At a November 2021 council meeting the mayor suggested the city council and planning commission meet jointly to discuss affordable housing in Grand Haven and decide how to tackle it.

  1. What do we have?
  2. What do we need?
  3. What is our path?

A 2018 city task force crafted a 10-point affordable housing plan and listed three ideals.

  1. Everyone who works in Grand Haven should be able to live in Grand Haven.
  2. Grand Haven should have a variety of housing options.
  3. Those who live in Grand Haven should be able to remain in Grand Haven as they age.

Request: Using the task force plan as a launchpad, and council’s focus as a catalyst, would the council and planning please consider the following:

  1. Include the community in the discussions.
  2. Engage an urban planner to help frame the project and plot the journey.
  3. Address the questions below.

Community Involvement

More recently council has been informing the public and seeking community input on local issues.  Granted, the public engagement is not always high, but we learn by repetition.  The more council asks, the more people will engage over time.  Council is applauded for the effort.  Please keep it up; even step it up.  Affordable housing needs the public involved.

Urban Planner

Affordable housing is a highly specialized area of urban planning.  Small cities don’t have the expertise (or time) needed for it.  Urban planners have the skills.  GVSU has an urban planning department, and it is right in our backyard.

Baseline Questions

Community comments we are hearing on affordable housing suggest several basic questions need answers for this project to start and stay on track to a successful result.

  1. What does “affordable housing” mean to Grand Haven?  Is it a financial metric?  A percentage metric?  A housing type mix metric?  How will we measure it?  How will we know if we are winning or losing?  How will we adjust course along the way?
  • What do we mean when we say, “Everyone who works in Grand Haven should be able to live in Grand Haven.”?  Is that inside city limits?  Within a certain mile radius of downtown?  Within the Tri-Cities?  Do Grand Haven Twp and Robinson Twp fit in the equation?  Do we know average commuter miles for our area workers compared to peer cities?  Have we explored partnering with local industry for van pooling or incentives for multiple occupancy vehicles (MOV’s)?
  • What do we mean when we say, “Grand Haven should have a variety of housing options.”?  Do we have a list of the varieties?  Do we know the %’s of each type?  Do we know how the %’s have trended over the last 20 years?  Do we know the projected trends for the next 20 years?  Do we know how those 20-year trends align with our 20-year trends of our population demographics?  Do we know how to shift the %’s to meet our needs (and our goals)?  Do we know the cost to shift the %’s?  Do our projected needs line up with our intended goals?  Which should drive the process, our needs or our goals?
  • What do we mean when we say, “Those who live in Grand Haven should be able to remain in Grand Haven as they age.”?  Does that mean age in the same residence?  Age in the same neighborhood?  Age in the same community?  Move vs not move?  How should we account for elderly moves due to medical needs vs financial needs?  Do we know what %’s of our total local housing are assisted living and nursing home?  Do we know how those %’s have trended over the last 20 years?  Or projected to trend for the next 20 years?  Do we know how many aging residents have not been able to find appropriate residence in the last 20 years?  What the projected needs for our aging residents are for the next 20 years?  Do we know how to shift the %’s?  Do we know the cost to shift the %’s?  Do we know how Grand Haven compares with peer cities?
  • What about special needs or other ADA type housing?  Have we looked?  Should we be sure a certain % of our housing can accommodate this part of our population?  Do we know what % is is now?
  • Do we have a peer group of cities to benchmark the status of Grand Haven’s affordable housing?  Are we above or below peer cities?  How have we trended over the last 20 years compared to peer cities?  What about our projections for the next 20 years compared to peer cities?  Can we learn any best practices by looking at peer group metrics?
  • Who are the stakeholders in this project?  Are the Ottawa County housing commission and Ottawa County housing authority involved?  What about the Harbor Transit?  What about Spring Lake and Ferrysburg?  What community members should have a seat at the table?  From what local government body will decision making authority stem?
  • What about our Grand Haven Area Community Land Trust (CLT) where the homeowner owns the home but leases the land it sits on from the city; is the CLT involved in our affordable housing focus?  Or its housing counseling agency; Neighborhood Housing Services?  What role, voice and authority do they have in this effort?
  • How would the Michigan state legislature’s proposed short term rental mandates impact affordable housing in Grand Haven?
  1. Do we have any research on the questions above?  Has the public seen it?

To plot a path that leads to successful affordable housing for our community:

  1. We need factual baseline information.
  2. We need clear achievable goals.

Poor planning always leads to poor results.