With the passage of legislation earlier this year to allow for intrastate crowdfunding, comes the next step in helping crowdfunding take off: HB 5273, a bill to define and allow local stock exchanges.  We are very excited to see this idea to continue to move forward.  This would open the way for MI businesses to put themselves on a local stock exchange (regulated in HB 5273 and registered with the state) and allow MI residents to buy stocks from those businesses on the stock exchange list.

The larger stock exchanges (New York Stock Exchange, for example) are not reachable for the smaller companies.  Local Stock Exchanges would be a great way to afford a similar opportunity to these businesses who are not up to the large stock exchange level; those very businesses who are growing the Michigan economy.

Amy Cortese, Author of a book called Locavesting and an expert in crowdfunding provided testimony on the positive impact this could have on Michigan and how Michigan could become the leaders in this type of investment of small businesses.

We look forward to working with Rep. Nancy Jenkins on this legislation as it moves through the process and are excited to see this idea being discussed.

Nikki Brown is a legislative associate for the League handling economic development and land use issues.  She can be reached at nbrown@mml.org or 517-908-0305.

The Senate Local Government and Elections today unanimously passed SB 631, a bill that would give local communities the ability to regulate carrier pigeons (currently they are not allowed to so).  The local community cannot ban them but could regulate them.  A resident in Allen Park testified in support of this legislation given the situation she is forced to live next to (200 carrier pigeons in a residential neighborhood, pigeons less than 30 feet from her home).  The city offered free land for the owner to house the carrier pigeons, which he refused.  The smell and feces droppings are affecting the resident’s quality of life surrounding the owner.  This bill would allow a local community to regulate the placement of these pigeons.

Nikki Brown is a legislative associate for the League handling economic development and land use issues.  She can reached at nbrown@mml.org or 517-908-0305.   

The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD), in reviewing their Right to Farm Generally Accepted Agriculture Management Practices (GAAMP), is recommending new language that will give more local control to communities that are exclusively zoned residential.  If a community is zoned primarily for residential purposes, then it will be labeled as not acceptable for a livestock facility and there would be no Right to Farm protection for those individuals wishing to have livestock.  It would be left solely up to the local unit of government on whether or not they wanted to allow livestock in their community.   This is critical to ensure the  community is able to make ordinance decisions based on the needs and desires of their residents.

From Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development:
“Siting of New and Expanding Livestock Facilities: Currently the GAAMP defines livestock production facility as any site with 50 animal units or more.  50 animal units is a sizable number – 5000 chickens, 50 steers, etc.   The GAAMP was written considering livestock numbers in rural Michigan – so below this number a farmer did not have to voluntarily conform to any siting requirements to receive Right to Farm benefits.  If a farmer was above 50 animal units there are a host of standards they need to comply with to be in conformance with the GAAMP and receive the affirmative nuisance defense and freedom from any ordinances which might limit their operation.

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in having small numbers of livestock in urban residential areas.  A number of communities have written exceptions to their ordinances which allows for the keeping of livestock, especially poultry, under certain conditions in urban settings.  More and more individuals are using the preemption language of Right to Farm to confine small numbers of livestock in urban residential areas which have not allowed for livestock in their ordinances.  The fewer than 50 animal units language in the Livestock Siting GAAMP allows for this to happen because of the small number of animals these individuals are raising- they do not have to conform to the siting GAAMP because it does not apply.   We are seeing increasing conflict between municipalities and townships and livestock owners in these urban residential areas. 

To address this issue, the commission, department staff, and the Siting GAAMPs committee chaired by MSU have been working on language for the last 18 months which would return control of livestock in urban residential areas to local government.  The risk of nuisance issues, conflicts and other environmental factors increase as housing density increases.   Because of these risks, bringing livestock into these urban residential areas should not be happening without local jurisdictional oversight.  

To be clear, the department supports the expansion of urban agriculture and livestock production across the state.  The expansion of agriculture, whether for personal consumption or for local sale/distribution, will provide an opportunity for people to be closer to local food sources.  It also creates an opportunity for the urban agriculture movement to be integrated with any local community’s plan for food hubs or farm markets.  We would like the local communities to be willing partners in this expansion.   It is important to allow the differences in these local communities to be expressed in how they create opportunities for livestock within their jurisdiction.  Currently, the department is assisting the City of Detroit in just such an effort.      

The keeping of livestock in areas zoned exclusively for residential use has never been a generally accepted agricultural practice.  If the proposed Siting GAAMP language is adopted by the Commission at their March meeting, for purposes of the Siting GAAMP, a RTF complaint or proactive request in urban areas will result in a program review of zoning for the location in question.  If the zoning is exclusively residential, then the site will be identified as not acceptable for a livestock facility under the Siting GAAMP.   A local community may determine to permit possession of animals traditionally used as livestock in this exclusively residential area but compliance with that determination will be left to the local community.   If zoning clearly identifies an agricultural use or a mixed agricultural use as its primary zoning designation (e.g., many locations use an agriculture/residential zoning designation), then the site is not zoned exclusively residential and department staff will evaluate whether the site complies with the other requirements of the siting GAAMP.   It is important to note in practical terms the changes proposed in the siting GAAMP will have no impact on the many small farm operations in existence in rural areas or suburban areas which are zoned rural residential, R1, R2 or R3 or other zoning designations which allow for some mixed use beyond exclusively residential. “

Nikki Brown is a legislative associate for the League handling economic development and land use issues.  She can be reached at nbrown@mml.org or 517-908-0305.

