EMMET COUNTY — Area officials tackling the housing crisis are seeking public input on a draft plan they will submit to the state regarding future housing opportunities in the region.
The plan was discussed at a special meeting hosted by the Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation on Thursday, Aug. 31.
Andrea Jacobs, Emmet County Housing Ready Program’s director for Housing North, gave a presentation at the meeting that included an update on the draft that will eventually be sent to the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA).
The draft is available for public review and officials will be seeking comments and feedback until Sept. 15, according to the Housing North website.
Regionally, the group was asked to select five key areas that need to be addressed in terms of housing.
In the draft, the five key priority goals listed are:
- Increase access to stable and affordable quality housing options for households with extremely low incomes.
- Increase the supply of the full spectrum of housing that is affordable and attainable to Michigan residents.
- Increase missing middle and workforce housing stock to facilitate greater housing choice.
- Increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the housing ecosystem by enhancing collaboration on housing among state agencies, philanthropy, local governments, Tribal Nations, education and the wide variety of private-sector organizations that make up the housing ecosystem.
- Expand the use of equitable and holistic local planning and zoning practices to increase housing supply.
These goals are not finalized, and can be changed based on feedback. The final plan is expected to be submitted at the end of September.
During her presentation, Jacobs said Housing North was asked to use the plan to come up with specific strategies for addressing each goal.
Much of the information shared during the meeting spoke about the critical need for housing inventory. By having more available housing, older or more run-down housing options would have to reduce their prices to compete with newer spaces, Jacobs said.
Jacobs also shared findings from the Housing Needs Assessment in Emmet County.
The Housing Needs Assessment — completed by Bowen National Reseach and funded with support from the Frey Foundation, Networks Northwest and Hagerty — found that in a 10-county area of Northern Michigan there is an expected housing gap of 8,813 rental units and 22,455 for-sale units through 2027. The region includes Antrim, Benzie, Charlevoix, Emmet, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Leelanau, Manistee, Missaukee and Wexford counties.
Emmet County has an expected gap of 865 rental units and 2,505 for-sale units through 2027. For renters, the greatest housing gap is for people earning up to 80 percent of the area’s median income.
Several projects are in the works to alleviate some of those needs, Jacobs said, but not enough to reach the full numbers.
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She mentioned around 280 for sale units that are in process, including homes built by Northwest Michigan Habitat for Humanity near Alanson. That development was visited by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in August as more awareness is raised around the need for affordable housing.
“As an equity building strategy it’s not perfect, but it is pretty great when we talk about things like stability, and health outcomes and educational outcomes and things like that, and a home is a home is a home,” Jacobs said.
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Emmet County is also above the state average in vacant housing. Approximately 32.1 percent of the housing in the county is considered vacant — 3.8 percentage points higher than the 10-county region and 20.5 percentage points higher than the state. Cottages and second homes are classified as a vacancy, Jacobs said.
When it comes to finding solutions, the goal is to add inventory, Jacobs added.
“What those opportunities do when we get those into the inventory is loosen that stranglehold on some of our older rental units right now that we know are wildly overpriced,” she said. “Some of our housing stock … 25 percent of each of our four rental units and four owned units right now were built before 1970. So as long as we can keep those units in good repair, those become naturally occurring, affordable housing.”
Jacobs said that while it can feel frustrating to continue to see high rent rates on new builds, an inventory is necessary for things to shift around. For example, some people are living in housing rated lower than what they can afford because it’s the only space available. By having more inventory — even if they are more expensive — people could move out of their current, cheaper spaces, freeing them up for somebody whose budget that fits.
Sarah Ford, director of Community Philanthropy for the Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation, said the high rental occupancy rate in the area, sitting around 99.3 percent, is abnormally high. A healthy market should usually max out around 96-97 percent, she said.
“We literally have no place to go if they want to move out of their rental unit,” Ford said. “By bringing on some rental units, like Andrea was saying, it opens up a little bit of freedom for people to move around that doesn’t exist right now.”
The group also discussed different issues like mixed-income rental units and brainstormed other ways to try to tackle housing issues in the region.
For more information on Housing North’s work and to view their draft plan, visit housingnorth.org.
— Contact reporter Karly Graham atkgraham@petoskeynews.com. Follow her on Twitter at@KarlyGrahamJRN.
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