Planning commission backs John Street vacation for U-M, approves stormwater and solid-waste UDC edits

The Ann Arbor Planning Commission voted unanimously March 3 to recommend that city council approve a street vacation for John Street and to approve two Unified Development Code amendments: one clarifying when stormwater management review is delegated to the Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner and another updating solid-waste terminology and screening standards to match Chapter 26 revisions.

University of Michigan government-relations staff (name not provided in the record) said vacating the one-block John Street (between South 5th Avenue and South Division Street) is intended to facilitate phase 2 of the Wolverine Village project; phase 1 is expected to be complete in August and the university hopes to break ground on phase 2 soon, pending required city approvals. Planner DeLeo told commissioners that although public sanitary, water and storm mains are located in the right-of-way, ownership of those mains would transfer to the university upon vacation and the street is considered vacated when the council records the resolution.

Commissioner Mills asked who receives land when a street is vacated and whether the city had purchased the right-of-way previously. Planner DeLeo explained the street-vacation process under the Plat Act and that, when both sides of a street come from the same plat, the right-of-way typically is split down the middle and apportioned to adjacent lots; she said the city did not purchase this particular right-of-way and described the statutory plat procedure.

Commissioner Wetherbee, who said she lives in the area, raised concerns that the proposed vacation could create a larger, less-permeable block for pedestrians. The university representative said internal walkways and planned external routes (including a proposed Wolverine Way along the railroad) would provide pedestrian access and that the design intends to allow nonstudents to pass through the site.

The commission then considered two UDC amendments. Planner DeLeo described proposed edits to section 5.22 to clarify circumstances when stormwater management review is delegated to the Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner; staff said the amendments rephrase existing responsibilities into a clearer list without changing substantive review allocations. The commission also reviewed amendments across sections 5.18, 5.20, 5.29 and 5.37 to replace legacy terms (for example, changing "dumpster" to "solid waste container"), to add the term "curb carts" for single- and two-family parcels, and to clarify that screening and buffering apply to points of storage visible from public vantage points.

With no public speakers for those items, the commission moved each recommendation by roll call vote and recorded unanimous support. Manager Kelly will forward the commission’s recommendations to city council for consideration.