Welcome to A2 Council Update, a recap of

the Ann Arbor City Council meeting on

July 20th, 2026. This meeting included

comments and discussion about honoring

county deputy chief public defender

Lauren Brown, buying new technology for

the police department, approving new

staff for unarmed crisis response and an

agreement with the county, reszoning

three locations, Wagner Road, Varsity

Drive, and [music] North Main. Amending

sustainability requirements for height

premiums, directing the creation of an

ordinance for tenants right to organize,

directing a future 6-month moratorum on

new short-term rental licenses, and

issuing $18 million in bonds to fund the

purchase of affordable housing. This is

the voting chart for the city council

meeting on July 20th, 2026. There was

one split vote on a resolution directing

staff to develop a moratorum on

short-term rental licenses. Council

member Lisa Dish voted against it.

Council member Erica Briggs from W 5 was

absent. Council member Gazi Edwin left

the meeting early. For Briggs, this was

her 15th absence since taking office in

November 2020. Gazy Edwin has missed 22

meetings since taking office in November

2022. You can find this voting chart and

more information about this meeting at

a2consil.com.

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At the beginning of the meeting, an item

was added to the agenda in order to

honor the county deputy chief public

defender Lauren Brown, who recently

passed. A tree will be planted as a

memorial

this week. After introductory remarks,

public comments, and staff explanations,

council discussed agenda items for less

than an hour. 27 people signed up in

advance to offer public comment. 16

people spoke to topics on the agenda.

The consent agenda this week included 21

items and expenditures of over $6

million. Three items were pulled for

discussion.

Staff presented information about a

nearly $3 million contract for

technology that will support the police

department. The police chief answered

questions. The Taser 10 expands an

officer's effective range from 25 ft as

it was before to 45 ft. The standoff

distance allows for more space as

indicated, but that standoff distance

allows for us to have conversations that

will keep us in a position to

deescalate. I declined and turned down

the ability to use license plate reader.

We are not able, we are not using that.

Our axon uh AI is a redaction tool. The

tool does not use facial recogni rec

recognition technology does not use it.

Now in speaking to Axon they have

indicated that they're open to our

council's recommendation regarding an

independent audit and they already have

one in place. They have Axon AI ethics

board.

>> The contract was approved unanimously.

Council considered a budget amendment to

add four full-time employees in order to

implement a pilot unarmed response

program for public safety. This program

was first funded 5 years ago. This is

its initial launch. Earlier in the

evening, candidate for city council in

Ward 1, Rebecca Erenss, offered a public

comment. As someone who works in psych

emergency services, I know that dispatch

criteria, inter agency coordination,

clinical responsibility, and clear

performance standards are the foundation

of a safe and effective crisis response.

The public deserves a transparent

accounting of current public safety

resources. Staff explained the pilot

program. This will allow us to

officially start building the support

the supportive response and outreach

team as it was presented to you in

December. The most important

consideration is whether the program has

the clinical, operational, and follow-up

capacity to safely respond, connect

people to care, evaluate outcomes, and

adapt as demand evolves.

>> Council members expressed support. What

I am most proud of with Sprout is what

it is not. It is not armed. It is not

AAPD. It is a fully civilian unarmed

response staffed by licensed social

workers trained in crisis intervention

and trauma-informed care. In addition to

resolving a crisis in the moment, the

goal is to prevent the next one. At what

point might we consider the pilot status

complete in terms of time past or

outcomes and what changes might we

envision should we decide to move to

permanent program status?

>> We want to make sure that we start it

move forward and refine it as we go. Um

so if that takes some time it might take

some time. out of all the places that we

visited, uh, there wasn't any cities

that had the pilot for less than 12

months on the ground. So, that's that's

the minimum.

>> The budget amendment for four additional

full-time employees was approved

unanimously.

Council considered an agreement for the

city to pay the county's community

mental health program $135,000

in order to receive just over 2,000

clinician hours per year in support of

the Ann Arbor Police Department. Earlier

in the evening, Democratic candidate for

state senate Felicia Braybeck offered a

comment in support as did Democratic

Council candidate Rebecca Erenss. and

I'm so happy to be back uh and want to

offer my thanks and support for the

resolution to approve the

intergovernmental agreement with

community mental health to support the

co-response program with the Ann Arbor

Police Department. I support expanding

behavioral health crisis response and I

support accountability.

I support CA21 because it strengthens

the existing community mental health

co-response model. The Ann Arbor Police

Chief explained the proposal.

>> The police department and our

professionals do not want to respond and

encounter a person that has some type

some type of minuity that doesn't

require the police officers to be there.

We're bringing in police officers that

are trained differently from the way

they were in the past. So now what you

have is a police officer that has

additional training outside the norm.

Training that allow for that police

officer to respond in concert with a

clinician.

>> Council reacted.

>> I'm glad that this response is being

implemented by AAPD and is informed by

current best practices.

>> The agreement and expenditure was

approved unanimously.

