Exemptions Granted for 3 Landscaping Plans

Non-conforming landscaping plans for three different projects got exemptions at the Ann Arbor planning commission’s Oct. 18, 2011 meeting.

The exemptions were prompted when the three projects requested administrative amendments – changes that can be made at the staff level – to previously approved site plans. Those projects are: (1) a 184-square-foot addition to the Gallup One Stop gas station and convenience store at 2955 Packard Road; (2) a 3,231-square-foot third-floor addition to the University of Michigan Credit Union at 340 E. Huron St. (formerly the Ann Arbor News building); and (3) reconfiguration of parking lots for a Glacier Hills planned project Life Enrichment Center addition, at 1200 Earhart Road.

The planning commission’s approval on Tuesday means that existing landscaping plans that were previously authorized at these sites can remain in place, even though the plans now don’t conform to a new landscaping ordinance.

Prior to recent revisions of the city’s landscape ordinance, these exemptions would not have required planning commission approval and would have been handled at the staff level. The landscaping ordinance changes got final approval at the city council’s June 20, 2011 meeting.

This brief was filed from city hall’s council chambers at 301 E. Huron St., where the planning commission meets. A more detailed report will follow: [link]