Michigan leaders complain about the high cost of housing, but Muskegon city planners are doing something.

Regulations on housing providers lead to higher costs and worse outcomes. The authorization extends the time it takes to build new housing, leaving cities stuck with older properties for longer periods of time. Building codes and environmental rules are too strict while actually failing to provide safety and environmental benefits. Parking requirements, as well as minimum house and lot sizes, drive up costs for no reason.

These and other zoning rules make it illegal, if not impossible, to build affordable units in many areas of Michigan.

Costs and services are not the only reasons people leave the state of Michigan or refuse to move into Michigan communities, but they are among the areas that lawmakers can influence.

People want lower costs and quality services.

To achieve this, governments must strive to spend money efficiently and not exceed its limits.

Lower taxes and fewer regulations reduce costs. Regulation adds costs. If regulations actually lead to better outcomes, they may be worth it. But lawmakers rarely seem interested in measuring the actual results of their regulations.

Instead, state lawmakers are proposing just one solution: subsidize demand.

Michigan taxpayers currently pay between $150,000 and $300,000 per apartment in grants to selected nonprofits and developers to build or rehabilitate apartment buildings. These organizations only build a tiny fraction of what the market wants.

Michigan leaders would have a better chance of increasing supply if they focused on removing the overwhelming number of unnecessary regulations.

That’s exactly what the Muskegon Planning Commission hopes to do.

More specifically, the commission recommends that the city:

∫ reduce the number of zoning categories from three to one,

∫ authorize duplexes, triplexes and accessory dwellings on what are now lots of individual houses,

∫ relax design requirements to make it easier for owners to convert single-family homes into multi-unit properties,

∫ and only require one parking space per residential unit.

Michigan city officials and planners say they want more housing to attract more workers, especially young people who can only afford smaller homes and housing.

They must put their words into practice by allowing builders to build and individuals to buy the type of housing they want.

Jarrett Skorup is vice president of marketing and communications at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.