A statewide organization is seeking to build more housing across Michigan through policy changes that mirror local proposals the City Council is anticipated to vote on this year.
Lauren Strickland, executive director of Abundant Housing Michigan, visited the Jan. 21 meeting of nonprofit advocacy group Strong Towns Detroit to build support for legal reforms aimed at streamlining development and increasing housing availability. Several changes align with parts of a “Let’s Build More Housing” zoning ordinance that was brought before the Detroit City Council last year but postponed so officials could better understand and explain the purpose to residents.
The “Let’s Build More Housing” proposal seeks to increase the supply of housing, as the name implies. One of the bigger impacts is designating housing types as by-right uses, meaning they are automatically allowed without special approval.
The ordinance would allow for more types of multi-family housing, accessory dwelling units and apartments in commercial corridors, loosen requirements on how far homes must sit from property lines and decrease minimum parking requirements.
City officials last October said the changes will help Detroit avoid a housing shortage and prevent housing prices from increasing as the population begins to grow.
Housing and Revitalization Department Director Julie Schneider said the city needs to use its most valuable asset – roughly 143,000 parcels of vacant land. One in 10 parcels in Detroit are vacant and zoned as R2 residential districts. None of the changes would affect low-density R1 districts reserved for single-family homes.
Schneider said abandoned buildings in the Detroit Land Bank Authority inventory had provided a steady stream of rehabbed homes, but the land bank has roughly 1,400 vacant homes left.
New home construction has been much slower. Schneider said roughly 500 new single family homes and 1,200 multi-family homes were built over the last 15 years.
Zoning has played a major role, she said, since only 5% of all vacant lots meet requirements to build a duplex. Proposed changes would drastically raise the number of vacant lots that could hold a duplex to above 90%.
Strickland used to work for the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation and said she’s seen many housing developments falter over the years due to restrictive zoning rules, which ultimately holds back neighborhoods from filling vacant land.
Abundant Housing Michigan wants cities to shorten the permitting process by creating more by-right uses. Strickland said last week that a housing shortfall isn’t unique to Detroit — Michigan housing officials estimate a need for 119,000 units statewide by 2030.
“We have aging infrastructure throughout the state and we just don’t have enough (homes),” Strickland said.
The statewide nonprofit is advocating for a package of eight bills being put together by state Rep. Kristian Grant, D-Grand Rapids. The bills haven’t been introduced yet, but Strickland said she expects them to include policy recommendations including:
- Reducing minimum parking requirements for new developments
- Reducing the minimum size of lots, allowing homes to be built on smaller plots of land
- Legalize accessory dwelling units, allowing homeowners to turn garages, attics or basements into living spaces
- Legalize denser housing types along transportation corridors
- Legalize single-exit stairways in buildings, reducing the cost of construction
- Reform permitting processes to eliminate “red tape” and speed up approval
Strickland said meetings with lawmakers across Michigan have shown there’s bipartisan support for solutions to build housing. Opposition has largely focused on concerns about giving up local control in favor of standardizing some zoning and land use rules, she said.
Changing land uses to by-right also encountered some concerns based on reducing the power of residents to stop a development. Strong Towns Detroit President Jon Wylie said there’s been some opposition in historic districts, but city officials said most of those districts don’t contain R2 zones that would be affected by the changes.
“The historic district still has the final say as it pertains to construction, rehab and anything being built from the ground-up in historic districts,” Department of Neighborhoods Deputy Director Joshua Roberson said during a committee hearing last October.
The Michigan Municipal League has argued for an alternative approach to preserve local autonomy: Invest $800 million in state money over five years to stimulate new housing projects. It’s unclear whether state lawmakers will prioritize the funding in upcoming budget discussions.
“If we continue to only keep throwing money at the problem, we really put a Band-Aid on it, because the policy will never change,” Strickland said.
Strong Towns Founder Chuck Marohn has advocated for the “MI Home” grant program, arguing it’s a more collaborative approach that allows communities to keep their zoning rules shaped by local dynamics.
Strong Towns Detroit members said they plan to invite the Michigan Municipal League to make its case. However, the local Strong Towns group sees more merit in reforms proposed in the Abundant Housing Michigan plan, as evidenced by some cases in Detroit.
For example, the January member meeting was held at La Joya Gardens along West Vernor in Southwest Detroit. The affordable housing complex could have added 11 more units if not for requirements in the zoning code to build a parking lot, Wylie said.
Strong Towns Detroit also advocated for the Detroit zoning reforms that came before the Detroit City Council.
Council members pushed back a vote on the ordinance last October to allow more time for public discussion. Council members said the public, and the body themselves, were overwhelmed by several zoning proposals that came across their desk in the final meetings of 2025.
Planning Director Alexa Bush said Friday that city officials are having an active conversation about how to move forward with the proposal in the new year.