Consistency between master plans and zoning is a long-standing principle of zoning law that was reinforced by the updated enabling acts mentioned above, yet Ann Arbor has done little to address its deficiencies in this area. This has been the cause of considerable stress in the community when projects are proposed that don’t even come close to aligning with the master plan, yet are clumsily approved based on litigation-averse, and overly flexible interpretations of a poorly-worded zoning ordinance.

Ironically, however, the City did move very fast to restrict public access to project drawings under consideration, and to remove any time limits on the City’s consideration of projects when staff’s ability to manage these rather simple requirements was called into question a couple of years ago.

The R4C Study will be discussed at a June 11 work session. That study started in early 2009, when the Council asked the Planning Commission to work with the public and make recommendations to Council.

Council has scheduled discussion of the Zoning Ordinance Reorganization Project at work sessions on May 14 and October 8. The first public meeting on the reorganization project was held in December 2009.

If the South State Street corridor study proceeds with a similar time line, the Biercamp Rezoning request will have to wait two or three years for a final decision.

As I recall, it was mentioned that the AATA changed its auditor this year. But their audit from 2011 (ending September 30, 2011) is not yet available from the state, though most other local authorities have completed theirs.

It would be a fine confidence-builder to have this last year’s audit in hand, given all the transitions that they have been making.