Ordinance Updates

Planning Division staff worked on several initiatives to simplify the development review process and allow for more housing to be built.

Reviewing Proposed Building Demolitions

The Zoning Code was amended to simplify the demolition approval process. Before the change, the Landmarks Commission and the Plan Commission reviewed every building proposed for demolition. Now, only buildings found to have historic value by the Landmarks Commission are reviewed by the Plan Commission. If the Landmarks Commission finds that a building does not have historic value, then the Building Inspection Division can approve the demolition. The change also created new approval standards for the Plan Commission to use when considering demolition requests.  

Housing Forward Initiative

Staff worked with the City's Zoning Office on the Housing Forward initiative. The initiative aims to address the city's housing needs through a variety of policies, including changes to the Zoning Code. Staff assisted with the following Zoning Code changes:

• Allowing more property owners with deep residential lots to split those lots, creating “Backyard Lots". This change allows an owner to split a deep lot into two lots and allows a home to be built on the new backyard lot.

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  Adjust requirements within Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) areas to encourage more housing and fewer auto-centric uses such as standalone private surface parking lots. One of the changes allows development of up to four residential units as a permitted use in all residentially zoned properties in the TOD overlay district.

• Allowing two-unit homes and Accessory Dwelling Units containing two units in all residential zoning districts.
• Simplifying the permit process for small and medium-sized housing developments downtown. This change raises the threshold for determining whether projects have to go through a Conditional Use process. The Conditional Use process can take longer and have a less predictable outcome than a permitted use.

• Allow the creation of Cottage Court developments. Cottage Court developments usually include several houses located around a central courtyard. The Zoning Code allows for smaller houses on smaller lots. The smaller houses have the potential to be more affordable than other homes in the city.