Planning commission recommends Ordinance 15-45 to expand zoning definition of “family,” forwards measure to council

The East Lansing Planning Commission voted 6-0 on March 12, 2025, to recommend that City Council approve Ordinance 15-45, which amends the zoning code’s definition of “family” to add nieces, nephews, cousins, foster children, persons living with the dwelling-unit owner under guardianship and legally adopted children.

The change is intended to align the zoning code’s family definition with a recent charter amendment known as Proposal 1 and to reduce ambiguity in administration. Supporters said the amendment clarifies who may occupy a household without triggering rental-licensing requirements; critics and several public commenters warned that local zoning definitions of “family” have been the subject of constitutional and state-court rulings.

City staff described the amendment as a targeted clarification rather than a policy shift. Landon Bartley, a city planner, told commissioners the proposal “adds just a few words essentially to include cousins, foster children, persons living with dwelling unit owner, under…