By: Gary Winkelman | Sterling Heights Sentry | Published February 23, 2026
STERLING HEIGHTS — The city has embarked on a lengthy process to rewrite its zoning ordinance, which governs how land is used and developed.
A kick-off meeting with the City Council, Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals was held Feb. 10, with consultants giving a Zoning 101 presentation and hearing feedback from members of three boards.
Rewriting the zoning ordinance — which dates back to the early days of Sterling Heights — follows completion of the city’s new master plan, which was adopted last May. According to the city’s website, the master plan “reflects Sterling Heights’ ongoing commitment to thoughtful, inclusive planning. The master plan builds on the City’s Visioning 2040 initiative and outlines a strategic path for enhancing existing neighborhoods, promoting sustainable redevelopment, and ensuring long-term economic and environmental resilience.”
Sterling Heights Mayor Michael Taylor said he is “excited” about updating the zoning ordinance.
“Proper planning and zoning is critical to the orderly development of the city,” Taylor said in a Feb. 12 email. “We haven’t done a major rewrite of our zoning ordinance in decades and instead have just made minor changes here and there. As a nearly fully developed community, it is important that we create a zoning ordinance that reflects modern trends in real estate development, updates parking requirements, and helps support developments that are in line with the city’s priorities and addresses the needs of residents and businesses. I am excited to kick this process off and work with constituents and stakeholders to shape the future development of the city.”
As part of their presentation, consultants from Giffels Webster briefed officials on current trends in zoning, which include: form-based zoning; mixed use; housing ADUs (accessory dwelling units); environmental/sustainability; mobility and transportation shifts (electric vehicles, walkability, parking reform); and data centers.
The consultants noted several points that inform zoning discussions:
• Communities grow, shift, and redevelop — so zoning must keep pace.
• New technologies, markets and living patterns constantly challenge existing rules.
• Good zoning codes are periodically updated, refined and recalibrated.
• Trends help guide where and how those changes happen.
As part of the zoning ordinance rewrite process, Giffels Webster prepared a comprehensive Zoning Ordinance Health Checkup, which is described as “an audit of the zoning ordinance that evaluates and (identifies) outdated language, conflicting provisions, and confusing text, as well as opportunities for improvement or alignment with current best practices.”
With its myriad alphanumeric classifications, technical descriptions and detailed multicolor maps, zoning can be an overwhelming concept to grasp.
Sterling Heights City Planner Jake Parcell, when asked to simplify why a zoning ordinance rewrite is important, said, “It’s really just helping ensure that we have the right place to put uses and under the right guidelines to review them.”
“It makes things easier for homeowners doing home projects and business owners to own and operate their businesses,” he said. “It brings everything up to date with current standards that address new uses.”
Parcell cited the city’s recent decision to place a one-year moratorium on data centers so rules and regulations can be established for any applications a developer may bring forth in the future.
“Things like data centers weren’t the same in the ’70s as they are now,” Parcell said. “Even building decks can change over time. Home architecture can change over time. Things like that need to be reviewed and addressed to help people.”
Councilman Mike Radtke said the zoning ordinance hasn’t been significantly changed since before he was born and is more than due for attention. He noted the ordinance contains things that were once in vogue, “but as times pass, they’ve become antiquated.”
He said the rules that guide land use need to be right sized for the modern age. He believes the ordinance is convoluted, burdensome and a barrier to attracting investment in the city. Eliminating redundancies, shifting routine decisions to administration and simplifying processes will reduce time and costs for businesses and encourage more outside interest in Sterling Heights.
“If we streamline it, we’ll get better development,” Radtke said. “People say we don’t get these tip-top developments, or we want better developers. Let’s make it easier to develop.”
Rewriting the zoning ordinance will take the better part of the year. Parcell said the city hopes to have a full draft by the end of October and would look to have final approval in November.