GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY — Grand Traverse County in Northwest Michigan is set to pilot a new zoning atlas and growth corridor project led by Housing North.
According to a Feb. 2 news release, the project aims to address housing development needs in the county while respecting natural resources and the area’s rural character.
The zoning atlas will provide a shared understanding among residents, policymakers, lenders, developers and nonprofits of what types of housing can be built by right throughout the county.
The project will also analyze the costs and benefits of a corridor revitalization strategy to support new housing growth in Grand Traverse County.
Over the next year, Housing North and its partners will work to develop a zoning atlas and growth corridor mapping tool to guide community development efforts related to housing and beyond. The goal is to further support the housing development needs in the county, in collaboration with local units of government and other stakeholders.
“We are immensely grateful for the leadership and support from the Grand Traverse County Economic Development Corporation, which provided $40,000 in funding to bring this project to our region. “We are also excited to have received $50,000 in support from the Brookby Foundation to provide the gap funding to make this project happen,” Housing North’s Executive Director Yarrow Brown said. “These two key partnerships have allowed us to launch the zoning atlas in our region and hopefully set the stage for future counties to be included in this work.”
The project is part of the National and Michigan Zoning Atlas project. The final products will include a database and interactive map of all the housing-related zoning codes in the county.
The value of this resource is meant to be a shared understanding among residents, policymakers, lenders, developers and nonprofits of exactly what types of housing, including single-family, multifamily, and mixed-used development can be built throughout the county.
The results will also allow Housing North to benchmark known housing needs against current regulations and better analyze ways to support the diversification of housing types that meet the needs of residents of all incomes.
“We are excited to pilot the first county-wide zoning atlas in the state, this project will include a vision for housing growth and economic sustainability, with a specific focus on key corridors and their adjacent neighborhoods,” Deputy County Administrator Chris Forsyth. “This tool will also enable us to look at how best to meet the housing needs of our residents in a way that also respects our natural resources and maintains the rural character of the county.”
Building on the insights provided by the zoning atlas, the second phase of the project includes an analysis of the costs and benefits of a corridor revitalization strategy to support new housing growth in Grand Traverse County. This project will provide valuable data to communities in Grand Traverse County that face continued development pressures as the area continues to attract new residents.
“We are pleased to participate in this important work to address affordable housing options in Grand Traverse County. We appreciate the efforts of Housing North to bring all stakeholders to the table to work on solutions. The Zoning Atlas will help provide a bird’s eye view of the housing landscape to help in this effort,” Paul Greeney with The Brookby Foundation said.
For communities facing these challenges, this project will evaluate the financial, environmental, and social costs and benefits of supporting higher-density development in areas where infrastructure already exists or can be efficiently extended to accommodate additional growth.
This will include an analysis of the number of new housing units enabled by potential policy changes, a potential increase in a variety of housing options in the region, the efficient use of existing infrastructure, the potential number of acres of sensitive lands and open space that could be preserved by shifting away from traditional development patterns and the potential new taxable value generated by compact, neighborhood-oriented development.