Density debate: How Kalamazoo-area communities are thinking beyond single-family homes

This story is part of Southwest Michigan Journalism Collaborative’s coverage of equitable community development. SWMJC is a group of 12 regional organizations dedicated to strengthening local journalism. Visit swmichjournalism.com to learn more.

KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MI -- Developer Matt Watts went to Comstock Township last year with a proposal to help address the shortage of affordable homes.

His specific ask: Change the township laws to allow for smaller houses on smaller lots.

Watts offered compelling arguments for the zoning change.

Most importantly, it would lower the costs of new construction, he pointed out. Land is typically 15 to 25% of new construction, and smaller houses are cheaper to build.

Plus, there’s a growing market for smaller homes: More households today have only one or two members.

Yet another benefit: More homes on the same amount of land increases property tax revenue for the township.

Still, Watts faced plenty of resistance. People worried the increased housing density would hurt both nearby home values and the community’s character.

Neighborhoods with smaller homes “end up being where all the slums are eventually, 20 years from now,” said Larry Nichols, chairman of the Comstock Township Planning Commission. “I don’t think it’s something we should do.”

Ultimately, the township narrowly approved changes for its R1C zone, the least-used of Comstock’s three residential zones. The changes decrease the minimum lot size from 8,500 square feet down to 6,000 square feet and the minimum house size from 960 square feet to 600.

MORE: Controversial housing development wins fight, paves the way for smaller lots

“We need to give people a choice,” said Clyde Sherwood, a Comstock planning commissioner who supported the measure. “Not everyone wants a 2,000-square-foot home on an acre-and-a-half of land.”

The debate in Comstock is one occurring across the state and country, as affordable housing has become a hot-button issue.

Rising costs for labor and building supplies, along with higher interest rates, have made developers more reluctant to build new homes, especially at lower price points. Kalamazoo County needs 7,750 new housing units by 2030, but new home construction has been lagging well behind the pace needed, according to a 2022 study by the Upjohn Institute.

That’s created a housing shortage that drives up prices, which is especially problematic for low- and moderate-income renters and those looking to buy their first home.

RELATED: Yes, housing really is more unaffordable in Kalamazoo County -- here’s why.

Zoning is key to addressing those issues, says Christina Anderson, deputy director of Kalamazoo’s Community Planning and Economic Development agency.

“You can’t even get to that conversation (about building affordable housing) if the zoning isn’t right. Zoning sets the table” for affordable housing initiatives, she said.

Anderson is on the advisory council of the Michigan Association of Planning, which is encouraging communities to “modernize” their zoning ordinances to reflect “today’s realities.”

“Not only do outdated land use regulations suppress housing supply and drive up housing costs, but they can also widen and perpetuate existing socio-economic disparities,” MAP says in its “Zoning Reform Toolkit” manual. “Implementing zoning reforms to ease restrictions can play a significant role in increasing housing supply.”

Changing times

Homeownership has long been an essential part of The American Dream.

In the post-World War II housing boom, that often meant three- or four-bedroom homes on large lots in neighborhoods located a car drive away from commercial development.

It’s time to rethink that paradigm, many say.

There’s a nationwide movement underway to promote the value of higher-density housing, walkable neighborhoods and putting homes in closer proximity to commercial corridors.

Part of that is putting less emphasis on detached single-family homes — which currently comprise almost 75% of Michigan dwelling units — and more emphasis on higher-density options such as duplexes, triplexes and townhomes.

Even in areas zoned as single-family residential, local officials should allow smaller homes on smaller lots and/or allow homeowners to create a “mother-in-law apartment” — also known as accessory dwelling units — either as a home addition or a detached unit on the property, MAP suggests.

In its 2022 Kalamazoo County study, the Upjohn Institute proposes about half of new residential construction should be higher-density housing.

“Most zoning codes across Michigan have been a copy and paste from a generation where we tended towards larger lot sizes, larger setbacks, more parking requirements,” said Ryan Kilpatrick, owner of Flywheel Community Development Services, a Grand Rapids-based consulting firm.

Those requirements can contribute to higher housing costs. And proponents say they’re less desirable in an era where household size is shrinking and many want to live in neighborhoods with stores and restaurants within walking distance.

(Can’t see the chart? Click here.)

Two demographic shifts are fueling those trends.

Millennials, the second-largest generation in U.S. history, have come of age in the past decade and are scrambling to establish their own households amid a dearth of new housing. Meanwhile, Baby Boomers looking to downsize often find limited options if they want to stay in the same neighborhood.

In both groups, there are significant numbers looking for something other than a single-family detached home — for affordability reasons, to lessen the demands of upkeep and because they simply don’t need and/or want a large space.

There are now more Michigan households with a single person living alone (30%) than households with children under 18 (28%).

“Two-thirds of all households now are single adults or couples without kids at home,” Kilpatrick said. “We shouldn’t be exclusively building large, single-family homes designed for families with lots of kids.”

Increasing housing density also makes sense from a community standpoint, proponents say.

“If you build 100 feet of road with sewer and water underneath and you run electrical lines and broadband internet, that 100 feet of infrastructure costs you the same amount whether you have one homeowner or six,” Kilpatrick said.

