Harbor Springs: Playing Defense on National Housing Policy

We are entering the final draft of the zoning document. At the final yard line, there is a push and pull to bring back in elements of the rejected code. And we have elections coming for two city council seats. Lots going on….

Political operatives, working against We Love Harbor Springs, are hard at work waiting for our donation filings, which are released in late November per the law. They are eager to figure out who is donating and, in some way, turn that into a dark money conspiracy. That’s what political operatives do. They shut down conversation and intimidate.

As the politics heat up, we will stick to our core strategy of “Preserve and Protect”. Therefore, we thought it might help to explain our key points of focus:

- **Point one:** The fight isn’t just “about zoning.” It’s about whether a small community keeps a real voice when bigger political and financial systems try to standardize how, and how fast, we grow.

- **Point two:** We built We Love Harbor Springs to give residents that voice, with the staying power to use it.

## The Cautionary Picture The *Wall Street Journal* just profiled a small California town (Fairfax, Marin County) torn apart by a proposed six‑story, 243‑unit apartment block, locals vs state mandates, design standards vs “by‑right” pressure. It reads like a preview of what happens when higher‑level rules and outside capital collide with a small place’s character. (The Wall Street Journal)

***- -

That dynamic is not unique to California. It’s national and increasingly tied to taxes and government revenue. We get it. Infrastructure costs money. We pay our taxes, too.

## The national push to standardize local zoning Here’s what’s happening above our heads:

- Federal policy is tying money to zoning reform.** The previous White House housing “supply” actions and grants explicitly reward jurisdictions that relax local land‑use barriers and speed approvals. (The White House)

- **HUD’s PRO Housing grants** fund communities to “identify and remove barriers” in local codes and permitting. Translation: streamline, upzone, and build faster. (HUD)

- **Congress keeps revisiting the “Yes In My Backyard (YIMBY) Act,”** which would require many federal grantees to report which pro‑density land‑use policies they’ve implemented. That’s soft federal preemption by disclosure and leverage. (Congress.gov)

States are moving too. California’s statewide upzoning (e.g., SB‑9) is the best‑known example of state preemption narrowing what locals can say “no” to. (California Housing Dept.)

As National and State governments work to pay down deficits, they view local development as a means to increase property tax revenue when new construction resets property values.

## Michigan’s version: RRC In Michigan, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) Redevelopment Ready Communities (RRC) program sets the playbook. Certified communities are expected to “remove barriers to development,” allow mixed‑use by right in specific districts, and run a streamlined review process. That’s the language. Those are the expectations. (miplace.org)

Harbor Springs formally opted into the RRC track in 2019. The city’s baseline report notes the aim: “a fully streamlined, predictable, and transparent development process”* to grow investment. That’s not sinister, it’s explicit. And it has real downstream effects on zoning updates and approvals. (City of Harbor Springs) While the City may have stopped pursuing RRC in February 2025, after years of undocumented subcommittee meetings in the city, its DNA remains in this Proposed Draft Zoning Code.

## Meanwhile, the money: TIF capture Harbor Springs and Emmet County have been tangling for years over whether (and how) the Harbor Springs Downtown Development Authority (DDA) can capture county Tax Increment Funding (TIF) with in the Central Business District (CBD). In May 2024, Council reviewed a Tax Sharing Agreement to resolve the dispute; the city’s own packet lays out the history since 2018. (City of Harbor Springs)

Council agendas and minutes show how live this has been. “County TIF Capture Update” was moved to a closed session on January 15, 2024. That’s not abstract; it’s the fiscal plumbing that determines who benefits from growth, where, and when. Later, DDA materials noted a resolution path had been reached, contingent on approvals. (City of Harbor Springs)

Zoning rules and TIF money move together. One sets what’s allowed; the other determines who cashes in. Treating them as separate fights is a mistake.

The approval of the Planned Development (PD) in the Central Business District enabled the Cottage Company to proceed with an oversized project. Six high-end condos and 2x $5M homes drove up the property value, dramatically increasing tax revenue. Our best estimate is that the parcel's tax revenue increased from $40k to $400k per year.

The Emmet TIF, approved on the same day as the zoning in 2024, means that most of the revenue increase comes to Harbor Springs, not Emmet County. The only way around the Headlee Amendment, a state law limiting City revenue growth, is via a TIF or new development.

Nationalized zoning, TIFs, Planned Developments, Cluster Housing, and “by-right” zoning are the tools to unlock development, increase property value 5x, 10x, or more, and then capture more revenue. These are the very tools articulated by those seeking to nationalize zoning. And they are the tools the City Manager articulated in his presentation to City Council, in November 2021, to increase City revenues. It should be no surprise that this is exactly what the City did with the zoning. Nor a surprise, despite the presentation, denying the strategy.

***- -

Listen for yourself, and make up your own mind.

