Meeting Link

Source – presentation from first meeting

FAQ on Multi-Family Zoning by the CDD from the second meeting

The Ordinance Committee will hold its third meeting to discuss zoning amendments to end “exclusionary zoning” by allowing the construction of multi-family housing city wide. All residential zones would be merged into a single zone and be subject to the same requirements, restrictions, and allowances.

Unlike the last meeting, which was entirely public comment, this meeting will have no public comment.

Current Zoning

Currently there are 12 residential zones that fall into one of three major types: single family A zones, two-family/duplex B zones, or multi-family C zones. C zones also include institutional uses such has universities. Multi-family homes can be as small as a triple decker or as large as a several story apartment building. Each zone also has restrictions on building height, size, footprint, and set-backs from the plot line. A type zones are the most restrictive with C type zones being the least.

Proposed Zoning

The proposed zoning changes aim to allow types of residential buildings and homes across the city as well as, “promote equity and consistency,” by using the same restrictions across all neighborhoods. To accomplish this, single and two family zones would be eliminated by converting A and B zones to C-1, which is the most common multi-family zone. Further, the requirements of C-1 would be changed to be more permissive of larger buildings to promote the construction of more housing. In brief these changes would:

• Remove minimum lot sizes
• Regulate based solely on open space and stories above grade instead of building size (FAR – floor to area ratio) and density (lot area per unit)
• Allow up to 6 stories with a 75 feet height limit
• Reduce or remove lot line setback requirements
• Reduce or remove special permit requirements

Commercial buildings would still be subject to traditional regulation based on FAR

Mixed Use Districts

Currently, in business districts such as Inman Square, commercial buildings have stricter limits than purely residential buildings. The proposed zoning changes would promote these neighborhoods to be used use, allowing commercial buildings to use residential height allowances for the purpose of building more housing.

Variations

The city council requested that the CDD prepare five additional variations of the original plan for evaluation. These are the variations including the original.

1. The original plan, which allows six stories city wide
2. Four stories in current A and B zones six in C zones. Multi-family buildings will still be allowed in all zones
3. Six stories for Inclusionary Zoning Projects only. All other projects would maintain the current zoning. A sub-variation of this plan would convert A and B zones to C-1 without modifying the zoning further.
4. Four stories city wide and six to eight stories on select neighborhood streets: (e.g. Broadway, Prospect St, Huron Ave, Concord Ave)
5. The original plan but with four stories instead of six
6. Four stories city wide with an additional two stores for Inclusionary Zoning Projects.

Housing Projections

The CDD has prepared the following projects for housing construction under the six plan variations.