School of Planning, Design and Construction Land Policy

 About

The Planning & Zoning Center (PZC) at MSU is a multi-disciplinary team of professionals devoted to research, education and consultation on best practices for community planning and development control. It works both independently and in cooperation with many other groups both on and off campus to build an economically, environmentally and culturally sustainable Michigan.

The goal of PZC is to improve the quality of life in the state of Michigan through sustainable development based on proper planning, and the application of appropriate land use policies and development regulations. It is the objective of PZC, in the accomplishment of this goal, to play a major role in improving the institutional and legal structure for state, regional, county and local planning and development regulation in Michigan through applied research, outreach and training serving citizens, public and nonprofit organizations, government and the academic community.

The Planning & Zoning Center is led by community planner Mark Wyckoff, FAICP, who founded the original Planning & Zoning Center, Inc. in the private sector in September 1982, as an instrument for local government and statewide education, training and consulting in the arena of community planning and land use issues.

The PZC brings expertise to MSU in the institutional structure for land use decision-making in areas, such as Michigan land use case/statutory law; local land use planning and zoning, growth management, and smart growth and sustainable development techniques; farmland protection, open space zoning and greenbelt developments, sand dune protection and sand/gravel mining; protection of inland lakes, groundwater, and wetlands and floodplains; highway noise mitigation; access management; sign/billboard regulation; and placemaking. The PZC continues to expand upon this tradition of service and promotion of responsible land policy reform.

Partners

• MSU Extension
• MIchigan Citizen Planner Program
• Michigan State Housing Development Authority
• MIplace Partnership Initiative
• Michigan Association of Planning
• Tri-County Regional Planning Commission
• Mid-Michigan Program for Greater Sustainability
• Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

Outreach

• Focuses research and engages in outreach designed to improve land use decisions and coordination between governmental entities.
• Maintains online information resources, develops decision support systems and serves as an information source to enhance city, village, township, county, regional and state planning efforts.
• Helps planning bodies and a wide range of professionals understand their options, and arrive at optimal solutions within the policy context they operate in.
• Provides training on a variety of topics for local, regional and statewide audiences, and coordinates with MSU Extension to provide community-based trainings.

Training Services/Programs

• Zoning Administrator Certificate Program.
• Trainings for the public and facilitators for the MIplace Partnership Initaitive.
• GLRI Saginaw Bay Watershed Program.
• New Economy trainings for the Michigan Prosperity Initiative.
• Facilitator trainings for the Smart Growth Readiness Assessment Tool.
• Training on the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act and amendments, and the Michigan Planning Enabling Act.
• Collaboration with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the Michigan Association of Planning on the "Filling the Gaps" training program.
• Training on the Michigan Department of Transportation's Access Management Guidelines .