Badger Institute-supported measure will let market work
Gov. Evers has signed a crucial housing bill pushed by Republicans who say it will increase supply and bring down cost while still allowing municipalities to control whether they want to grow.
Dubbed the “Truth in Planning” legislation, Wisconsin Act 173 will assure that cities’ and villages’ zoning ordinances are consistent with their comprehensive plans that identify areas where houses will be allowed and specify minimum and maximum densities.
The bill, in essence, makes municipalities identify where and how densely residential growth will happen, by five-year increments over 20 years.
Brad Boycks, executive director of the Wisconsin Builders Association, said the requirements will kick in come January of 2028 — enough of a lag to allow municipalities to update their plans.
Boycks has said that the legislation will provide predictability for developers, and added this week that he thinks it could be particularly helpful with development of entry-level housing, the smaller homes on smaller lots.
Finding a way to make the housing market work without counterproductive rent control or big government subsidies has been one of the Badger Institute’s primary research and advocacy areas for the past year. See our 61-page “Out of Reach” outline of problems and policy solutions here.
“This is going to help the teachers and firefighters and cops who want to live in the communities they serve,” said Mike Nichols, president of the Badger Institute, a key supporter of the bill. “Skyrocketing housing costs have locked them and many other young Wisconsinites out of the housing market, and frustrated developers and planners for years. Our elected officials came together to reduce regulations and just let the market work.”
Under the new legislation, if someone requests the rezoning of a parcel to develop homes and a municipality’s comprehensive plan doesn’t meet the new law’s requirements, the land will automatically be rezoned to the requested classification or to the least restrictive zoning classification allowed.
Rep. Rob Brooks, the Saukville Republican who is one of the sponsors of the bill, has said the legislation is “significant,” “good for everybody” and a way to address the not-in-my-backyard “nimbyism going on around the state.”
Currently, Wisconsin municipalities are required periodically to produce comprehensive plans, but zoning for particular parcels does not automatically conform to those plans — meaning that when a development proposal for a parcel emerges, the rezoning process can become a nexus of delay and opposition.
The legislation does not force any municipality to allow homes. It just mandates that cities and villages plan in a transparent fashion that gives developers some certainty when they come in with a proposal.
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