In two resolutions slated for next week (Item 40 and Item 42), the Council advances Kafkaesque changes that would reshape neighborhoods into an imaginary vision of how they think we should live. The City has abandoned the pretense of creating affordable housing—working instead with its other initiatives to effectively erase existing single-family neighborhoods—plundering them under the guise of planning. The city wants neighborhoods to metamorphose into commercial/residential enclaves for high‑income earners, abandoning their legacy as places for working families to raise their children.
Authorizing three units on standard residential lots and reducing minimum lot sizes to 1800 sq. feet wasn’t enough. Neither was eliminating parking requirements and throwing out occupancy limits. DB90 or DBCS (Density bonus for cocktail lounges) zoning, swinging like an axe, to hack space for extra-tall buildings within neighborhoods, wasn’t enough either. Nor did ETODs, which blanket much of the central city and authorize 90‑ and 120‑foot buildings, solve the problem. So, the city staff is bringing a tri-part proposal to Council in two resolutions (the precursors to ordinances) that would allow 4 to 6 units on standard-size lots, expand mixed-use buildings from corridors and major roadways into neighborhoods, and permit small buildings in the front yards of single-family homes to operate as retail stores. (You read that right.)
Points to remember:
– City staff envisions the “missing middle” zoning (4 to 6 units on standard lots) would be available for area-wide “city-initiated rezoning” or by property owners in “lower- to mid-density residential neighborhoods,” in the interior of existing neighborhoods and that “[g]oing forward, the new base zones could be used instead of the current ones.” ]
– City staff proposes mixed-use zones, to support live/work, small-scale neighborhood retail, offices, missing middle-scale housing, and low-rise multifamily buildings” in low- to medium-density areas.
– The second proposed resolution, if adopted, would announce Council support for Front Yard Businesses in residential areas.
Contact the Mayor and Council and demand that these proposals be sent back to the drawing board. They will result in expensive new housing not geared to families. They will drive working families out of the city, cause displacement in our communities, and undercut public education. The Staff’s plan to allow retail buildings in the front yards of single-family homes, combined with their “study” [based on false assumptions and flawed analysis], highlights how out of touch the staff is with both the community and reality. We need land-use policies that acknowledge our existing neighborhoods and preserve a sense of place grounded in values reflected in our surroundings. We can do this and support families while accommodating people at all stages of life. We are not guinea pigs in experimental planning, and, after long, consistent experience, we have no faith that the City will genuinely engage us to build durable trust and thoughtful change.
You can register to speak at the council meeting in person or remotely on Monday, March 23 on the agenda website at 10 AM. (Hybrid Speak registration and Rules).