Reflections on TOD Overlay, Family Definition

Reflections on the TOD Overlay Debate

At our January 17 meeting, Common Council approved the new Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Overlay District. The overlay makes sense as we seek to manage our city’s rapid growth. The goal is to increase density along our high-frequency transit routes, which include Monroe, Regent, and South Park in District 13. Nonetheless, the change was controversial as some residents expressed fears about what this policy would bring to their neighborhoods.

It’s understandable that perceived threats to single-family neighborhoods would cause alarm. However, change is inevitable in our growing city. Over time, we should expect increases in density, including a diversity of housing forms like duplexes, triplexes, row houses, and town houses – all in keeping with what is called the “missing middle.” This change will be gradual and not a detriment to neighborhoods like Dudgeon-Monroe, Vilas, Greenbush, Monona Bay, and Bay Creek.

Part of the difficulty is in recognizing that the origins of single-family neighborhoods, both here and throughout the nation, are inherently problematic. Covenants and deed restrictions kept certain people out. Banks redlined certain neighborhoods, denying mortgages based on race and ethnicity. When the courts ruled such practices unconstitutional, zoning ordinances maintained this divide by proxy. Consequently, Madison is severely segregated by race and home ownership among Black residents is 15% -- compared to over 50% for white residents.

This exclusion is reinforced by a shortage of housing, which drives up housing values, placing ownership further out of reach for Black households in Madison. When we tell ourselves we support racial equity, we must be ready to consider practical steps to increase housing for all Madisonians. This deeper context was keenly expressed by Council Vice-President and District 16 Alder Jael Currie the day after our January 17 vote.  I encourage you to take time to read her thoughts and join in on the broader conversation about how we best move forward as a city.

These are challenging conversations. As District 20 Alder Matt Phair pointed out during council debate about the TOD Overlay, changes brought on by our growing city are difficult and scary for many of our residents. Lately, there’s been this tendency to shame residents for being fearful of change, which, in my opinion, doesn’t work and only drives people away. I’m not sure how to make the distinction, other than to say we must move forward with boldness and compassion.

We are in the middle of another challenging conversation. Council will vote on the issue of eliminating the occupancy restriction based on family definition at our February 28 meeting. It’s clear our family definiton ordinance is anachronistic and in need of revision. However, I am concerned about the impact the current proposal would have in neighborhoods adjacent to UW and Edgewood College, areas with greater speculative pressure from real estate investors taking advantage of the shortage of affordable student housing. Accordingly, I’ve been working with residents in the Vilas, Greenbush, and Dudgeon-Monroe neighborhoods to explore a buffer or overlay that would maintain a tighter occupancy restriction for rental properties proximate to the UW and Edgewood campuses.

I’ll be writing more about this later.

Take care and stay safe,

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