More Information on New Housing Forward Proposals for “Missing Middle” Housing, Virtual Public Information Meeting Scheduled July 2nd
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City Planning
Most of the new housing built in Madison in recent years comes in the form of either large apartment buildings or subdivisions of single-family homes, but we don’t see as much new housing in-between in size and scale. That phenomenon is behind the term “missing middle” housing which tends to be more affordable and offers families more diverse floorplan and home size options that meet their differing needs at various points in life. Adding more missing middle-scale housing is a key goal of Madison’s Comprehensive Plan (see Housing and Neighborhoods Strategy #2, page 49).
On June 11th, the City held a press conference for the announcement of three new housing-related proposals that were then introduced at the June 17th Common Council meeting. These proposals are intended to make it easier to build the “missing middle”-scale types of smaller homes that we used to see built in many of the City’s more established neighborhoods. They will also simplify the permit process for some types of housing to lower the risks and costs of building it. All three proposals have the public support of the American Association of Retired Persons of Wisconsin, 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, Downtown Madison Inc., Madison is For People, Realtors Association of South-Central Wisconsin, Urban League of Greater Madison, and Strong Towns.
The Three Proposals
- Legistar 88735: Allow more property owners with deep residential lots to split their lots to create what is also called a “Backyard Lot” to support the potential creation of more homeownership lots. I’m a cosponsor of this proposal.
- Legistar 88736: Allow two units of housing as a permitted use on any residential lot that currently allows single-family homes citywide to support the creation of more duplexes and homeownership opportunities. Note: this proposal would not apply to PD zoning, of which there is much in the North Star neighborhood of District 3 as indicated by the blue-ish areas on this interactive zoning map. This proposal is being sponsored by the Mayor and 14 out of 20 alders, but I’m not a sponsor of this one and would like to hear more about what residents think.
- Legistar 88737: Adjust downtown zoning rules to be more similar to other parts of the city and create more opportunities for mid-scale development. I’m a cosponsor of this proposal.
Image credit:
City Planning
More information about each proposal, including answers to frequently asked questions about the rationale and impact, is available on this City webpage.
Next Steps
A Public Information Meeting on these proposals will be held virtually at 6:00pm on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, during which City staff will go into detail about what is being proposed. Please register for the meeting at this registration link. If you are unable to attend, a recording of the meeting will be publicly posted on this page after the meeting concludes.
At present, all three proposals are slated to be considered and voted on by these committees, including potential amendments:
- Housing Policy Committee, June 26th (agenda posted here)
- Plan Commission, July 7th
- Common Council for a final vote, July 15th
All three of those meetings will include an opportunity for public comment, either in writing to members or by registering your position (and either speaking or non-speaking) in the City’s registration system. Watch for more information about the approval process in my next few Weekly Updates blog posts.