Revenue might help lower the millage, or maybe not. So far, the recent gains are quickly spent on things like narrowing State Street and adding trees, $450k+ on a single block. Partially for water control, but also for trees. How much for each? We can not tell. Or $1M for a laundry facility at the Marina, paid for by the Marina, but maybe paid partially by the general account, we still do not know. Meanwhile, no conversation about reducing millage or burying power lines. And still, no decision has been made on how to pay for the approximately $8M for the substation, despite approval to move forward.

If we are going to use zoning to increase revenue, maybe we also need to elect a City Council that understands the needs of the entire community, not just a few. Or a City Council that really understands the budget and makes a decision on how to pay for a project before its approved.

What do citizens want? Our lesson from the referendum is that most people really want things as they are.

## Why We Love Harbor Springs was created We Love Harbor Springs isn’t about a single referendum or a single issue. It’s about building the capacity to address external pressure to grow and homogenize Harbor Springs. There is a purposeful national strategy to change small towns to grow housing capacity, to drive more tax revenue.

We Love Harbor Springs does not raise money to buy town elections; we raise money and volunteer our time to build the capacity to preserve and protect. Our 150 or so donors are linked to Harbor Springs. For decades. We have applied donors investment (lawyers are really expensive) in the following way:

- Legal muscle.** We hired counsel who does this at a national level, because it’s a national fight. That lawyer happens to work in Toledo. The opposition works in Lansing and Washington DC. This legal support is available to anyone in Harbor Springs having trouble getting their concern across to City Hall.

- **Zoning depth.** People who can read the fine print, not just the headlines. Those who understand the development forces and are experienced in balancing preservation and development.

- **Communications and organizing.** A steady way for residents, full‑time and part‑time, to be heard early, not after the fact.

- **Staying power.** When a technicality gets used by the City of Harbor Springs to reject a petition for referendum, we have the team and the stamina to push back.

**For the record:** “Yes 439” the political entity for the referendum, spent roughly $20,000 on a campaign for the zoning repeal. That was essentially an effort to educate people on the difference between Yes and No on the ballot, to avoid confusion. It was spent to react to the more powerful effort by the City and other political groups to push “No”. We should be a bit worried when the City uses staff and resources to push “Fact Checks” to influence an outcome on a voter issue. What’s next? City resources being used to support a favored City Council member?

What people likely do not know is that the petition to get the referendum on the ballot was driven by Harbor Springs citizens, not We Love Harbor Springs. Volunteers going door to door in July 2024. All City Voters. We Love Harbor Springs supported that effort with legal assistance to ensure it was done correctly, and when the City attempted to use a loophole to thwart it, we applied legal pressure to ensure it made it to the ballot. The result? For the first time in state history, a referendum overturned a zoning ordinance. It had been tried before, but failed because citizen groups did not possess the resources to overcome the power of City Hall.

We Love Harbor Springs will continue to raise money and apply resources to be sure the citizens of Harbor Springs drive our future, balancing growth and preservation, as the town wishes, not Lansing or Washington DC.

A bit on the value of home rule, as noted by Alexis de Tocqueville….

**The village or township is the only association which is so perfectly natural that wherever a number of men are collected it seems to constitute itself. The town, or tithing, as the smallest division of a community, must necessarily exist in all nations….

….local assemblies of citizens constitute the strength of free nations. Town-meetings are to liberty what primary schools are to science; they bring it within the people’s reach, they teach men how to use and how to enjoy it. A nation may establish a system of free government, but without the spirit of municipal institutions it cannot have the spirit of liberty.

Alexis de Tocqueville

## What this means going forward - Zoning rewrites and RRC alignment.** We will scrutinize how “by‑right” expansions, height/lot changes, and overlay tweaks actually perform in a town our size not on a statewide template. When a proposed change compromises the discretion residents need, we’ll say so early. (miplace.org, City of Harbor Springs)

- **Financial guardrails.** We’ll keep eyes on TIF, assessments, and tax‑sharing so “growth” doesn’t become a shell game. If TIF capture changes or “development incentives” shift dollars without clear benefits to residents, we’ll surface it. (City of Harbor Springs)

- **Process discipline.** No shortcuts that box out the public. If the process is used to mute voters, we’ll challenge it, cleanly and on the merits.

- **Case‑by‑case judgment.** We’re not anti‑housing or anti‑investment. We’re pro‑Harbor Springs. Projects that fit our scale, our infrastructure, and our plan are great. Projects that don’t, no.

## The ask - **Stay engaged.** Read the packets. Show up. Ask specific questions.

- **Use the capacity you’ve helped build.** If something doesn’t add up, land use, fiscal impacts, legal footing, loop us in.

- **Measure every change against one test:** Does this keep Harbor Springs, Harbor Springs?*

The Fairfax, California, story is a warning about what happens when process and money outrun place. The national policy environment is pushing in that direction. So is our state framework. Our job is to be ready, before the big decisions are baked.

That’s why we built We Love Harbor Springs.