PROMOTING AFFORDABLE HOUSING

VIA ZONING REFORM

Tom Larson, executive vice president of the Wisconsin REALTORS® Association, praised two new statewide rules. 

The first is a development-by-right framework, which requires local governments to approve a residential development if the development is consistent with the local development regulations.

It gives local officials the spine to make the correct, but politically unpopular decision.

The other change is if local government turns down a development, the applicant can appeal directly to the court and that ruling stands.

In the past, courts overturned zoning decisions, but remanded it back to the municipality.

The long cycle of winding through staff review, lower hearing boards and a vote by elected officials drove up costs and sometimes killed missing middle and urban infill projects that would have addressed the housing crisis.

HISTORIC IS NOT AN EXCUSE FOR INACCESSIBLE

IT IS ABLEIST TO DENY FRONT DOOR ACCESS 

TO PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

 

I love the 19th century cast iron buildings of New York’s SoHo.

I also reject the absurd argument that replacing their stairs with access ramps would diminish their history.

Their interiors have been 100% gutted for retail and apartments. Ramps do not alter facades.

It is ableist to claim denying front door access to people with disabilities preserves history.

Many Soho buildings have no access 34 years after the ADA.

Others have demeaning back alley access or faulty lifts.

Access for all is a basic civil right.

Those that cling to inaccessible buildings as “a part of history” are as out of bounds as those that would cling to race based deed restrictions or denying women the right to vote.

Let’s celebrate Disability Pride Month and the 34th anniversary of the ADA with inclusive design.

PROMOTING AFFORDABLE HOUSING

VIA ZONING REFORM

The report and WRA’s government relations work struck a chord, because eight different pro-housing legislative measures passed with bipartisan backing last year and in the most recent session, five major housing bills passed with almost unanimous support. 

The highlight is a $525-million revolving loan program for workforce housing.

“Our legislature is not a fan of TIF (Tax Increment Financing), tax credits or grants. It favors a revolving loan program, so the money gets paid back,” Tom Larson, executive vice president of the Wisconsin REALTORS® Association, observed.

Larson said another issue in the Badger State has been Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) opposition to affordable housing, saying “you can enact the best land-use regulations you want, but you can’t get a project approved if neighbors oppose everything.”

PROMOTING AFFORDABLE HOUSING

VIA ZONING REFORM\

Tom Larson, executive vice president of the Wisconsin REALTORS® Association (WRA), has been working on smart growth and housing affordability issues with state and local lawmakers for a quarter century.

In 2019, WRA commissioned University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of urban and regional planning, Dr. Kurt Paulsen, Ph.D., AICP, and his report, “Falling Behind,” highlights three main causes of the workforce housing shortage:

· Not building enough homes to keep up with population and income growth.

· Construction costs outpacing inflation and incomes.

· Outdated land-use regulations that significantly drive up the cost of housing.

· The results of these root causes of the workforce housing shortage bring about the following results:

· Housing costs on the rise.

· A severe decline in homeownership.

· A continued decline in overall housing affordability.

 

 

 

 

 

PROMOTING AFFORDABLE HOUSING

VIA ZONING REFORM 

“Cities and states can also enable housing production by converting land previously zoned for other uses. As work-from-home continues to be prevalent, the demand for commercial real estate has plummeted, so allow housing in commercial districts,” said Aaron Shroyer, senior advisor with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Policy Development & Research.

“We also need to promote affordable housing options near transit and create more people-centered neighborhoods.”

Shroyer is encouraged by a year that has seen about 200 affordable housing policy bills introduced in various states and the majority of them approved. 

He said all political parties are realizing that more housing supply will help hedge against prices going up so dramatically.

PROMOTING AFFORDABLE HOUSING

VIA ZONING REFORM

“Larger-lot-size zoning forces a person to buy a house and a yard. Some people don’t want yards,” said Aaron Shroyer, senior advisor with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Policy Development & Research.

“What you’re doing is guaranteeing less density. Houston lowered minimum lot sizes from 5,000 square feet to 1,400 about 25 years ago. 

I’ve read that it produced 80,000 more houses. 

Now we can’t say the smaller lot sizes are the causation for every house, but it seemed to bring more units to market and more options means more affordability.”

Shroyer agrees with many affordable housing advocates who say cities should allow missing middle and larger multifamily development by right — meaning no expensive variances or land-use changes are required. 

He also said cities could remove barriers to adaptive reuse and conversion of office or commercial buildings into housing.

PROMOTING AFFORDABLE HOUSING

VIA ZONING REFORM

Aaron Shroyer, senior advisor with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Policy Development & Research, said cities should eliminate minimum parking requirements, which often mandate more parking spaces than the market requires.

Studies have shown that parking spaces in a garage can add $30,000 or more to the price of a unit.

“I’m not the first person to say this, but our focus should be on building affordable housing for people and not for cars,” he said, noting that jurisdictions that do away with parking requirements often see more housing units on a development site.

In the single-family realm, Shroyer suggests removing something that is omnipresent in local zoning codes — minimum lot sizes.