Property tax from one homeowner is unlikely to cover those infrastructure costs, Kilpatrick said.

“Whereas if you have six townhouses on the same 100 feet, they’d each sell for less than a single-family home, but you’re likely to triple your tax revenue relative to the amount of infrastructure. Which means our city tax dollars become more efficient,” he said.

What’s happening in Kalamazoo County

Kalamazoo and Portage are among the Michigan communities updating their zoning ordinances to encourage new affordable housing.

“We’re part of the problem in Kalamazoo County and now we want to be part of the solution,” said Peter Dame, head of Portage’s community development department.

In Portage, that means measures like allowing homeowners to build accessory dwelling units on lots zoned for single-family residential and approving Planned Unit Developments that have smaller houses on smaller lots.

Portage has also targeted two areas for higher-density housing within walking distance of commercial businesses such as grocery and hardware stores.

“It’s an attractive way of living that currently in Portage is not available,” Dame said.

The first to be developed is the Lake Center District, along Portage Road where it passes between Austin and West lakes. The city recently approved rezoning the strip between Centre Street and Osterhaut Avenue to allow for mixed-use development.

Portage’s new master plan also calls for higher-density housing to create two other mixed-use neighborhoods: One around Portage City Hall and the other around The Crossroads mall. The former also could use the “walkable village” concept, Dame said.

In Kalamazoo, city leaders say expanding housing options is especially important to retain young adults graduating from Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo College, as well as downsizing senior citizens.

One challenge, however, is that Kalamazoo is largely built up, so the city “has to be creative” in its housing initiatives, Anderson said.

Like Portage, Kalamazoo now allows accessory dwelling units on single-family residential properties. The city also has fostered several new mixed-use apartment complexes, including one downtown at Rose and Lovell streets and another, Harrison Circle, just north of downtown. Both have commercial space on the ground floor with apartments above.

Another initiative: Kalamazoo now has a catalog of nine house plans pre-approved by the city.

The catalog includes plans for four styles of single-family detached homes, three styles of duplexes, a four-plex and a one-bedroom apartment that can be built over a garage.

One plan is a narrow house designed for a 30-by-60-foot lot, which are the smallest residential lots in the city. A few of those homes have already been built just south of downtown on Burr Oak and Wall streets, filling in vacant lots in one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods.

In all, Kalamazoo has increased its housing stock by about 850 units in the past four years, Anderson said.

In Comstock Township, the conversation about higher-density housing is continuing. The township has hired the Upjohn Institute to survey township residents and help develop a plan for future housing needs.

In February, Emily Petz of the Upjohn Institute gave an update to the Comstock Township Planning Commission. The surveys are ongoing, she said, and there will be a draft report to review in June before the report is finalized.

So far, survey results show a demand for more affordable housing, but participants were split about whether they would support more duplexes, townhomes and apartments, she said.

“People were definitely more unsure,” she said. “So there are more conversations to be had around what it means to create affordable housing and what that looks like and where it fits in and how do we create housing for all income ranges.”

Changing the narrative

The Michigan Association of Planning says much of the pushback against higher-density housing is based on myths, not reality.

“Fears about loss of property value, crime, traffic and other misconceptions have been debunked in numerous studies yet oftentimes are cited - usually without any supporting data - as reasons for a community to deny housing proposals,” MSDHA says.

Still, creating higher-density housing does require thoughtful planning, Dame said.

It’s one thing to have a master plan with lofty goals, Dame said. “But the reality comes when you talk about zoning, when you get down to specifics. ... You have to make sure that you’re doing things that are compatible with each neighborhood that you’re proposing to change. So we have to be careful when we do that.

“I’ve been in local government for 30 years, and anytime anything is proposed for change, you can trigger a negative reaction,” Dame said. “So you have to be open about what you’re talking about. You have to be sensitive to what’s being proposed and do what makes sense. You might have a theory of what might work, but you have to be careful in how you implement it.”

Kilpatrick agrees.

“I wouldn’t suggest a 100-unit apartment building be allowed in the middle of a single-family neighborhood,” Kilpatrick said. “That’s totally out of place. Why do that?”

And problems can result when communities develop higher-density housing, but don’t think about issues such as green space, playgrounds and parking, he said.

Kilpatrick pointed to some high-density communities developed in the 1980s and ‘90s without thinking about the “externalities.”

“Those conditions often are the conditions that opponents of density will point to. They’ll say, ‘Well, you know, our streets are going to be overrun with cars, and where are the kids going to play anymore?’ I think those are appropriate questions to ask, but they’re very solvable.”

Mary Balkema, Kalamazoo County housing director, said housing density is something every community needs to think about, especially as there’s a growing housing shortage in Kalamazoo County.

“Land is finite,” she said. “There are only so many parcels in the county. When you have an acre lot, you could put a house on that lot and serve one family or you could put duplexes, triplexes, increase the density and get a lot more per acre.

“What pays the bills in an urban city is density,” Balkema said. “When I go by a McMansion on an acre lot, I’m like, ‘That’s a really inefficient use of land.‘”

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