Dear Neighbor,
SRCC’s October 2023 issue of Neighborhood News featured an editorial column in the “Our Community” section that contained certain errors we would like to correct. Soon, the City Council will vote on proposed amendments to the Land Development Code in two phases. Please click on this link to the Public Notice, which contains important dates related to the proposed amendments. Proposed zoning changes details may be read here. And please see the following corrections to three points made in the “Our Community” editorial column:
- All single family lots will be 2,500 sq. ft. or smaller, meaning lots larger than 2,500 sq. ft. (the majority of residential lots) will be considered to be more than one lot.
Correction: The City Council will not consider lot size reductions to 2,500 sq. ft. until Phase II, if at all. For now, the City will consider increasing the number of allowable housing units from 2 to 3 on each single-family (SF) zoned property. The City will also consider removing or revising restrictions on the number of unrelated adults living in each housing unit. There are other proposed zoning changes to review, which are found at the link above.
- A 2,500 sq. ft. single-family lot can have as many as three housing units. Larger lots could have twice that.
Correction: As stated above, during Phase I, the City Council is neither considering lot size reductions to 2,500 sq. ft., nor allowing owners to place more than 3 housing units on each lot, regardless of size.
- The proposal also changes regulations on setbacks, height, impervious cover, and floor-to-area ratio (FAR). This is to make it easier to fit multiple housing units on a 2,500 sq. ft. lot.
Although the City may study and consider certain amendments to setback, height, impervious cover, and floor-to-area ratio during Phase II, they are not considering these amendments currently. They are, however, considering removing the Subchapter F “McMansion” restrictions from duplexes and triplexes.
Statement from SRCC
We are pleased that our neighborhood responded alertly to oversights in this month’s Neighborhood News. In the future, we plan to fact check articles and cite sources more thoroughly. This process is not foolproof. We invite all our community members to conduct research, stay vigilant, reach out to us, attend SRCC meetings, and acknowledge neighbors at every turn. We become a stronger community together. Thank you.
- Noah Balch, SRCC President
With an acknowledgment to: Sylvia Rzepniewski, SRCC Member
