The 3 biggest debates left in Richmond's zoning rewrite
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After two years of public meetings, proposals and feedback, Richmond's massive zoning code overhaul is entering its final stretch with the third (and hopefully final) draft expected next month.
Why it matters: City leaders — and many locals — seem to agree that Richmond needs more housing. What's left to decide is how much new housing the city will allow and where.
State of play: City officials last week previewed potential third-draft items for City Council, the Planning Commission and the Zoning Advisory Board.
- While there's been "pretty substantial agreement" on most of the updates proposed in the first two drafts, three key issues still need to be hashed out, city planning director Kevin Vonck said at a recent press conference.
- Those are: how many unrelated people can live in a household, how to zone places of worship, and how many housing units can be built on a single lot.
Between the lines: At the center of the once-in-a-generation zoning update is the city's goal of increasing the housing supply to meet its growing needs, Mayor Avula said at the press conference.
- At the same time, officials want to encourage development of a variety of housing options — like apartments, duplexes and cottages — to ensure Richmonders can stay in a city where housing costs keep climbing.
Zoom in: Here's how the city is approaching those three remaining questions, per recent presentation materials.
🏘️ How many units on a lot
The most controversial proposal in the city's first two drafts — allowing multiple housing units on formerly single-family lots — seems to be sticking around for draft three, with some changes.
- The city appears to be considering capping the maximum number of units allowed on a lot at two (it was three in the first two drafts), including an accessory dwelling unit (aka ADUs and granny flats).
- A duplex could be allowed in addition to an ADU if it's one building and if the existing home is preserved.
- But the maximum ADU size could increase to 1,200 square feet in draft three, up from 1,000 in the former drafts.
⛪️ Houses of worship
As major landowners with properties across the city, according to Vonck, houses of worship could offer easy opportunities to create more housing, so how the land they sit on is zoned could be critical.
- The city is considering allowing up to four types of residential housing on those lots, from clusters of small cottages to large apartment complexes, per the presentation materials.
- That's a change from draft two, which would've allowed mixed-use buildings in addition to residential.
Context: A state law that goes into effect in January — dubbed "Yes in God's Backyard" — will allow religious organizations to build affordable housing on their land by right, but zoning could help determine what else could be built on the property.
👯♀️ How many unrelated people can live in a house
The city is considering state code, which uses the number of bedrooms and bedroom square footage to determine the occupancy, but generally allows up to two people per 100-square-foot bedroom.
- The city's existing code says no more than three unrelated people can live in a home, and draft two proposed allowing up to eight unrelated people in a household.
What we're watching: The city hopes to get feedback from its presentations in the coming weeks and deliver draft three "sometime in July," Vonck said.
- City Council will have the last say whenever it gets the final draft, but some members have indicated the city could be in for a long process.
- Meanwhile, activist and former City Council candidate Paul Goldman told local outlets he's planning to file a lawsuit challenging the Code Refresh this week.
Sabrina Moreno contributed to this report.