PA 33, Michigan Planning Enabling Act, Signed by the Governor
On March 13, 2008 Governor Jennifer Granholm signed SB 206 authorizing Public Act 33 of 2008, the Michigan Planning Enabling Act (PEA).  SB 206 was introduced by Senator Patricia Birkholz in February 15, 2007 and unifies Michigan's three planning acts (municipal, township and county) into a single statute.  This is good news for local government officials and community planners.

The single act provides a uniform process for preparing comprehensive plans, makes consistent notification requirements, and generally simplifies and improves the organization and content of the planning act.  Senator Birkholz has long been a friend of land use and planning, and she demonstrated exquisite leadership talents as she, and her capable chief of staff Sally Durfee, shepherded the bill through a diverse stakeholder workgroup that met for almost a year.  While few substantive changes were made to the bill, negotiating the details of the unification process was at times arduous and complicated.  Representative Barb Byrum took up the bill in the House, providing consistency by coalescing the same stakeholders in a final review process.  Representative Byrum, with staff assistance from Brom Stibitz, was steadfast in her commitment to advance the bill that Senator Birkholz and the stakeholders had developed.  In the end, Michigan communities are better for this bi-partisan effort that will make subsequent changes to the act easier.

MAP was a champion of the unification of the planning acts, and representatives of the MAP Law Committee served as technical experts throughout the process.  Many thanks to Dr. Richard Norton, Professor of Urban Planning at the University of Michigan, for writing the initial draft of the PEA, and for his prompt and thoughtful responses to each new iteration; to Mark Wyckoff, FAICP, Professor and Director, Planning & Zoning Center at MSU / Senior Association Director, Land Policy Institute, for bringing to the table his vast knowledge and expertise about Michigan planning law and practice; to law committee chair Jerry Rowe, for convening monthly meetings of the law committee to comb through each new version of the bill with a fine toothed comb; and to members Doug Piggott, AICP, PCP, Cindy Winland, AICP, PCP, Mary Ann Lamkin, AICP, Jane Fitzpatrick, and Rebecca Harvey, AICP, PCP for developing and updating the comparison table that was used by the stakeholders during the unification process, and for their insights and professional guidance.

Public Act 33, the Michigan Planning Enabling Act is available here.

PA 110 Michigan Zoning Enabling Act Corrective Amendments
After more than a year of  meetings by a workgroup convened by Representative Barb Byrum to  correct problems with PA 110 (Michigan Zoning Enabling Act, July 2006), House Bill 5032 passed the Michigan House in late February, and is on the way to the Governor for signing.

The unification of the state's three zoning enabling acts  (City/Village, Township and County)  into a single statute (PA 110) marked a tremendous success for land use and planning advocates in Michigan. Representative Byrum capitalized on the momentum of the workgroup that, through compromise and negotiation, together reached consensus on PA 110, and continued in a spirit of goodwill to address the issues included in this corrective amendment bill.

Representative Byrum is to be commended for her handling of the workgroup, her steadfast commitment to the guidelines agreed upon by workgroup participants (no substantive changes unless all parties agreed), and her championing these changes to PA 110; the unified zoning act levels the playing field among municipal types, and HB 5032 further improves a statute that will simplify and ease zoning implementation at the local level.  Democratic Policy staffer Brom Stibitz ably commandeered the workgroup to meaningful resolution. A copy of the House Enrolled Bill is available here.

The Michigan Association of Planning anticipates that Representative Byrum will emerge as a true advocate for land use policy change in Michigan.