After a brief introduction, council

unanimously approved a resoning on

Wagner Road. Council considered a

resoning on Varsity Drive in an area of

mostly warehouses and office space. At

first reading, it was pointed out that

the proposed resoning would permit

full-time short-term rentals. This week,

a condition was added to the resoning

that would prohibit use of the housing

units as non-owner occupied short-term

rentals. The reasonzoning with

conditions was approved unanimously

without discussion.

Council considered a resoning on North

Main, including a condition of height

limit.

>> I'd also like to observe that I of

course have too received the

communication from the neighborhood

organization with respect to the

potential presidential value of this

parcel. They observe that the 75 ft uh

limit is uh contextually uh appropriate,

but what might not be otherwise uh and

in their view would not be otherwise

contextually appropriate for

uh other parcels deep within the

neighborhood. And I totally see that

>> the reasonzoning was approved

unanimously.

Council considered final approval for an

ordinance amendment to allow

developments to exceed height limits

when they meet sustainability

requirements. The amendment will allow

developments to make payments in Lu for

a portion of solar installation

requirements. Earlier in the evening,

council approved the framework for

calculating those payments in L where

developers cannot cover enough of the

building footprint with solar collector

surface. Where a developer cannot meet a

requirement for 60% coverage, the

developer can provide at least 20%

coverage and pay fees in lie. Developers

will pay about $60 per square foot of

solar collection coverage. they cannot

install.

A public commenter offered feedback.

>> This was intended to be an incentive,

but it's become a loophole.

Um, we should be asking a lot more for

that extra height. For that extra 30%

height, construction should be net zero

energy in compliance with appendix CC of

the state energy code. Um, as the A20

plan stipulates, uh, if a developer

chooses not to comply, they can go with

this the affordable housing 15% of units

to get the 30% extra height.

Uh, but as it stands, uh, this ordinance

actually sets back, I think, our our

sustainability goals. This was a topic

that we discussed in the renters's

commission which is that the uh

affordability section of this uh

exception to height limit was something

which wasn't being um utilized

effectively because of the

sustainability loophole. Um we would

like to see affordability take front and

center with uh height exceptions.

>> Council discussed it. This is an

improvement that is needed now because

we are seeing taller, narrower buildings

in downtown where there may not be

enough roof space to accommodate 60%

solar panel coverage in addition to the

mechanicals that need to go up there.

>> I think this item tonight is a

meaningful step in the right direction

uh on the long road towards achieving uh

our housing and sustainability goals.

The ordinance amendment was approved

unanimously.

After a brief introduction, council

unanimously approved an ordinance to

regulate the trimming of oak trees in

order to prevent the spread of oakwilt

disease.

Council considered a resolution

directing the city attorney to prepare

an ordinance establishing the tenants

right to organize. The ordinance will be

prepared by September 8th. The renters

commission discussed this at a meeting 5

months ago. Council member Travis Redina

and Council Member Cynthia Harrison are

liaons to the renters commission. Redina

was absent for the meeting when it was

presented. In February, the renters

commission passed a resolution

acknowledging that a draft ordinance had

been developed and presented by the Ann

Arbor Tenants Union. That resolution

asked city council to collaborate with

the tenants union and other stakeholders

to approve an ordinance. Commenters

offered feedback about the resolution

directing staff to prepare an ordinance.

Neither the renters commission nor the

tenants union were informed of this

development despite asking about the

right to organize ordinance for months.

>> We talked with legal scholars in housing

so Jim Shasma says Gail Rosen who run

the renters commission. Now we see this

proposal right for the request that does

not reference pretendence union [snorts]

does not reference the draft ordinance

that we prepared. I personally don't

know if it's a political stunt if it's a

lack of care for community engagement or

if it's a simple mistake. And finally,

I'd like to clarify that um the the

resolution asked the city of Stormy to

provide the language um by um I think

September 8th, but um the resolution was

the language was already provided five

months ago. Um so that's that's that's

the main. Thank you.

>> My name is Hannah Larsenes and I am the

vice chair of the Ann Arbor Renters

Commission. In February 2026, the

renters commission endorsed a right to

organize ordinance as presented by the

Ann Arbor Tenants Union in the Hiron

Valley DSA. Since February, the

renters's commission has asked for an

update on the right to organize every

month. Yet, we have not been presented

with any feedback nor an amended draft

of the ordinance.

>> And renters commission was completely

unaware of this resolution on the agenda

despite their asking for discussion on

the right to organize for the past 5

months. And it begins to look like this

effort is a little bit more of a

political move than a good faith effort

to engage with the needs of renters in

Ann Arbor.

>> And I personally submitted the original

draft language for review on March 5th.

encourage greater communication between

council, the commission, and authors of

the ordinance so that we can achieve our

shared goals, which I know are expanding

tenants rights. My name is Allesia, and

I'm a tenant and a member of the Ann

Arbor tenants union. Just a couple of

weeks ago, each of you received an email

from an AU or HBDSA member asking you to

support and endorse the tenant bill of

rights. And so far, you have not done

either. Not to mention the months of

silence from you regarding the right to

organize ordinance when we asked for

feedback and comments. Council member

Redina and the mayor weighed in.

