Submitted by whitemice on Mon, 05/20/2024 - 12:01
Status
UPDATE 2024-11-05: Updated to include the applicability of table 5.2.08.G.1 related to maximum ADU size.
UPDATE 2024-04-23: On 2024-04-23 the City Commission adopted a collection of zoning reforms which included significant changes to Accessory Dwelling Units. All documents and commentary prior to this date should be disregarded.
Disclaimer & Purpose
This is not an official document; this document is not endorsed by the Grand Rapids Planning Commission, nor are its authors qualified to present legal opinions.
The purpose of this document is to provide an introduction to the regulations related to Accessory Dwelling Units in the city of Grand Rapids, MI as of late May, 2024. Within the Zoning the topic of Accessory Dwelling Units are directly addressed in section [5.9.03]. Other sections of the code may still impact the development of ADUs so we have attempted to cross-reference the most relevant sections.
Submitted by whitemice on Tue, 05/10/2022 - 20:35
Shelterforce recently developed a six part series on ADUs (Accessory Dwelling Units). While there is currently no hope of meaningful zoning reform in Grand Rapids, MI I believe this remains a critical topic to track as ADUs should be the clearest path for residents to invest in their own neighborhoods - right on their own property.
Submitted by whitemice on Wed, 11/04/2020 - 18:10
In October of 2020 Invest Health hosted a "convening" related to ADUs. The invited communities were Grand Rapids (MI), Missoiula (MT), Napa (CA), and Riverside (CA). The convenings were held for two hours over five days. The media and video of the convening are now available. Of particular interest is the financing options portion of day #2; local expertise in this area is extremely limited.
Submitted by whitemice on Fri, 01/31/2020 - 16:14
Building an ADU (Grand Rapids, MI)
The first part of this article is a narrative in response to the surprising number of questions I received regarding “Why?”. Anyone interested only in the process and numbers can scroll straight down to “The Granny Flat Alternative”.
Submitted by whitemice on Thu, 02/07/2019 - 09:39
NOTE: Our summary of ADU zoning located at http://urbangr.org/GRADURegs2018r2 is currently obsolete.
UPDATE: 2019-09 - It appears that the new status-quo is what is, the disappointing results of "Housing NOW" are what we have for the foreseeable future.
Submitted by whitemice on Fri, 10/12/2018 - 08:12
It has been more than six months since the Housing NOW related zoning proposals were released, and then indefinitely tabled. I have yet to encounter a detailed critique of the proposals. Given the disappointing condition of the debate I've decided to offer one here for the topic of which I am most familiar: Accessory Dwelling Units [ADUs]. Are there problems with is proposal? The answer is "yes".
Submitted by whitemice on Thu, 10/26/2017 - 07:26
The Grand Rapids Planning Commission is hosting a community discussion about possible changes to the zoning code related to Accessory Dwelling Units (aka: ADUs). This conversation is the result of a report of possible policy changes created by the Housing Advisory Committee.
The related documents from Housing Advisory Committee are:
