A bipartisan group of Michigan lawmakers has introduced legislation intended to boost home construction in the state by loosening regulatory restrictions and permitting costs.
State Senator Jonathan Lindsey, who represents all of Cass County and part of Berrien County, was on hand for a press conference to announce the effort Wednesday. Legislation co-sponsor and state Representative Joe Aragona said the bills would eliminate some zoning requirements, ease parking space rules, and lower the minimum square footage needed to allow for the development of smaller, easier-to-build starter homes.
Aragona said permitting costs are also killing new construction.
“We’re finding that the regulatory burden is very much an issue,” Aragona said. “Roughly $94,000 is the cost — the regulatory burdens, the taxes, all of that type of thing, to build a new home nowadays.”
Aragona said it’s become effectively impossible for younger families to afford a home purchase because home construction in the state has dramatically slowed in the last 20 years.
“The costs are just, they’re rising, they’re becoming incredibly unattainable, and that’s why you have this bipartisan and bicameral group together to try and solve this issue.”
Senator Lindsey said in a statement the housing shortage and affordability crisis is “partially a government-induced problem from overregulation, complicated zoning and red tape.”
The bills also focus on reducing local delays by creating standards for local governments to follow when considering development requests, like implementing a 60-day timeline for decisions on developments. More than 1,300 local government officials around Michigan have signed a petition against the legislation, saying it’s a power grab from Lansing that reduces local control over development.