>> I want to start tonight by personally

apologizing to the advocates who

expressed their frustration this evening

with communication and process uh as I

did earlier today by email. Uh this

resolution tonight is an effort to

expedite and further prioritize this

issue. It is also a bit disappointing to

hear many of the people I have worked

alongside suddenly suggesting that these

efforts are just politics as we approach

an election.

The deadline in this resolution provides

direction to have an ordinance ready by

for introduction at the September 8th

council meeting simultaneous to this

review period. That means the sponsors

will have the final legislation, the

final version of the legislation to

continue ongoing engagement with

impacted community members and

organizations.

>> I'm excited about the passage of the

ordinance ultimately and the good work

that it will do for the residents of our

community. The resolution directing

preparation of an ordinance was approved

unanimously.

Council considered another resolution

directing the city attorney to prepare

an ordinance. That ordinance would

establish a six-month moratorum on

short-term rental or STR licenses.

STR investors offered comments.

>> We've registered. We've passed

inspections. We'd pay non-homestead

taxes. And relying on this framework,

we've now invested in renovating two

more historic commercial properties. A

blanket freeze would mainly harm the

people trying to comply, people like us.

>> We've invested uh hundreds of hours and

thousands of dollars to get this

property off the ground only to find out

this weekend that this moratorum is

coming.

>> I would like to express my support for

the short-term rental moratorum. You may

not hear the voices of in our brights

pushed out because of lack of housing

tonight. They are no longer in this

city, but we would tell you this, which

is that we need more housing fast and we

do not need a game day getaway.

>> Some cynical voters are wondering, why

is this important issue only coming up

at the very last council meeting before

the critical August primary? Three years

ago, you reszoned a large property near

the stadium to permit the prospective

developer, a large campaign donor, to

rent out 30% of her units on a

short-term basis. Six years ago, a

council not controlled by the mayor

voted to take action on this problem.

And once the mayor regained a majority,

his council diluted those restrictions

for better or for worse. But since then,

there have been well over a hundred

council meetings with no real action to

check the growth of Airbnbs. I'm happy

you're putting a moratorium on STRs.

That should have been done years ago. Or

when folks asked to put it in the club.

Now in election eve, you're finally

doing it. You've done reszonings

allowing more. You've had six years to

study and react but have done nothing.

One short-term rental host argued that

there was an abundance of housing that

could be Airbnbs instead of sitting

empty.

>> Thousands of new beds are expected to

come online over the next few years. As

someone who works in leasing every day,

I have already seen the market shift

dramatically. Renters now have more

choices than ever before, and I believe

that's a positive thing. However, that

also means there are properties that are

appropriately zoned for short-term

rentals that may sit vacant for long

periods of time without being rented. In

discussion by friendly amendment,

council added language to clarify that a

moratorum happen while allowing renewal

licenses for existing and compliant

short-term rentals. It does not impose a

moratorum at this time. This resolution

asks city staff to identify issues that

would need to be addressed by staff

during such a moratorum. You know, I

will say I am fully hopeful that we're

going to get back some strong

recommendations on further regulation,

>> but a moratorum is a strong and broad

action and I do not think the arguments

and evidence in this resolution fully

warrant the city administrator preparing

and the city council considering a

moratorum. But they do not fully

understand how a moratorum on issuing

new STR licenses, not renewals but new

for new STRs will provide a remedy for

the most significant problems associated

with principal residents STRs.

>> STRs uh understand and they do have

benefit for visitors and for uh

entrepreneur local entrepreneurs who are

engaging with them. Uh they do take up

rental units. They do take up units that

could and would and uh I uh expect

should be used for long-term residents.

>> The resolution was approved with only

council member Lisa Dish voting no.

Without discussion, council unanimously

approved two area plans for projects at

locations on Varsity Drive and North

Main, which were reszoned earlier in the

meeting.

Finally, council discussed the issuance

of $18 million in bonds in order for the

housing commission to purchase housing

units at Victor's Way.

>> Are the is the public going to be made

aware of the amorization schedule of the

bond and the payback of the bond?

>> To answer the uh commenters's question,

yes, the amortization schedule will be

made public as is required for a public

offering. This is a purchase of an

existing structure and the renovation of

that structure. The purchase and rehab

is much less expensive than initial full

construction. City council went into

close session for about 10 minutes to

discuss privileged communications sent

on July 17th. After the closed session,

more public commenters spoke to topics

not on the agenda. The meeting adjourned

before 11 p.m. For more information

about this meeting, visit a2consil.com.

Welcome to this week's A2 Council Moment

of Zed.

What specific adjustments, if any, were

made to fit this unit to Ann Arbor

Police Department's particular

operations, call value, and geography

rather than simply replicating the

county model as is.

There is an author that I highly respect

and he wrote a book and the book is

called it always begins with leadership.

Now

with that book this always begins with

leadership.