By Kirsten Fagerland Pezewski, Attorney
CITY OF MILWAUKEE’S PROPOSED HOUSING ELEMENT PLAN: A plan to increase housing in the City of Milwaukee that affects property owners and developers.
We are writing today to talk about the City of Milwaukee’s Proposed Housing Element Plan. Any owners or developers interested in City of Milwaukee properties should be interested in this plan.
This project has been in motion since 2023, and is currently in the adoption process. The “final draft” of the plan is dated June 9, 2025.
On July 8, 2025, the Common Council’s Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee recommended approval of the ordinance adopting Milwaukee’s Comprehensive Plan: Housing Element as part of Milwaukee’s overall Comprehensive Plan.
The summary shows two “near term” strategies: (1) update the zoning code to allow more neighborhood scale housing in more neighborhoods (allowing detached homes, townhouses, ADUs and cottage courts in all neighborhoods); and (2) adjust the zoning code to remove barriers to new housing by relying on height, setback and design requirements as opposed to mathematical equations to control the numbers of housing units.
The plan does touch on renters and therefore on property owners. However, the plan is largely about re-envisioning Milwaukee’s zoning and planning rules to encourage housing-friendly growth which goes hand in hand with walkable neighborhoods, group homes, homes for all ages and stages, multigenerational families, etc. As such, the plan may be of interest to members that are interested in development, and the plan may hold information regarding programs and services that, while chiefly directed more to homeowners, may provide opportunities for members interested in development as well.
There are seven key priorities including an emphasis on building repair, intergovernmental collaboration and legislative advocacy which increases accountability for property owners and enacting legislation protecting tenant rights, and a city commitment to “anti-displacement” which does not, in the summary, refer to anti-eviction measures, but does in the plan.
Of note, this plan is an update to the “Comprehensive Plan” to support evolving housing needs, and earlier drafts were entitled “Growing Milwaukee”. Members may be familiar with information attached to the earlier plans.
The first one-third of the report is background material. There are interesting statistics regarding Milwaukee Housing and rental housing in Milwaukee. For instance, when housing was built and in what areas of the city, and the numbers of units of differing types built over time. It shows 58% of Milwaukeeans are renters, for example.
The plan shows various “themes” from public comments. Owner-related are the following: anti-displacement of renters and homeowners; “Fair & Quality Housing Conditions”—residents would like city officials to hold “bad” landlords accountable to provide fair and quality housing for all residents; “Accountability & Speculation”—residents would like city officials to hold absentee landlords accountable and discourage predatory and speculative investment in homes.
The plan discusses “Goals & Policies” of the City of Milwaukee including the following:
- Zoning in relation to housing choice and access. The thrust is that all neighborhoods should allow a variety of housing choices, increase diversity and supply, and welcome individuals who are renters in all neighborhoods. Allow live-work and home-based businesses. Explore allowing new multi-family dwellings in appropriate locations within residential neighborhoods. Provide safe, healthy, and quality rental options for a variety of incomes and household types. Increase the supply of owner-occupied multi-family units. As discussed in one of the Koble amicus briefs, preserve naturally occurring affordable housing options.
- Neighborhood repair, connections and health. This might be of interest of owners who are looking to invest and/or develop though development policies supporting smaller, local and community-based developers, expanding current programs to improve existing housing stock. Adopt new regulations for short-term rentals (tourist rooming houses). Continue to advocate for tenants’ rights to safe and well-maintained housing and fair rental practices and expand resources available for landlords and tenants, such as training, eviction prevention services, referral services and a single point of contact to assist tenant access programs and services.
- Walkable neighborhoods & transit-oriented developments. This includes “create an unbundled parking ordinance to separate parking spaces from the base cost of rental housing” which is not more fully discussed.
- Neighborhood development and urban design. Eliminate the rules restricting the number of housing units based on lot size.
- A commitment to legislative advocacy and intergovernmental collaboration:
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- Achieving goals will require collaboration and advocacy with state and federal partners.
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- Enacting legislation to protect tenants’ rights (dispute resolution, legal aid services for tenants at risk of eviction, standardized rental agreements, lead and other environmental safety standards.
- Removing legislative barriers to allow Milwaukee to increase accountability for landlords to provide safe and fair housing options. State statutes should be updated to allow for: additional local ability to require landlord licensing and/or periodic inspections to ensure compliance with property maintenance requirements; stricter penalties for landlords who routinely ignore safety violations; and provide local government with nuisance abatement authority.
- A COMMITMENT TO ANTI-DISPLACEMENT including: continuing programs such as the Milwaukee Home Down Payment Assistance Program to help moderate income renters become homeowners, and again, advocating for legislative measures called for in the City’s adopted legislative package to further protect the rights of tenants at risk of displacement.
This does provide insight into tenant rights’ packages for which the City of Milwaukee may be advocating. Members should continue to be aware of local housing and legal trends.
