zoning

Status

As of 2018-12-18 the body of this document is obsolete. The City Commission ratified changes to the zoning concerning ADUs on that date. Theoretically there will be another set of changes sometime in March/April/May/... at which point this document is will be updated to reflect whatever that result is. As of 2020-09-20 the City Commission has made no further changes, leaving us with the disappointing and unexpected results of the Housing NOW "process" :(

Briefly, the changes on 2018-12-18 were:

• Floor area ratio changed to 40% (from 25%). Size now has a hard limit of 850sq/ft. Minimum remains 400sq/ft.
• Allowed height reduced from 25ft to 20ft, except in some rare cases.
• Minimum lot area of 5,000sq/ft removed, now lots only need to be conforming to the minimum lot size of the zone.
• Confusion between ADU size and Accessory Structure size has been resolved; and ADU doubles the sq/ft allowed in the Accessory Structure.
• No change to permitting process.
• No change to Owner Occupancy or Deed Restriction requirement.
• No change to unit (1), occupancy (2), or bedroom (2) limit.

Beware the City of Grand Rapid's Housing NOW page concerning the 2018 "Housing NOW" zoning reforms; the information provided on the city's page is not accurate. For example, ADU's are not permitted "by-right" in the city of Grand Rapids.

Disclaimer & Purpose

This is not an official document; this document is not endorsed by the Grand Rapids Planning Commision, nor are its authors qualified to present legal opinions.

The purpose of this document is to provide an introduction to the regulations related to Accessory Dwelling Units in the city of Grand Rapids, MI as of 2018. Within the Zoning the topic of Accessory Dwelling Units are directly addressed in section [5.9.03]. Other sections of the code may still impact the development of ADUs so we have attempted to cross-reference the most relevant sections.

October and November (2017) have been active months. A collection of interesting documents have been created or brought into active conversation concerning both housing and mobility.

The Grand Rapids Planning Commission is hosting a community discussion about possible changes to the zoning code related to Accessory Dwelling Units (aka: ADUs). This conversation is the result of a report of possible policy changes created by the Housing Advisory Committee.

The related documents from Housing Advisory Committee are: