Taylor council adopts resolution opposing state bills it says would limit local zoning authority

The Taylor City Council on April 7 adopted a resolution opposing a package of state House bills (listed in the resolution as bills 55-29 through 55-32 and 55-81 through 55-85) that, according to the resolution text, would alter municipal site-plan review, restrict minimum home square footage, change mobile-home and parking requirements and otherwise pre-empt locally established zoning rules.

During a reading into the record, a council member explained the resolution asserts that Michigan law (the zoning enabling act) delegates zoning authority to local units of government and that the bills would conflict with that delegation. The resolution says the bills would add studies and documentation requirements that slow the city's review process, impose minimum housing-size mandates and put additional pressure on water, sewer and other infrastructure.

Mayor Woolley strongly criticized the bills in remarks after the reading, calling them "an absolute joke" and saying "the city of Taylor doesn't need Lansing telling us how to run our business." He said the city had joined regional mayors and the Downriver Community Conference in opposing the bills and urged the distribution of the resolution to state legislators representing Taylor.

The motion to adopt the resolution passed during the meeting. The resolution directs that a copy be distributed to the city's state legislators and registers the council's opposition to the specified bills.

Background: The resolution cites the Michigan zoning enabling act (MCL references given in the text) and local planning practice as the basis for its position; the council's action is a formal local-government expression aimed at state legislators.