are not the intent of the Comprehensive Plan,\u201d Henderson said. \u201cAnn Arbor planning staff has acknowledged this, that the proposal will not create affordable housing or lower housing costs, and that\u2019s borne out by what has happened in other cities that have up-zoned. So this will not create housing opportunities for lower- and middle-income families.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ann Arbor resident Brian Chambers spoke in favor of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan and said the first step toward affordable housing is supplying more housing units in the first place.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut here\u2019s the reality: when we limit new housing, prices go up across the board, including for existing homes,\u201d Chambers said. \u201cThe only way to stabilize prices and open up more options is to allow more housing types in more places.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>City Council then discussed the Arbor South project, which, if approved, would be the city\u2019s largest brownfield investment project.<a href=\"https:\/\/oxfordcompanies.com\/\"> Oxford Companies<\/a>, the developer in charge of the project, requested that the city financially support the construction of<a href=\"https:\/\/a2gov.legistar.com\/View.ashx?M=F&amp;ID=13924288&amp;GUID=6F15DD75-F479-4A99-813B-833F82281E8B\"> parking structures<\/a> as part of the development project.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Councilmember Dharma Akmon, D-Ward 4, expressed concern that the creation of new parking structures would inhibit the progress the city has already made towards A2Zero\u2019s goals.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBuild all the garages you want on your own,\u201d Akmon said. \u201cI\u2019m fine with that up to a limit. But to me, this is taking tax generation that we would be having built on top of what we have now, ideally to expand TheRide, improve walkability and make biking safer.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Councilmember Chris Watson, D-Ward 2, said although there may be risks associated with the project, he feels it is necessary to continue negotiations in order to expand affordable housing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis project, in every public part \u2026 is susceptible to risk,\u201d Watson said. \u201cEven so, at this time, I feel it is appropriate to authorize the administrator to continue negotiations. I feel that when faced with the opportunity to create 200 affordable housing units and 1,000 total units of housing in a high priority TC-1 area in a project that has been analyzed by external consultants, the city should continue to pursue it until we have all the details necessary for a final decision.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-3    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>City Council also approved Resolution D-3. However, Councilmember Travis Radina, D-Ward 3, said achieving the Vision Zero goal will require greater support and investment from the state government.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that one of the other things that I think we\u2019re going to continue to struggle with around this particular goal is that we need support from the region and from the state in order to truly accomplish this,\u201d Radina said. \u201cIt\u2019s not something we\u2019re going to be able to accomplish as a city alone. We don\u2019t have effective regional transit. We don\u2019t have enough investment from the state in alternatives that would allow for people to give up their vehicles.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Councilmember Jen Eyer, D-Ward 4, spoke about further opportunities for the public to engage with city staff about their perspectives on the Comprehensive Land Use Plan.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThousands of residents have participated so far, and what we\u2019ve heard so far, shows support for allowing up to fourplexes in single-family neighborhoods as part of a broader strategy to open up more housing,\u201d Eyer said. \u201cBut the engagement is far from over. Once the draft plan is finalized \u2026 there will be many more chances to weigh in before anything is adopted.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Mayor Christopher Taylor said the intention behind the Comprehensive Land Use Plan is to make Ann Arbor more accessible, but recognized the need for a balance between old and new Ann Arbor infrastructure.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-4    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cOur goal, during the entirety of our process, is to find a balance honoring the place that we love today, which is evolving into a city that works for everyone,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cAs we know at this table and as many in the public, I hope, are learning, the Comprehensive Use Plan is extremely different from zoning. It is a policy statement of general principles and goals and guides the zoning rules and regulations. \u2026 The Comprehensive Use Plan does not engage the specific context of each neighborhood. Zoning does.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>Daily Staff Reporter Claudia Minetti can be reached at cminetti@umich.edu.<\/em><\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ann Arbor City Council met in Larcom City Hall Monday evening to discuss progress on negotiations for the city to participate in the new Arbor South project, specifically regarding the construction of parking structures in the southern area of Ann Arbor. City Councilmembers also approved the realignment of city operations with Vision Zero, a goal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":801,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[242,243,855,287,288,854,250,251,856],"class_list":["post-800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-ann","tag-brownfield","tag-city","tag-council","tag-discusses","tag-land","tag-plan","tag-project"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=800"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/800\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":802,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/800\/revisions\/802"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}