Detroit — Local officials from across the region gathered in Detroit on Tuesday to blast proposed state legislation that they say would limit their ability to make zoning decisions.
Speaking at a news conference Tuesday at the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments' offices in Detroit, leaders from cities and townships across Metro Detroit stood shoulder to shoulder to oppose bills introduced in the state House that they say would take decision-making away from local entities. The bills would allow for smaller lot sizes to make buying a home more feasible, reduce parking requirements for housing units, and reform community input, among other changes.
Orion Township Supervisor Chris Barnett said his township updated its master plan, which is a policy document that guides community development, in 2022 and engaged more than 600 residents in that process.
"What this legislation says, intentionally or not, is that those 600 voices don't matter, that the years of planning don't matter, that local consensus doesn't matter. This plan — to Lansing — is garbage," he said and then threw a binder containing Orion Township's Master Plan on the ground.
"And that's not acceptable," he added.
House Bills 5529 through 5532, along with related proposed legislation, have been championed by state Reps. Kristian Grant, D-Grand Rapids, and Joe Aragona. R-Clinton Township.
"Over the last 40 to 50 years, zoning laws have become so restrictive that the type of housing that Michiganders need is essentially illegal to build," Grant said.
But mayors and township supervisors said residents need to be involved in the zoning process and advocated for local control of zoning, saying that they know their communities' needs.
'Government overreach'
Barnett of Orion Township said the bills are "absolute government overreach."
"They take the zoning authorities away from the people who live in our communities and they hand it to politicians and special interest groups in Lansing who will never sit through a four-hour Planning Commission meeting," he said.
Macomb Township Supervisor Frank Viviano argued that there's "no evidence" that the bills will meaningfully increase the housing supply across the state.
"There's no evidence that simply stripping away local decision-making will by itself produce housing growth that … Michigan needs," he said. "Housing supply is driven by financing, infrastructure capacity, workforce availability, the supply chain, market conditions. Zoning is only one very small part of the equation."
One of the bills would add a requirement that local governments make a decision on whether to approve, reject or conditionally approve a site plan within 60 days of receiving it and that rejections or conditional approvals include an explanation of the specific reasons for the decision and how it can be appealed, according to a legislative analysis.
Canton Township Supervisor Anne Marie Graham-Hudak told The Detroit News that a developer's plans go through iterations when Canton Township is looking at them.
The township reviews the infrastructure and roads in the area and the amount of time it would take police and fire officials to get there in an emergency. She called the 60 day requirement a "shot clock" and said it puts "our communities in danger."
"Our families and communities are in danger because you haven't studied it like you do now," she said.
What proponents of the bills say
But Grant, the state representative, said a small group can sometimes derail needed housing.
“One or two or maybe five to 10 people can show up to a community meeting and say we don’t want a project and those few people voicing their opinion can kill housing for dozens of families," she said.
Aragona, another sponsor of the legislation, said regulatory costs make it nearly impossible to build smaller, more modest homes today, even though that’s what many people need. He also said that current building trends favor high-end apartments and very large homes, leaving starter-home buyers and renters “in the lurch.”
"We’re more focused on zoning, allowing more supply to be put on the market," he said of the bills.
asnabes@detroitnews.com