Sable Homes’ John Bitely speaks to WGVU News about attainable housing construction challenges
While speaking with WGVU News’ Dee Morrison, Sable Homes President John Bitely addressed attainable housing challenges in Michigan, explaining how regulations, permitting delays and rising costs are limiting homeownership opportunities throughout the state.
During his interviews, Bitely explained that local zoning regulations are key, but local leadership often pushes back against development for lower-income families.
“Let's be honest, when somebody hears ‘affordable housing,’ what's the first thing they think of? Most of the time they think of government subsidies, they think of crime, they think of challenging situations,” Bitely told WGVU News. “Affordable housing, technically is described as: if you spend more than 30% of your income for housing, it's not affordable to you.”
In June, more than 1,100 housing advocates and the National Association of Home Builders urged Congress to reform regulatory barriers that add an average of more than $130,000 to the cost of a new single-family home.
Bitely and Sable Homes are strong advocates for tiny homes or Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), which can be built for $125,000. While some West Michigan communities allow ADUs, others do not.
Bitely is working with state lawmakers to address these challenges to allow attainable housing and ADUs.
Here is a glimpse of Bitely’s interviews with WGVU’s Dee Morrison about local attainable housing challenges:
John Bitely: Lots and lots of little things over the years that have been stacked on top of themselves. It's like bricks and all of sudden now it is the Empire State Building. We've stacked them so high that this pile has become literally over $100,000 in government regulation for every new house that's being built. What's one brick in a wheelbarrow, but all of a sudden when you put a whole pallet of bricks on a wheelbarrow, it crushes it.
Starting in this industry, we had one-acre minimums across the whole township for a house. Well, now at this point in time, there's a very small section that's still one-acre minimums, but that's pretty much all built out in this township and the rest of its two-acre minimums. There are no requirements for wells or septic tanks that require more than an acre.
It’s happened over time, mostly because people wanted to slow down the growth. They thought that if they made bigger lots, it made it more expensive, and so, which it does, and that that would stop people from living here. Overtime, it's used up a lot of extra land as there is less and less land available. It just kills the affordability.
There are other things going on, such as ADUs, and small houses and tiny homes. A lot of people roll their nose at them – stating it's going to cause all these problems, but it's been proven that nice communities with those intermixed or even communities with them – that it works out nicely. You can build one of these for your mother-in-law or your son or daughter to live outside of your home on the back of your lot for $125,000. Well, that's a whole lot more affordable than a $400,000 home with property and it's a way to help solve these issues. But there are very few communities that are allowing them.
WGVU News - Dee Morrison: When we're talking about zoning, obviously happening at the local level, what would you like to see here?
John Bitely: Part of it is that those that are in charge in our local communities need to have more compassion for people. I'd like to see our local governments behave themselves better and if they don't, how could we make them accountable? Our current system, the only way to make them accountable is to recall them or don't re-elect them. There's just no other accountability.
The challenges come in as the state has said if the locals aren't going to let these things happen, we'll take control. Well, there's a big pushback that we like local control. Then we end up running around and around not getting any answers and the problem is just continuing to magnify.
WGVU News - Dee Morrison: If we're looking at, say, a teacher or a nurse, a young family, they're looking for a starter home in our area right now, what are their realistic options?
John Bitely: We need ways to build them homes in the $200,000-$250,000 price range. And the communities need to recognize it's not going to hurt their house values. It's not going to bring troublemakers. It’s just a place for our young professionals and young people to get started in life.
Number one is they have to look at their own community, whether it's a township or a village or city, and take a look at their planning commission and their board and what the rules are and what they're doing about it. There are a number of communities that are trying to do things and are moving to offering methodologies for small homes or ADUs where you add a smaller home behind another home.
WGVU News - Dee Morrison: Is there anything that you would suggest you could see state or federally that would have a positive impact on the affordable housing issue?
John Bitely: Our society has to decide. It's easy to give lip service to affordable houses, but nobody's making the tough decisions to allow them to happen. And so far, they continue to be blocked.
There are even things such as our codes – the way we build houses, the requirements. It's easy to say it's only a few hundred dollars but look at the ripple effect it causes. I go back to the brick scenario, you can put one or two bricks in a wheelbarrow and still make it move. When you put a whole skid or pallet of bricks on that wheelbarrow, it crushes it. And that's where we're at with all these regulations and codes. We've added so many bricks to that wheelbarrow. Nobody can move it. Matter of fact, it's got a flat tire and it's stuck and we've got to unload that wheelbarrow.
Listen to John Bitely’s full interviews with WGVU News:
As conversations around housing affordability continue, Sable Homes remains committed to being part of the solution, both through advocacy and by continuing to build homes that meet the needs of today’s West Michigan home buyers.
