Land Use & Zoning

All Those Plans

Division United

The Division United plan is a strange one. Launched, in part, to facilitate the goals of the $51,000,000 investment in the Silverline - Michigan's first BRT line - a mere five years after development of the Silverline began, it is also a plan which has entirely evaporated. Adoption occurred, finally, in December of 2021; seven years after work commenced on the Silverline. Once adopted the plan effectively vanished, finding copies of the plan is extremely difficult.

• Division United: Economic Development Toolkit, PDF (Draft 2017)
• Division United: Equity Toolkit, PDF (Draft 2017)
• Division United: Executive Summary, PDF (Draft 2017)
• Division United: Mobility Toolkit, PDF (Draft 2017)
• Division United: Placemaking Toolkit, PDF (Draft 2017)
• Division United: Zoning Toolkit, PDF (Draft 2017)
• Division United: 2019 Update, PDF (Draft 2017)
• Division United: Silverline TOD Strategy, PDF (Final) - where is the rest of the final plan? Lost to an expired website. I am not the only one who has been unable to locate any copy of the final documents.

Has there ever been a plan so completely unimplemented, which so completely missed its moment? Although, after 4 - 5 years of development for a corridor plan is failure even that notable?

Zoning Amendments

Sub-Topics

• "Appropriate Uses" & Home Businesses
• Parking Requirements
• Accessory Dwelling Units

News

• 2003-12
  • Big NE Project To Get Public Hearing, GRBJ
    • One of the first uses of the then new PRD (Planned Redevelopment District) "zone". A PRD zone is a way for the Planning Dept to grant a developer a special dispensation to build outside of what the zoning ordinance would allow anyone else to build. Of course, that developer needs to have the resources and connections to pursue such dispensation. Remember, one of the claims of legitimacy the zoning ordinance makes is predictability.
• 2005-05
  • Michigan Has New Rezoning Tool, GRBJ
• 2007-10
  • PUD Battle Coming To Commission, GRBJ
• 2012-09
  • A unified planning vision is needed for the county, GRBJ
• 2017-01
  • 5 zoning changes proposed for downtown Grand Rapids, MLive
• 2017-03
  • Zoning changes will allow taller West Side buildings, GRBJ
• 2017-08
  • 12 affordable housing strategies Grand Rapids could implement, MLive
• 2018-01
  • Grand Rapids approves affordable housing recommendations, GRBJ
    • warning: coverage of the Housing NOW collection of amendments is often confusing and inaccurate.
• 2018-03
  • City mulls changes to housing strategy, GRBJ
    • warning: coverage of the Housing NOW collection of amendments is often confusing and inaccurate.
• 2019-07
  • Zoning to blame for vacant storefronts, MiBiz
• 2019-08
  • Grand Rapids hopes for ‘rapid progress’ after firm analyzes housing, MLive
  • Grand Rapids considers $112K in contracts to accelerate housing ‘for all price points’, MLive
• 2020-08
  • Rezoning for new parking lot under consideration, GRBJ
• 2020-10
  • West Michigan cities weigh policy changes to bolster affordable housing, MiBiz
• 2020-12
  • Proposal would allow ground-floor apartments in nearly half of Grand Rapids’ commercial spaces, MLive
• 2021-01
  • Grand Rapids leaders allow ground-floor apartments in nearly half of city’s commercial spaces, MLive
• 2021-02
  • Zoning amendment supports additional housing in Grand Rapids business districts, GRBJ
• 2022-09
  • GR developers welcome changes expanding first-floor residential in biz zones, MiBiz
    • 2024-01
  • 5 ways Grand Rapids may boost housing supply and affordability, Crains
  • Planning Commission Agenda: 2024-01-25, UrbanGR : zoning reforms related to ADUs, SROs, Transitional Housing, Small Scale Infill, and parking requirements.

Recommended Reading

• What Should I Read to Understand Zoning?
• How zoning keeps the number of low-emission neighborhoods low, t4America