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Michigan City planning staff previews ordinance to ease infill rules; residents and builders urge allowance for tiny homes
Summary
Planning staff presented a proposal to expand a Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance that would let builders average setbacks and allow smaller homes in older R1D neighborhoods; commissioners asked procedural and technical questions and the commission heard public comments both urging and warning about minimum‑size limits. No formal recommendation to City Council was made; the commission approved routine agenda items and set 2026 meeting dates.
Michigan City — Planning staff on Dec. 18 walked the Michigan City Planning Commission through a proposed Neighborhood Preservation Ordinance intended to make it easier to rebuild and infill in the city’s older, historic neighborhoods by allowing averaging of setbacks and enabling smaller homes to fit existing block patterns.
"The goal of this is really to make something to help put houses back on these lots that make sense and that fit into our neighborhoods and bring value to our neighborhoods," presenter Skyler said during a slide presentation describing how an averaging approach — used now in R1E waterfront areas — could be expanded into R1D neighborhoods.
Why it matters: Commissioners were told the existing code’s uniform 50‑by‑100 lot expectations and a 1,000‑square‑foot minimum often make older lots effectively unbuildable without time‑consuming variances. Skyler said averaging front setbacks and square footage across a block (or nearby blocks if there are few houses) could allow new homes that match the…
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