As reported in a previous post, the House Tax Policy committee took general testimony on TIFs and DDAs this week.  The committee was only about 35 minutes long because of caucus meetings and the Governor’s budget announcement, which didn’t give us a lot of time to present.  The Michigan Association of Counties started off the committee and their presentation by saying they are not looking to eliminate TIF districts but are looking for more accountability, transparency and partnership in economic development.  They dove into a particular example of a community (Union Township in Isabella County) who they feel is a “bad actor” and went through tax capture examples from their two DDAs and how much they were capturing verse what the DDA was capturing, as well as, what the county would say, is the inability of those DDAs to work with the other taxing jurisdictions.  It was then MML’s turn to close out the committee hearing and I was joined by Tom Dempsey (city manager, Portland) and Kris Larson (DDA director, Grand Rapids) to speak about the many benefits TIFs/DDAs provide to local municipalities/the region and the importance of having an all in sort of approach when it comes to economic development (not allowing opt-outs) so has to effectively create change in our municipalities.

The chair of the committee (Rep. Jeff Farrington, Sterling Heights) indicated that the committee would take the spring to focus on this issue (likely after their break in April).  As soon as we know when the committee meetings will be or when a bill dealing with TIFs and DDAs will be introduced, I will be sure to let you all know.

Again, I would stress the importance of contacting your legislators and not only discussing with them the benefit these districts have provided to your community but also inviting them to the district so they can see firsthand the positive impact.  Have them talk with business owners, residents, etc. to get their perspective of the positive impact as well as from the local community’s perspective.

This is the perfect opportunity for communities to show the benefits of their TIF districts and the great things that have happened because of them that not only benefit the local community but also the region surrounding it.  Discuss with them what an opt-out would do to the economic development efforts of your community and how useful these tools truly are.

A big thank you to both Tom and Kris for braving the nasty roads that morning and testifying and to all of you who have already taken the opportunity to discuss this with your legislators.

Nikki Brown is a legislative associate for the League handling economic development and land use issues. She can be reached at nbrown@mml.org or 517-908-0305.

This Wednesday morning, the House Tax Policy committee will be holding a shortened committee hearing on TIFs/DDAs.  We will be testifying in support of these tax capture districts and the Michigan Association of Counties will be testifying as well, likely discussing their desire for more opt out ability.

As this conversation heats up, it would be very helpful if you could contact your legislators and not only discuss with them the benefit these districts have provided to your community but also invite them to the district so they can see firsthand the positive impact.  Have them talk with business owners, residents, etc. to get their perspective of the positive impact as well as from the local community’s perspective.

This is the perfect opportunity for communities to show the benefits of their TIF districts and the great things that have happened because of them that not only benefit the local community but also the region surrounding it.  Discuss with them what an opt-out would do to the economic development efforts of your community and how useful these tools truly are.

Please feel free to contact me to talk about this further or with any questions.

Nikki Brown is a legislative associate for the League handling economic development and land use issues.  She can be reached at nbrown@mml.org or 517-908-0305.

HB 5131 and 5132 (Rep. Harvey Santana, D- Detroit) would amend the Brownfield Redevelopment Financing Act and the Economic Development Corporations Act to allow a local BRA or EDC to adopt a rule linking an appointment of a public official to that board to the expiration of that official’s service as a public official, including a resignation or removal from office.  This is permissive.  These bills passed out of committee last week and passed out of the House yesterday.

Nikki Brown is a legislative associate for the League handling economic development and land use issues.  She can be reached at nbrown@mml.org or 517-908-0305.  

HB 4487, a bill to allow Downtown Development Authority funds to be used for creating and operating a marketing program for local agricultural (think local farmer’s markets), passed out of the House Commerce committee.  The DDA act does not currently prohibit this type of activity but the sponsor (Rep. Stacey Erwin Oakes, D-Saginaw ) wanted to make it clear that it is allowable.  An additional hope of the bill sponsor is that this legislation would bring to light the ability of DDAs to do this and thus they would begin partnering (or create) with their local farmer’s market in an effort to make it more vibrant.  The MEDC is supportive of this effort to create strong farmer’s markets.

Nikki Brown is a legislative associate for the League handling economic development and land use issues.  She can be reached at nbrown@mml.org or 517-908-0305.  

Governor Snyder signed HB 4996, the crowdfunding legislation that unanimously passed the legislature at the end of last year. The League was happy to attend the bill signing this week with Governor Snyder and Rep. Nancy Jenkins (sponsor of the bill) along with Chris Miller from the city of Adrian and other organizations who supported this unique way of economic development for communities in Michigan. It was our honor and privilege to be involved with the passage of these bills and we look forward to seeing it get off the ground in Michigan.

There will be a session on crowdfunding at our Capital Conference on Wednesday, March 19. To register for the conference, please go here.

Nikki Brown is a legislative associate for the League handling economic development and land use issues. She can be reached at nbrown@mml.org or 517-908-0305.

The package of blight bills related to communities who have administrative hearings bureaus, SB 35-39, were signed into law by Governor Snyder.  They are now PA 188-192.

Along the lines of blight and financial institutions, there have been problems throughout the state with the lack of appropriate contact information when dealing with blighted property notices on financial institution owned property.  In response to those concerns and because of this legislation, the Michigan Department of Information and Financial Services is currently working on integrating a list of registered agents at financial institutions with their website.  In the meantime, anyone who might be interested in that agent information can call DIFS toll-free at 877-999-6442 or DIFS Corporate Review directly at 517-373-7236.

Nikki Brown is a legislative associate for the League handling economic development and land use issues.  She can be reached at nbrown@mml.org or 517-908-0305.

The legislature had a fast and furious finish to the 2013 session year and will return January 8, 2014.

League offices are closed beginning Tuesday, December 24, 2013 and reopening, January 2, 2014.

Expect the next installment of the Legislative Link on Tuesday, January 7, 2014.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Nikki Brown is a legislative associate for the League handling economic development and land use issues.  She can be reached at nbrown@mml.org or 517-908-0305.