ANN ARBOR, MI — A proposal to rezone dozens of properties totaling well over 100 acres along Plymouth Road is headed to the Ann Arbor City Council for consideration.

The city’s Planning Commission voted 7-0 Wednesday night, Nov. 1, to recommend council approval of a city-initiated proposal to apply TC1 zoning to three areas along the corridor, while making some tweaks to include several more properties.

“Overall, I look forward to welcoming hopefully more residents with new development here, may they be renters or owners because both are part of our community,” Commissioner Lisa Sauve said before the vote.

A mixed-use zoning designation, TC1 allows buildings up to 300 feet tall in some cases and is intended to encourage high-density, downtown-style development along transit corridors with a mix of uses, including housing and commercial businesses. If the city’s vision comes to fruition, it could mean more mid-rise and high-rise developments replacing strip malls and parking lots.

But in over two years now since the city created the zoning category in July 2021, Ann Arbor has yet to see any TC1 developments happen.

In hopes of making it easier for developers, the city has proactively rezoned hundreds of acres of property along various corridors to TC1, starting with over 200 acres by Briarwood Mall in April 2022, followed by over 200 acres on the city’s west side in November 2022. While there’s talk of one possible affordable housing development now along West Stadium Boulevard, still nothing has been built or officially proposed yet.

“We have seen that rezoning might slow the pace of new development,” City Planner Alexis DiLeo told commissioners before Wednesday’s vote. “There has been no new or infill development in any existing TC1 district to date.”

Commissioner Sarah Mills asked the city’s planning staff what they’re hearing, if any developments are in the works or if developers don’t like the new zoning.

“I certainly think it’s a workable zoning district,” DiLeo responded, mentioning she’s heard from some people putting together sketches for potential projects and wanting to double check the TC1 standards and see if they have things right.

But it’s different corridor by corridor, she said, explaining there’s more undeveloped land that could be developed in the State Street and Eisenhower Parkway TC1 areas, so more may happen there than, for example, along West Stadium Boulevard, which she described as a strong corridor without a lot of vacancies and not much pressure or incentive to redevelop sites.

Plymouth Road also is a strong corridor with a slow pace of redevelopment that could continue under TC1, DiLeo said.

TC1 regulations regarding lot widths and block sizes are some of the things she’s hearing might be difficult to make developments work out without more flexibility, she said.

Lisa Disch, City Council’s liaison to the Planning Commission, agreed redevelopment along Plymouth Road is likely to be slow because it’s slow now and existing zoning already allows 55-foot-tall buildings that aren’t being proposed or built.

“If they wanted to do that, they could already do it,” she said, adding TC1 will allow more density, but it also comes with new regulations to limit parking lots.

Sometimes there’s an assumption that when the zoning permits greater height, the city is creating wealth or value for property owners, but in some ways TC1 also makes development more expensive because of the parking restrictions, so it takes some of that wealth back, Disch said.

“It does not allow for the kind of surface parking that’s there,” she said of TC1 zoning. “And so if you are going to have a taller building, you are going to need more parking, especially if it’s mixed use, and that means that you are going to have to build structured parking either underneath or somehow inside your building, and that’s expensive.”

Before Wednesday’s vote, commissioners considered a letter from Oxford Companies asking for properties the real estate firm owns at 2350 and 2500-2600 Green Road to be added to the TC1 rezoning. Their inclusion would contribute to the realization of sustainable, transit-oriented, mixed-use development, Oxford’s letter stated.

Commissioners obliged and added the Oxford properties, along with others owned by other entities at 2400 and 3000 Green Road, 3535, 3550 and 3600 Green Court and an undeveloped parcel on Green Court. Commissioners excluded a property being purchased by the University of Michigan at 3520 Green Court, which is expected to be zoned as public land, though they left some federal property in the TC1 proposal.

First Martin Corp. and the Orchard Hills-Maplewood Homeowners Association asked for properties owned by First Martin to be excluded from TC1, but commissioners turned down the request. The properties in question were 2000 and 2001 Commonwealth Boulevard, which are in a business park and have had deed restrictions since the 1980s regarding their future development. Officials noted those deed restrictions would remain with the new zoning for the properties.

There also were some mixed feelings about rezoning several properties that have special planned unit development or PUD zoning designations. Sauve said the city might just see requests to rezone property from TC1 back to PUD, though she and others noted property owners still have time to make their cases for or against TC1 rezoning before City Council gives final approval.

Commissioner Julie Weatherbee raised questions about why some office properties right outside the proposed TC1 zones, like the Google complex, are being left out, which she said could be confusing. The city’s planning staff has explained they were trying to draw a cutoff line closer to the Plymouth Road corridor.

“I would be very comfortable including more things in the TC1 designation,” Weatherbee said.

Ann Arbor changing transit corridor zoning to allow car-oriented businesses

TC1 zoning eliminates floor-area limits and allows buildings up to 300 feet tall, though if properties are close to residential neighbors, different limits come into play.

For instance, the maximum height is 55 feet if within 80 feet of a residential zone, 75 feet if within 300 feet, 120 feet if within 1,000 feet and 300 feet if more than 1,000 feet away.

Developers can get exceptions to the limits and go 30% bigger if they meet sustainability and affordable housing criteria, which is an option throughout the city. For sustainability, that generally means all-electric buildings with rooftop solar, DiLeo said.

Washtenaw Avenue is the next corridor under consideration for TC1 zoning.

Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark the local Ann Arbor news page or sign up for the free “3@3 Ann Arbor” daily newsletter.

Read more Ann Arbor development stories.