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Ann Arbor DDA outlines new downtown plan, proposes maintenance service team, retractable bollards and boundary review
Summary
The Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority told City Council it is drafting a new development plan to replace a 2003 plan, proposing a contracted downtown service team, evaluating retractable bollards for street closures, and examining whether to expand its 67‑block boundary. No council action was requested.
Miss Thompson, executive director of the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority, presented the DDA's work to City Council on Jan. 21, describing a new development plan that staff expect to complete for council consideration in August 2025.
"We are a component unit of the city," Miss Thompson said, and she told the council the DDA focuses on a 67‑block downtown area and funds its work with tax increment financing (TIF). She said the authority currently directs "approximately 90% of our TIF revenue" to capital projects and maintenance.
The nut of the presentation: the DDA is updating a plan established in 2003 to reflect new city goals, align with a 2018 state statute update, and respond to several recent planning studies including the city's comprehensive plan, a circulation study and a geothermal study. The DDA described three priorities it plans to emphasize in the new plan: expanding maintenance and service, investing in infrastructure to support safer and more efficient street closures, and reviewing the DDA boundary to see whether adjacent areas should be eligible for DDA investment.
On maintenance and service, Miss Thompson proposed a contracted downtown service team modeled after parking‑structure management. She said the team would perform sidewalk and curb cleaning, weeding, trash pickup, graffiti and handbill removal (limited to out‑of‑date materials), deep cleaning of tree pits, snow removal and ice‑melt application at ADA ramps and bus stops, bench and bike hoop repairs, power washing, seasonal lighting installation, supplemental trash pickup for high visitor events, and reporting infrastructure problems to the appropriate city department. Miss Thompson emphasized the DDA sees the effort as service and maintenance rather than a "greeter" or enforcement role: "We envision this program really focused on service and maintenance," she said.
On street closures, DDA staff have evaluated barricade options and presented a menu that includes retractable bollard systems used in other Michigan downtowns. Miss Thompson showed an example from Northville and said their staff reported the bollards have been easy to operate in winter. She said deployment would likely be handled by the proposed downtown service team and that not every intersection could accommodate the system.
Finally, the DDA said it will evaluate whether to expand its 67‑block boundary, noting other DDAs have expanded repeatedly over decades. Miss Thompson said the boundary review would ask whether adjacent areas need the type of investment the DDA provides.
No formal council vote or direction on the DDA plan was recorded at the meeting; the presentation was an informational briefing. Miss Thompson closed by noting the DDA's temporary Elevate public art installation at Liberty Plaza will remain through mid‑March.
Ending: The DDA presentation set a public timeline rather than immediate policy change: staff expect to bring a completed plan to council in August 2025 after continuing statutory public processes and coordination with other city planning efforts.
