MUSKEGON, Mich. — Small homes are inching towards becoming a reality in Muskegon.
The proposal to allow smaller homes and apartments in the city went before commissioners earlier this year, but it finally came to a vote on Monday night. City leaders say it's an exciting step towards ending the housing crisis.
"We do have a housing crisis, and it's getting worse," says Muskegon Mayor Ken Johnson. "It's not only affecting the city of Muskegon, it's affecting, you know, all of West Michigan and Michigan and the country."
The amendment lowers the minimum size of a single home from 850 square feet to 550 square feet. It also shrinks the minimum one bedroom apartment size from 650 square feet to 375, allowing studio apartments to be rented in Muskegon for the first time.
"This is providing so much more opportunity for our neighbors and would-be neighbors to have more housing options that are really relevant to their life situations," says commissioner Michael Ramsey. "We're excited for that."
Mayor Johnson says the smaller square footage will allow families to buy starter homes at lower costs and provide room to add to them as their income adjusts.
"It allows them to grow as their family and their capital allows," he says
He hopes it will not only attract new residents to Muskegon, but encourage those already in town to stick around.
"So that folks that have grown up here aren't priced out of their own community, that they have an option and opportunity to stay and grow with Muskegon," says Johnson.
The commission voted a unanimous yes on the amendment tonight, however one commissioner was absent. The amendment will now have one more vote to get through before becoming official, that will happen in two weeks.
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