Planning

Planning Services

Jump to STREAM plan and permit system | upcoming participation opportunities | activity reports I FY27 Petition Review Fees

Planning Services works to guide land use development, policy and preservation that best meets the City of Ann Arbor's goals. This work is steered by the Comprehensive Plan, initiatives put forth by the City Planning Commission, community efforts, and/or by changes in state and local legislature. To support this work, Planning Services is responsible for the following:

Boards and Commissions: Planning Services supports the City Planning Commission, the Zoning Board of Appeals, and the Historic District Commission.
Zoning Administration: Staff is responsible for administering, preparing amendments for, and maintaining the City's zoning ordinance and development standards, known as the Unified Development Code.
Development Review: Planning Services accepts and coordinates review and approval of development activities including site plans, rezoning petitions, special exception uses, and land divisions. See the Development Review webpage for more information and applications as well as submitting an application.
Long Range Planning: Planning Services is responsible for implementing and updating long-term land use goals outlined in documents that make up the City's Comprehensive Plan.
Current Planning Initiatives: Visit the Current Planning Initiatives webpage to check out our current and recently completed projects.

STREAM Online Plan and Permitting System Services

Planning and Development Services is now using a new plan and permitting system called EnerGov, with an entirely online customer service web page called STREAM. You can now apply for all of these types of plans and projects, and more, completely online including payment:

Site Plan applications
Special Exception Use, Rezoning, and other planning petitions
Historic District Commission applications
Zoning Board of Appeals applications
Zoning information reports and analysis reports
Land division and land transfer applications
Building and trade permits

Use and bookmark this link for easy access to STREAM. Please contact staff with any questions.

Upcoming Community Participation Meetings and Announcements

Some proposed developments are required to provide community participation opportunities. The community within 1000 feet of a development site for rezoning or special exception use approval is invited to a developer-hosted meeting within 45 days of application. The community within 500 feet of a development site for a site plan for Planning Commission approval is mailed an announcement by the developer within 15 days of application.

A project you are interested in may have already been scheduled for review by the City Planning Commission or City Council. Please visit the Engage Ann Arbor Private Development page for additional information on active development proposals, meeting schedules, and for community participation opportunities.

Report of Activities

2023-2024 Planning Services Activities Report - This report includes departmental accomplishments, trends, initiatives, and partnerships within the Planning and Development Unit in the calendar years 2023 and 2024. Data and summaries of overall development trends from 2014-2024 are also included.

2019 Planning Services Activities Report - This report notes our accomplishments, partnerships and initiatives as well as provides a summary of development within the city in the 2019 calendar year (this report is best viewed in Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari or Microsoft Edge browsers).

Map of Planning Petitions

a2gov.org/publicplanmap - this interactive webmap shows recent plans and petitions submitted for review to Planning and Development Services. View all petitions, or filter by Site Plan, Rezoning, Zoning Board of Appeals applications, and more. Click on each dot for a link to see further documents in our permitting system, STREAM.