Grand Marais Housing Study

HKGi conducted a housing study to help the City of Grand Marais and its residents identify strategies to encourage a more diversified housing stock and led a subsequent zoning ordinance revision project to implement the study’s findings and recommendations. For the study HKGi inventoried the city’s current land use and housing regulations, researched housing best practices, and led two community workshops in which stakeholders shared ideas and concerns and helped brainstorm strategies and establish priorities for implementing the Housing Plan.

Following completion of the housing study, HKGi worked with the city to revise the Grand Marais zoning code to provide greater flexibility and more clear guidance for the development of new housing and a greater diversity of housing types to meet the city’s unique seasonal and year-round housing needs. Recommended zoning revisions include reduction in minimum lot sizes; allowance for accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and other housing types in residential areas currently restricted to single-family homes only; new lot and building standards for each new housing type; and illustrations to make the code more user friendly to a broad scope of stakeholders.