A2 City Council Meeting: 12/21/2020
Below you’ll find a quick overview of meeting highlights. Meeting highlights are agenda items that generated substantive discussion. All items not listed below, but on the attached agenda, were approved unanimously. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have questions on any of the actions that were taken.
Meeting highlights:
Consent Agenda:
Approved hiring outside legal counsel to assist with water rates litigation (CA-13): Following a closed legal session, Council approved a staff request to hire the firm Rosati, Schultz, Joppich, & Amtsbuechler P.C. to assist the City with the Hahn litigation concerning water rates. This firm has successfully defended similar cases. Ann Arbor, along with approximately 30 other Michigan communities, is the target of a lawsuit regarding how water/stormwater funds can be used. Approved unanimously.
Postponed change to how poverty exemptions are calculated (CA-11): Council postponed a resolution which would have set the income level necessary to apply for a poverty exemptions from taxes on an individual’s principal residence to allow for a review by the Housing and Human Services Advisory Board in January. Postponed until the 2nd meeting in January.
Ordinance Changes: Per the City Charter, ordinance changes require two “readings” which essentially means the written ordinance change will appear twice before City Council. Ordinance changes that move past the first reading, will be voted on at second reading.
Passed 1st reading:
Proposal for a New Independent Senior Living Housing Facility (C-3): A proposal to rezone 2195 East Ellsworth, 7.92 acre vacant site, from R1C (Single-Family Residential District) to PUD (Planned Unit Development), and to construct a three-story, senior living facility (Lockwood).The site plan proposes 154 independent senior apartments. PUDs require substantial community benefit to justify zoning changes, the primary benefit for this project is the addition of new units of affordable senior housing--65 units are proposed to be affordable made up of 37 one bedroom and 28 two-bedroom units. A proposal from Lockwood to building a senior living facility facility along Jackson Road was rejected in March of 2019. This proposal on E. Ellsworth has also generated concerns from nearby neighbors due to the size and change in zoning. I anticipate substantial discussion of this proposal at second reading. Passed 10-0, CM Hayner recused himself.
Passed 2nd reading:
Council approved a water rate Increase (C-2): Council authorized a 7% increase in water rates starting January 1st and a 6.5% increase effective July 1, 2021. For the average customer, the rate increases represent an estimated $4.61 increase from current rates in their quarterly bill from January 1, 2021 to June 30, 2021 (a total estimated increase of $9.22). For customers’ bills starting in July 1, 2021, the rate increase represents a bill increase from current rates of $9.21 per quarter ($36.84 for July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022). CM Ramlawi proposed an amendment to decouple these rate increases and consider the July increase in the spring of 2021. This amendment didn’t gain support. Although I know budgets are tight and sincerely wish it were possible to postpone a rate increase, the previous Council deferred two rate increases last year knowing that it would result in a more substantial increase in 2021. I believe it would be fiscally irresponsible to do so again. One of the most important responsibilities of Council is to maintain our infrastructure and budget appropriately for future expenses. Ensuring the safety and reliability of our water supply now and in the future is essential. Find out more about how Ann Arbor’s water rates and how they’re set here. Approved 7-4 with CM Nelson, Griswold, Hayner, and Ramlawi dissenting.
New Business:
Short-term Rentals in Residential Neighborhoods (DC-1): In September, Council passed an ordinance to regulate short-term rentals (e.g. Airbnbs). Included in these new regulations was a ban on non-owner occupied short-term rentals in residentially zoned neighborhoods. Everyone on Council agrees that we must regulate and license short-term rentals. However, there is disagreement about how to treat legally operating short-term rentals. I, like the majority of my colleagues, believe our ordinances must be legally sound. Short-term rentals were legally operating rentals in our residential neighborhoods. We cannot ban legal operations. This resolution asks the City Administrator and Planning Commission to create the appropriate regulatory structure to enable the continued operation of preexisting short term rentals. Approved 7-4 with CM Hayner, Griswold, Nelson, and Ramlawi dissenting.