Title
An Ordinance to Amend Sections 5.28.2, 5.28.3, 5.29.4, 5.29.6, 5.29.7 and 5.29.11 of Chapter 55 (Unified Development Code) of Title V of the Code of the City of Ann Arbor (Public Notices and Hearings) CPC Recommendation: Approval (7 Yes, 0 No)
Memorandum
In April of 2024, City Council enacted R-24-109 Resolution to Direct the City Administrator to Implement New Processes and Programs for Housing Development at all Income Levels to Support Housing Affordability. One of the specific directions of R-24-109 was the "elimination of the Public Hearing requirement for site plans at the Planning Commission, however Planning Commission meetings should be restructured to allow public comment for each site plan that appears on the agenda."
Draft changes were discussed by the Planning Commission at its September 10, 2024 working session. Proposed amendments were reviewed and recommended for approval by the Planning Commission following a public hearing on March 18, 2025. The proposed amendments are in the attached ordinance and do all of the following:
Public Notices
* Improve consistency of language and requirements for published, mailed, and posted notices of public hearings and published notices of amendments.
* Clarify timing of posted notices and change emphasis from specific applications to public hearings.
* Remove requirement for public display of plans.
Public Hearings
* Simplify general requirements of public hearings by removing specific examples while retaining the requirement for public hearings to be held as provided by the procedures of the chapter.
* Simplifying and clarifying notice requirements when public hearings are continued, delayed or substantially revised, and extending these to all bodies holding public hearings.
* Wetland use permit applications, site plans, area plans, PUD site plans
* Remove public hearing requirements for these applications alone (public hearings are still required if reviewed in conjunction with another type o...
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