Fall 2025 Housing Forward Proposals

We are continuing work to make Madison more affordable for all the people who make this city an amazing place to live and work. 

Earlier this year, the Common Council unanimously approved a set of policy changes designed to make it easier to build the types of smaller, more affordable homes we used to see built in Madison and simplify the permit process so that people from all walks of life can live all around our city. 

We aren’t stopping there, because we want every Madisonian, whether they have been here for a year or for a lifetime, to be able to live in their choice of home and neighborhood. 

Three new proposals being introduced this fall continue to address regulatory roadblocks that have made it more difficult to get housing built in Madison over the years.  

A public meeting on these proposals will be held virtually on September 30, 2025. If you are unable to attend, a video recording of that informational meeting will be shared on this page. The three proposals being introduced are explained in detail below.

The City of Madison’s zoning code outlines requirements for development within every zoning district, including requirements for rear or side setbacks for buildings on lots that are directly next to residential zones. This requirement is called the “height transition area” and is intended to help transition the scale of buildings when moving from a more intense to a less intense zoning district. The result is a requirement for buildings in commercial and mixed-use zones to “step down” -- or gradually decrease in height as they get closer to any residential zones that may be located directly next to the property.

Right now, these transition rules require buildings in commercial and mixed-use zones to “step down” from their highest point to a maximum of two stories, or 25 feet, on the side abutting a residential district. From that point, the building height is allowed to increase by one foot for every foot away from the property line until it reaches the maximum building height allowed for that commercial or mixed-use zone. 

This proposal would change the text under the Rear or Side Yard Height Transition to Residential Districts section from “two (2) stories/twenty-five (25) feet” to “the maximum height allowed in the abutting district” for the following commercial or mixed-use zones: Neighborhood Mixed-Use (NMX), Traditional Shopping Street (TSS), Mixed Use Center (MXC), Commercial Corridor – Transitional (CCT), Commercial Center (CC), Regional Mixed-Use (RMX), Traditional Employment (TE), Suburban Employment (SE), Industrial – Limited (IL), and Industrial – General (IG).

Why is this being proposed?

City staff found that the current “step down” standards have not kept pace with how the City’s zoning has evolved. As a result, the existing limit is lower than the maximum height allowed in the adjacent residential zones — the lowest maximum building height in a residential zone in the city is two stories/35 feet.

By allowing the step down to be measured from the maximum height of the adjacent residential district — instead of at 25 feet in all cases — this change can lead to some additional space within new buildings for homes to be created while still maintaining a context-sensitive transition to the neighboring residential district.

Specifically, this proposed change could result in more buildings being able to develop full lower stories on the sides and rears of new buildings in commercial, mixed use, and employment districts that are directly adjacent to residential districts.

What would this look like?

Here is an example of what the current requirements would look like for a building adjacent to a parcel zoned TR-C1 (Traditional Residential – Consistent 1), a zoning district found across Madison, including much of the Nakoma neighborhood, the Westmorland neighborhood, the Waunona neighborhood, and parts of the Eastmorland and Hawthorne neighborhoods: 

This proposed change would take the 25 feet/two story height maximum and increase it to the maximum height allowed in the TR-C1 district. In this example, that would mean increasing that limit to 35 feet, allowing for a third story to be added to the part of the building closest to the neighboring property:

Here is another example: if a development was being proposed for a lot that was directly next to a Traditional Residential – Urban 2 (TR-U2) zoning district, which has a higher maximum height allowed  due to its more urban setting, an increase from the current 25-foot maximum to the TR-U2 maximum of 52 feet could result in several additional full floors of homes on the sides and rear of the building that weren’t possible under current requirements:

Current Requirement

Proposed Change

It is important to note that while this change would allow for more stories around the edges of the building, the maximum height of the building overall would still depend on the zoning district where the project is located.

Frequently Asked Questions

This proposal amends the ADU language in the code from “no more than one Accessory Dwelling Unit may be located on a lot” to “No more than one (1) attached dwelling unit or two (2) detached accessory dwelling units may be located on a lot.” The proposal also adds provisions that the detached ADU units must be in a single structure, and that a single lot also may not have both an attached ADU and a detached ADU. 

In the section of the code that lays out the size restrictions for ADUs, a change is being made to make sure the footprint of a detached ADU does not count against a lot’s 1,000-square-foot limit for all detached accessory buildings on a property, which includes things like detached garages and sheds. 

This means that properties that have a separate existing detached garage on their property would no longer need to restrict the size of a new ADU in order to stay under that total 1,000 square foot limit. Total maximum lot coverage requirements would still be measured for all detached structures on the property, though, including ADUs. All existing regulations on the size and placement of an ADU — as well as other types of detached accessory buildings -- would also remain in place.

Why is this being proposed?

This proposal would make more lot divisions possible by slightly reducing detailed lot size and lot width requirements for many zoning districts in the city.  It also allows for a 3-foot rear setback for alley-loaded attached garages in more zoning districts, as well as for attached single-family homes (often referred to as town homes) on narrow lots. 

The proposed changes for each residential zoning district are included in the tables below. Click on a heading to expand that section. All units are in feet and indicate minimums unless otherwise noted. All other dimensional requirements not listed would remain the same.

Lot size requirements are one of the biggest factors in determining how many homes can be built in an area. Making modest reductions to minimum lot size requirements across Madison opens the door to making more lot divisions possible, which in turn increases the number of potential single- or two-family homes that could be added to our neighborhoods. In some districts, these proposed changes would make recent deep residential lot or large corner lot divisions more feasible. In other districts, changes to the lot area per dwelling unit minimum requirements to bring them in line with current conditions – in essence, re-legalizing the sizes and types of buildings built in the past and that already help define neighborhoods’ building patterns. 

Allowing a three-foot rear setback for alley-loaded attached garages for attached single-family homes allows for more flexibility in home design in more districts and adds consistency between the required rear setback for attached garages and detached garages on lots that are served by alleys. 

What would this look like? 

With the proposed changes to minimum lot areas and widths, a hypothetical corner lot that is zoned SR-C2 (Suburban Residential – Consistent 2) that measures 10,230 square feet could be divided into two separate lots measuring 5,115 square feet each. Under the current code, this wouldn’t be possible, since the minimum lot area required for a single-family detached home in SR-C2 zones is 6,000 square feet. The two new lots could host single-family homes or two-unit homes due to a previous Housing Forward initiative that allowed two units of housing in all residentially-zoned lots across the City. In some cases, this could also allow for an existing home to remain in place on a new smaller lot, while creating a new lot for a new home.

For example, a 20,000 square foot corner lot in SR-C2 zones could create as many as four individual lots of 5,000 square feet. This type of change could make underutilized housing types like town homes or duplexes more feasible, creating more housing opportunities in the same amount of space while still maintaining a similar building scale often seen in the surrounding neighborhood.

Frequently Asked Questions