The end of the school year brings a transition time for Ann Arbor residents. Gone, for the most part, are noisy block parties that get broken up by police for noise complaints. Year round residents take back the sidewalks for their dogs, the back yards for their chickens, and the streets for well-planned afternoon block parties that don't involve a sea of red plastic cups at party's end.

Noise permits

If you're going to have a party that's noisy, you can get a permit to have the city temporarily ease its normal restrictions on noise.

"We will not be approving any noise permits until after May 1st in the student downtown area... but keep sending them for my review just in case" is the rejection notice attached to NOIS10-0003, a permit denied for a party at 953 Greenwood.

Of all of the permits you're likely to pull that are likely to get rejected, noise permits head the top of the list. A noise permit for a second party on Greenwood was also denied. That didn't stop people from gathering without a permit; the Greenwood block party was cut short by police on April 24, following noise complaints.

Noise is a perpetual problem for neighbors in areas near campus, as my 2007 review of the noise situation suggests. The oldest perspective on Ann Arbor noise I found was this Problem Solving Quarterly account from Fall 1992 (pdf), which said at the time:

"Ann Arbor, Michigan — Though equipped with stringent city ordinances and a low tolerance for noise violators, police officers in the university town of Ann Arbor are inundated yearly with complaints of noisy parties. Various enforcement tactics have been implemented, from warnings to citations, but each year the zeal of partying students continues to take a toll on the city's permanent residents."

True then, true now. Just know that after May 1, things change.

Chicken permits

You need a permit to keep a chicken in your backyard in Ann Arbor. The permit process involves getting approval from your neighbors, according to the city ordinance.

This year so far four chicken permits have been issued. Residents on the 1400 block of Westfield Avenue, the 1400 block of Pontiac Trail, the 1800 block of Glenwood Road and the 1000 block of Brooks Street each have approval of their neighbors to keep hens, but no roosters.

Some of the people who put together these backyard domestic poultry habitats may have learned about them from AnnArbor.com's ongoing city chicken coverage; a good start for that, if it's new to you, is Hans Masing's video review of the Loop de Coop, a tour of local chicken coops.

Block parties

If you want to have a party in the streets, you'll need a block party permit.

The first of these for the 2010 season is under review, a request for a party on Crest Avenue. The permit information available on eTrakit (BLCK10-0001) doesn't have details about when the party is; you'll need to plan an appointment to go to City Hall to the clerk's office to review those in person to see the details, or request them via FOIA. It will be cheaper and faster to visit city hall.

I wrote about how to host a block party when AnnArbor.com launched in July.

Dog licenses

There were 912 dog licenses issued by the City of Ann Arbor in 2009. That number sounds more precise than it is; what it really means is that the last dog license in 2009 has the tracking number DOG09-0912, and it was issued to a service dog on the 2300 block of Yost. There are no fees for licenses for service dogs; this one's registered veterinarian is Paws for a Cause in Westland.

The most recent dog license recorded this year is DOG10-0173, registered to an owner on the 700 block of Indianola and recorded on April 28. The public record lists the veterinarian of record as Westarbor Animal Hospital.

The easy to access information for dog permits includes location and veterinarian, but not the breed of the dog (or its name).

Banner permits

Do you want to hang a sign across a street? There's a permit for that.

The most recent request for a banner, permit BANR10-0034, is a request by St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church to promote their Greek Festival, to be held June 4, 5, and 6. The permit cost is $20.

Read a review of the 2009 festival, which may attract up to 10,000 for a weekend of Greek food, wine, beer, dancing and culture.

Getting a permit

All of these permits are issued by the Ann Arbor City Clerk, and you'll find copies of the permit text and details on the clerk's home page. You can also go in in person to the second floor of City Hall to get copies of permit applications to fill out on the spot.

Many permits require multiple levels of approval by various departments in the city. It's always best to plan in advance.

Looking at permits

Permits are public records.

The clerk's office publishes a spreadsheet of current permits on the City of Ann Arbor's Data Catalog site. It's straightforward from this spreadsheet to look up summary information of each permit.

The spreadsheet is generated from the city's eTrakit system, which provides direct lookup of each of the permits listed by number or by address. That system also has construction permits. Some of the records have digital attachments (e.g. the block party rejection I quoted above), but for the most part they only contain basic summary and tracking information.

The true record for most of the permit information is on paper. You can look at these permits by asking the clerk's office to inspect them, as provided by city charter. You can also file a FOIA request, but note that this process might take a lot longer, and there may be copying and search fees.

Lead Blogger Edward Vielmetti is a resident of Lower Burns Park. He wrote about the Lower Burns Park block party in September of last year. Metro Times columnist Jack Lessenberry referred to his column on block parties as an insult to the intelligence of any functioning adult. Contact him at edwardvielmetti@annarbor.com.