3. Zoning Barriers

While there would appear to be, on a statistical basis, a lot of room within the City of Ann Arbor’s existing zoning caps for more residential development, on a practical basis this is simply not true. Many areas are restricted from additional development by the presence of existing occupied structures that use their sites poorly, others by historic designations and special rules that apply to redevelopment there, and still more by zoning restrictions that allow the full use of their zoning capacity only for commercial development. Examples of these restrictions include:

· Zoning designations, such as C2B and C2BR that provide full use of their zoning capacity, on a floor area ( FAR ) ratio basis, only for commercial structures, and flip back to much more restrictive zoning for residential use. Note that these districts also encourage suburban style development such as car washes and drive through businesses, and require deep setbacks and other suburban features, and are substantially out of compliance with the City’s approved land use plans, the Downtown Plan and the Central Area Plan.

· Very restrictive FARs, and no residential premiums in some areas such as the South University corridor ( designated C1A and C1A/R ) that are otherwise ripe for more residential development, that prohibit additional development there.

· Historic Districts, while meeting certain community goals, have substantial unused, and virtually unusable zoning capacity cover a substantial portion of downtown.

· Too many small zoning districts, with too many small sites, complicating developer’s use of land, and the analysis of projects by City staff.

Recognizing these existing conditions, and also recognizing that there are few vacant sites on which to develop the projects necessary to reach the goals set forth by the Taskforce, it becomes clear that permitting denser, taller projects on the available sites, and otherwise simplifying the zoning code to allow the redevelopment of other sites will be necessary.

Strategy to Address This:

Recognize that restrictive zonings prevent the redevelopment of small sites, and typically require that larger sites enter the Planned Urban Development ( PUD ) process for approval, a process that is time consuming, costly, and has met with mixed results in terms of achieving quality projects. The Zoning Code must be modified to allow more flexibility in development throughout downtown, and to end the favoritism of commercial over residential development wherever possible.

Recommendations to Reduce Zoning Barriers:

1. Current Zoning Districts within the DDA should be modified to accommodate additional residential development. With the general caveat that existing historic districts should retain their existing zoning designations, the Taskforce is recommending some change, and in many cases significant change to almost every existing zoning district within the near downtown area.

o C2A our “main street” business zoning, would remain as is in historic districts only ( See new C2T districts referenced below for other areas ), except that residential premiums would be available for additional FAR without having residential use in the “by right” ( non-premium ) FAR.

o C2A/R This district would receive the same premium revision treatment as C2A

o C2B our “suburban” business zoning, would disappear to be replaced in all cases with the newly modified C2A designation.

o C2B/R would disappear, to be replaced by C2A/R

o C1A our “campus” business zoning, would disappear to be replaced in all cases with the newly modified C2A designation.

o C1A/R would disappear, to be replaced by C2A/R

o R2A our two family dwelling district, would remain as is. R4C, our multiple family dwelling district would remain as is

o M1 and M1A our “industrial district would be reviewed for any possible changes to use, setback, or other requirements.

o Accessory dwelling units would be allowed within the DDA district and an area roughly ¼ mile outside the DDA district, except to the southeast where the boundary would 1/8 mile outside the DDA district.

In addition to the above referenced modifications to the existing zoning districts, the Downtown Housing Taskforce recommends the introduction of two additional zoning districts, to be designated C2T1 and C2T2, that would overlay the bulk of the downtown area, ending on the north ½ block north of Huron Street, on the south ½ block south of William, on the east at Thayer, and to the west at First Street:

o C2T1 would run along Huron Street, and would allow for the introduction of buildings of up to 12 stories in height on the north side, and 8 stories on the south

o C2T2 would encompass the remaining area within the four referenced boundaries ( excluding the historic districts as outlined above ) and would allow for the introduction of buildings of up to 8 stories in height.

These two “overlay” zonings would be subject to a set of basic urban design standards and a transfer of development rights procedure to encourage the buildings to meet various community goals and discourage overly dense concentration of tall buildings in any one corridor. Urban design guidelines might include such provisions as:

§ Uniform eave heights before a required setback

§ Specific distances between tall buildings ( or the tall portion of buildings )

§ Setback at grade along certain corridors

§ Building entrances facing the street, and multiple entrances in larger buildings

§ Building transparency at the first floor

o PL our “public land” designation would be eligible, if released from public ownership, to be converted to C2T1 if in the overlay area east of Main Street, to C2T2 if in the Overlay area west of Main Street, and to the designation of the district in which it falls if outside the overlay area.

o P our “parking” designation would be eligible, if released from public ownership, to be converted to C2T1 if in the overlay area east of Main Street, to C2T2 if in the Overlay area west of Main Street, and to the designation of the district in which it falls if outside the overlay area.

2. The Downtown Housing Taskforce propses that the Downtown Development Authority ( DDA ) fund a City of Ann Arbor planning position for the next twelve months following the presentation of these recommendations to review and modify the zoning code of the City of Ann Arbor to reflect these recommendations.