The FWD #188 • 824 Words
Keeping track of local and state efforts to fix zoning is getting harder—and that’s a good thing.
According to UC Berkeley’s Zoning Reform Tracker, over 75 cities and counties across the country have successfully changed—or are actively changing—their zoning codes to make housing easier to build. But we noticed it’s missing a few from Virginia, so even this great resource can’t keep count of all the pro-housing zoning reforms underway these days. That’s why we’ve created our own tracking page for zoning reform efforts.
Perhaps jealous of their municipal counterparts, some governors and state lawmakers are now getting in on the action. At the start of this year, experts were tracking at least thirteen states with notable proposals expected or already underway—not to mention recent successes like California’s SB9 and Connecticut’s HB6107.
Here in the Commonwealth, a growing number of advocates and elected officials are looking for ways to fix onerous zoning regulations. These laws limit the amount and location of new housing, especially denser options that can be more affordable by design. As we explain in our Racial Equity Toolkit, they were often first implemented as de facto racial segregation policies. Today, they can help maintain those disparities and artificially restrict the supply of much-needed homes.
The urgent need to address zoning’s impacts on housing is why we’ve made it a major focus of our recent work. This year, we’ll launch our “ZONED IN” initiative as a regional training and solution-setting collaboration in Hampton Roads to advance meaningful action. If successful, we’ll expand to more areas of the state.
In the meantime, we think it’s helpful to get a good handle on existing policy efforts in Virginia and elsewhere. On our new page, we’ll curate and update a growing list of zoning reforms we think are relevant to advocates and practitioners here in our Commonwealth.
Here are some of the most interesting examples we’ll share with you for now.
Highlights from Virginia
HB 2046: Annual housing reports from localities to DHCD: Several bills directing the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) to investigate statewide housing needs and the impacts of local zoning were introduced in the 2023 Session. Incorporated into HB 2046, which passed both Senate and House unanimously, the final legislation initiates a new statewide housing needs assessment and plan every five years.
As part of that process, the bill also requires almost every locality in Virginia (i.e., those with more than 3,500 people) to submit annual reports to DHCD that summarize their “housing policies, ordinances, or processes affecting the development and construction of housing.”
Arlington: Missing Middle Housing Proposal: In 2020, the County began its Missing Middle Housing Study (MMHS) to explore how new housing types could address Arlington’s shortfall in housing supply. After two years of public engagement, the MMHS has reached its final phase, with a final vote from the Arlington County Board on March 22, 2023 to expand housing options in portions of the county that currently only allow for single-family homes.
Highlights from other states
New York: In January 2023, Governor Kathy Hochul (D) announced a statewide strategy to address New York’s housing crisis, build 800,000 new homes over the next decade to meet the historic shortage, and support New York renters and homeowners as part of the 2023 State of the State. The New York Housing Compact will require all cities, towns, and villages to achieve new home creation targets on a three-year cycle, and key goals for rezoning around transit stations to increase density and allow for at least 25 homes per acre.
Colorado: On March 22, 2023, Governor Jared Polis (D) announced a comprehensive plan to help create more housing for every Colorado budget. Key aspects of the plan include an end to single-family-only zoning, the removal of certain state-level regulations on housing, and an override of local zoning that fails to meet new criteria with a state standardized code.
Parking Reform: In 2015, the City Council of Fayetteville, Arkansas approved a proposal to completely eliminate minimum parking requirements for nonresidential properties. Six years after the zoning change, buildings previously identified as being perpetually and perhaps permanently unusable have been quickly purchased, redeveloped, and are in use.
This is one of over 600 cities across the country that have eliminated or are working toward eliminating parking minimums for certain developments in their zoning code according to the Parking Reform Network.
More ADUs for Anchorage: Earlier in 2023, Anchorage lawmakers adopted a package of policy changes to make ADUs (“bonus homes”) easier to build throughout the city. This was a direct response to city demographics trending toward smaller household sizes—and subsequent losses in population.
We know there’s plenty of other examples out there. Have you seen a notable proposal to change zoning that you’d like us to add? Send us a message with a few details. And stay tuned later this year for the official launch of ZONED IN.