Ann Arbor OKs high-density zoning for transit corridors, but not without drama

West Stadium Boulevard

Strip malls along West Stadium Boulevard in Ann Arbor on July 1, 2021. City Council is moving forward with plans to allow downtown-style development along major transit corridors outside of downtown under a new TC1 zoning ordinance.Ryan Stanton | The Ann Arbor News

ANN ARBOR, MI — Ann Arbor’s future tallest building could rise somewhere outside of downtown under new high-density zoning approved for the city’s major transit corridors.

After much debate and amid allegations some council members are doing favors for campaign donors, City Council voted 8-3 to approve the new TC1 zoning Tuesday night, July 6.

“I’m delighted that this is going to be moving forward,” Mayor Christopher Taylor said. “We have for years now been talking about transit corridor development.”

City officials hope the zoning changes lead to more affordably priced housing and more sustainable forms of development, allowing more people to live within the city and without cars, though some council members have concerns.

The three who voted against the TC1 zoning were Kathy Griswold, Jeff Hayner and Ali Ramlawi.

They argued the new ordinance lacks incentives to help achieve affordability and sustainability goals and suggested it’s a giveaway for developers and land owners.

Griswold, D-2nd Ward, called it “an excellent return on investment for the wealthy land owners who donated to previous campaigns — let’s call it what it is.”

Other council members objected to the notion that their votes were being bought.

“That’s inappropriate at this table,” said Council Member Julie Grand, D-3rd Ward. “I’m not for sale and my colleagues are not for sale. ... These kinds of conspiracy theories and accusations don’t belong here and I hope that we can do better.”

Council Member Elizabeth Nelson, D-4th Ward, supported the ordinance, saying transit often follows density and on some corridors like State Street it makes a lot of sense.

“But we will see facts on the ground in terms of who profits from this policy and that will not be conspiracy theory — those will just be facts,” Nelson said. “And so I will encourage everyone to pay attention to that.”

Council Member Jen Eyer, D-4th Ward, called the discussion disappointing.

“For the second time in the short time that I’ve been on council, a policy discussion has devolved into accusations of bribery essentially — of buying votes — and it needs to stop,” she said. “We can discuss policy and have disagreements about policy without attacking each other, without spinning crazy theories.”

Hayner, D-1st Ward, called attention last year to campaign donations by Oxford Companies CEO Jeff Hauptman, who has given several thousand dollars to the mayor and his allies over the years. Oxford controls many properties in Ann Arbor and Hayner raised the issue as council voted 8-3 in December to appoint Oxford real estate professional Wonwoo Lee to the Planning Commission, suggesting it could present a conflict of interest given the initiative to upzone transit corridors.

Lee said in his application last year he would recuse himself from voting on any matters proposed by Oxford and any discussions about the transit corridor zoning, which he acknowledged may directly benefit Oxford. He has since recused himself from discussions and votes.

The ordinance changes now OK’d by council after going through Planning Commission establish a new TC1 zoning designation with no floor-area ratio limits on building size, though there is a height limit of 55 feet if within 80 feet of a residential zone, 75 feet if within 300 feet of a residential zone, 120 feet if within 1,000 feet of a residential zone and 300 feet if more than 1,000 feet from a residential zone. Buildings in TC1 zones must be at least two stories tall, per the ordinance.

Some transit corridors where it could be applied include South State Street, Eisenhower Parkway, Washtenaw Avenue, West Stadium Boulevard, Maple Road and Plymouth Road.

There are no pending TC1 development proposals yet, but developers now can seek City Council approval to rezone sites to TC1, which can replace several types of office/commercial and other zoning designations. The city’s Planning Commission also plans to embark on a project to proactively rezone specific areas to TC1, starting with State/Eisenhower.

Brett Lenart, the city’s planning manager, translated the height limits into approximate building stories, noting they could allow buildings ranging from about four stories at 55 feet to about 29 stories at 300 feet, which would be three stories taller than the city’s current tallest building: the 26-story Tower Plaza at William and Maynard streets downtown.

Tower Plaza was built in the 1960s before the city put in place additional restrictions on high-rise developments. Today, new buildings downtown are generally limited to 60 to 180 feet, depending on the area, and with some exceptions.

50 years later, 26-story Tower Plaza still Ann Arbor’s tallest building

Ramlawi, D-5th Ward, said he’s in favor of more density along transit corridors, but the TC1 ordinance is “half baked.”

“We have no specific requirements for sustainability measures or affordable units to be incorporated in this zoning district,” he said. “We’re falling short, big time.”

The Planning Commission decided against having regulations asking developers to provide affordable housing or sustainable features in exchange for additional building height out of concern that it would make development prohibitively expensive and result in no development, said Lisa Disch, D-1st Ward, City Council’s liaison to the Planning Commission.

Hayner, D-1st Ward, pushed back on that, saying money can be made by developers anywhere in Ann Arbor.

“And if we’re going to scare away the type development that isn’t interested in providing affordability or sustainability or any of our other city goals, good — we don’t want that type of development,” he said. “We want the type of development that we want to forward our goals.”

Hayner argued the city should be incentivizing the types of buildings it wants to have standing in 2030. The city has a 2030 carbon-neutrality goal that envisions fully electric buildings powered by 100% renewable energy.

“Don’t just let people build excessive embodied carbon, expand our heat-island effect, kick the stormwater management crisis down the road,” he said.

Hayner proposed sending the TC1 ordinance back to the Planning Commission, but the idea lacked support.

In a 10-1 vote, council also shot down Hayner’s idea of striking the two-story minimum height requirement.

Ramlawi expressed doubts the free market will provide affordable housing and sustainability features without density-bonus development incentives in the ordinance.

Rather than just ask city taxpayers to pay higher taxes for affordable housing and climate action, Ramlawi argued the city should be doing more to get private developers to contribute and he considered this a missed opportunity.

“We’re not putting in the assurances that would get us to our goals,” he said, calling it a travesty. “This is a giveaway without the assurances put in place to get the public benefits.”

Tens of thousands of people are commuting into Ann Arbor for work and there’s a housing crisis and climate crisis that’s going to take a compilation of policies to address, said Council Member Erica Briggs, D-5th Ward.

“We can block everything because it’s not perfect, but that’s just being obstructionist,” she said.

The type of development that would be allowed under the TC1 ordinance would be sustainable, would have the opportunity to reduce vehicle miles traveled by residents and reduce costs of development, Lenart said.

The TC1 zoning eliminates minimum automobile parking requirements and instead establishes maximum parking levels, and requires mixed-use development such as ground-floor commercial spaces with housing above if developments are within 100 feet of a public intersection.

Council Member Julie Grand, D-3rd Ward, said she trusts Lenart that the TC1 ordinance is in line with the city’s sustainability and affordability goals.

“He’s the expert here,” she said, calling it excellent work by city planning officials.

“We could pick at it and make it so hard to build anything that nothing would get built, but that’s not my goal.”

The TC1 zoning is a response to a housing crisis and a climate crisis, Disch said.

The city has travel corridors that have frequent bus service now and that can accommodate additional buses as needed, she said. When more Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority services are restored Aug. 29, buses will run every 10-15 minutes along all the possible TC1 corridors, except for Maple Road north of Stadium and on Plymouth Road from Green to Nixon, where they run only twice per hour, Disch said.

Affordability and sustainability will be served by adding a large amount of new housing in parts of the city where rental rates are lower than downtown and where people can use the bus to get to work without a car, Disch said.

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