Housing costs in our city are high due to a shortage of available housing. Multiple developers are proposing new apartment projects, including on Newfield Street and on Main Street. What will our future housing options look like? What should they look like?
The regional council of governments, RiverCoG, is presenting a housing workshop on Wednesday, March 16, virtually via Zoom. To register for the meeting, go HERE.
In much of the state, employers are facing a workforce shortage, in part because there is not affordable housing. To address this component of economic development, and to ensure the equity and environmental sustainability of housing, the legislature has enacted zoning reforms that will impact our city's future housing. In the current legislative session, it is considering changes to state zoning statutes that will go even further.
At the most recent Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, Director of Land Use Marek Kozikowski outlined the 5 approaches that RiverCoG is proposing to address housing needs in our region:
- Increase the number of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU). These are small, separate residences on the lot of a single-family residence, they could be in the attic, basement, or garage, or as stand-alone structures.
- Encourage middle housing. Middle housing is something in between an apartment complex and a single family home. These could be duplexes or quads, and they are often in the same style as single family homes. Our city has some of these downtown--three-story buildings with a separate residence on each floor.
- Rehab historic structures.
- Microunits downtown. These might be 500 square foot studio apartments above commercial uses on the ground floor.
- Lower parking requirements. Parking lots reduce affordable housing in two ways. They raise the cost of housing considerably, and they take away land that can be used for housing.
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Posted by Stephen H. Devoto
