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Planning commission recommends returning wedge of South University to University of Michigan
Summary
The Ann Arbor Planning Commission voted to recommend the City Council approve a street vacation that would return a 26.5-foot wedge of the South University right-of-way to the University of Michigan, a correction to 1844 plat records discovered during 2020 street work; commissioners and the university said the area functions as lawn and no new development is planned.
The Ann Arbor City Planning Commission on March 17 recommended that City Council approve a petition to vacate the northern 26.5-foot wedge of the South University right-of-way and return the land to the University of Michigan.
Planner Burger told the commission the parcel dates to an 1844 plat and was discovered during street reconstruction work in 2020. "Staff are recommending approval," she said, explaining that the wedge is already used as part of the Diag landscape and is not needed for street functionality.
Mike, the universitydirector of community relations, described the request as a title cleanup. "There are no plans to use any of this other than what is now there, which is lawn area and landscaped area and front yards," he said, noting the parcel fronts the president's house and the Bentley Library.
Resident Ken Garber asked why the vacation was introduced now and whether the city had considered land swaps that could, for example, facilitate protected bike lanes. City staff and the university said the discrepancy was uncovered during street work and that the goal was to correct the record; they also described prior coordination with the Downtown Development Authority on temporary uses for a small plaza in the area.
Chair Donell Wich read the motion recommending the vacation; the motion was moved by Commissioner Mills and seconded by Commissioner Lee. The roll call recorded votes of "yes" from Commissioners Hammershmitt, Lee, Dish, Mills, Weatherbe, Adams, Norton and Chair Wich, and the commission forwarded the recommendation to council.
The commissionrecord and staff report say the vacation would not change the public street configuration and would return ownership of the historically dedicated area to the University of Michigan. The recommendation does not itself change property use; any future development proposals by the university would follow separate review and public-notice processes.
The council will consider the recommendation at a future meeting; staff indicated the vacation is intended to tidy long-standing plat-record inconsistencies rather than enable a new use.
