Michigan's Land Division Act regulates the division and platting of land parcels. Essentially, the Act governs property owners' rights to divide their land for development and sale. Instead of selling one big parcel, they can sell off small parcels at a bigger price and make more money and drive sprawl further out into Michigan's precious open spaces.

Legislation now exists to amend the Act in response to suggestions put forward by the Michigan Land Use Leadership Council (MLULC), a panel appointed by Governor Jennifer Granholm in 2003. Unless this legislation is only the first step in revising the Act, Michigan will continue to suffer from the same trends of unmanaged growth that have ravaged our countryside and emptied our cities for too long.

The Act is broken into two distinct parts, one dealing with platting and the other dealing with the division of land exempt from the platting process. An exemption can occur when a split does not result in one or more parcels of less than 40 acres or the equivalent. Essentially, this provides the opportunity for developers to build the condominiums and estates that drive sprawl. The platting process calls for pre-development infrastructure to not only be planned for, but to be constructed before ground is broken for the buildings. Obviously, the preference in this situation is to have developments go through the platting process because it forces them to invest substantially in the property before they build, making it harder to develop in green, open spaces that do not currently have infrastructure.

The MLULC made several suggestions to amend the Act and make those amendments acceptable for both the development and Smart Growth communities. The council suggested that shortening the plat review process and requiring applicants to submit plat requests to the appropriate departments simultaneously for review, as opposed to the current sequential review process, would make the platting process more accessible for developers and the renewed speed of the process would encourage their use of it.

The MLULC also suggested the elimination of the 10-year redivision process. This process has long been a major driver of sprawl for two reasons: first, the resulting parcels can keep being divided and developed while staying exempt of the platting process. Secondly, the split encourages square large-lot development instead of more creative planned unit developments that can preserve open space and limit the effects of sprawl. This change would also help along two other MLULC recommendations, namely encouraging land divisions that focused on compact development and reducing the number of non-platted land divisions

One important piece of legislation currently deals with the MLULC recommendations. SB 1416, sponsored by Sen. Patricia Birkholz (R-Saugatuck), allows developers to take advantage of a more expedient plat review process if they agree to a joint review process that includes all local and county agencies privy to reviewing the plat. This makes the platting process more accessible for developers but does not go any distance in amending the sprawl-inducing components of the Act.

The Land Division Act cannot be overlooked; it is one of the main factors driving sprawl. For the Act to be amended properly, all of the recommendations put forth by the MLULC need to be taken up in a package that will influence all sides of the land use community to come together in the spirit of mutual benefit and compromise.