Council members also gave final approval to an ordinance adjusting six amendments in the city’s Unified Development Code to update outdated standards.
The big picture
Planning Director Sofia Nelson presented an update to city officials about a proposed residential mixed zoning district, or RM.
“There is a real encouragement to try to diversify housing product in our community,” Nelson said.
According to city documents, the proposed district intends to accommodate single-family detached homes and encourage opportunities for homeownership by allowing a mixture of housing types, such as:
- Townhomes
- Duplexes
- Courtyard homes
- Single-family attached and detached homes
- Single-family rear-loaded homes, or properties with a garage and driveway behind the home that is accessed through an alleyway
A single-family detached home is located on its own lot and shares at least one wall with another single-family detached home on a separate lot, per city documents.
The discussion
Through the RM district, officials suggested that single-family detached or courtyard home developments with over 40-foot lots would not be required to diversify the property with a mixture of housing types.
However, if developers are considering 40-foot duplexes or townhomes, they must be able to “diversify the product” by adding a mixture of housing types, Nelson said.
“The idea behind this is to have a mix of housing types, not one individual housing type,” District 5 council member Kevin Pitts said.
Mayor Josh Schroeder suggested specifying the RM district is for developments 20 acres or less.
District 1 council member Amanda Parr raised concerns about aesthetic and landscaping issues at Davidson Ranch, a roughly 18-acre duplex development near Southwestern Boulevard and SE Inner Loop. The UDC has no minimum standard for architectural styles or lot sizes for duplexes and townhomes, according to the presentation.
“That one, to me, does have some problems,” Parr said. “I would wonder where that lot ... acreage should land, because if Davidson is still under 20, how do we avoid having the problem that currently exists if we were to cap it at 20?”
Nelson said staff can study neighborhoods to find the right acreage size for the proposed RM district. Additionally, staff could look into implementing landscaping standards for duplexes, she said.
Council members told Nelson to update the RM's purpose statement to specify the number of housing types required in within the district should be:
- One housing type for 5 acres of land or less
- Two housing types for 5-10 acres of land
- Three housing types for 10-20 acres of land
Pitts expressed concerns about the complexity of the proposed zoning and said he believes the city’s mixed-use zoning district has no current properties or applications from developers.
“If we make this too complicated, or if we have so many different standards ... we're gonna end up going through all this work to create this zoning category [and] no one's gonna use it,” Pitts said.
District 6 council member Jake French said the alternative for developers is creating a planned unit development, or PUD. Council members recently approved the rezoning for a future PUD off Rockride Lane on Feb. 11.
“Even though this might be slightly complicated ... from a development perspective, I think it's better than going through the PUD process,” French said.
After looking through current developments, Pitts said he noticed some purely offer rentals but not homes for sale. Pitts asked Nelson to look into what causes developers to offer rental homes versus homes for sale.
“The major intent is to try to produce more housing that can be for sale at a lower price point for people to be able to buy and at least get started in the real estate market, versus having no options of anything at a lower price point,” Pitts said.
Going forward
Members of the UDC Update Steering Committee, which provides input on changes to the UDC, recommended the RM district should focus on flexibility rather than mandating the diversity of product, Nelson said.
“We need to have our eye on the ordinance itself to make sure, is it working the way it needs to six, 12 months and 18 months down the line?" Nelson said.
Adding the RM zoning district to the UDC will require a future council vote.
Also on the agenda
Council members unanimously approved an ordinance adjusting the city’s Unified Development Code at the City Council meeting after the workshop.
Officials gave initial approval to the ordinance Feb. 25. According to city documents, changes include:
- Updating the UDC amendment process
- Revising the approved site development process
- Adjusting the screening—or obscuring—requirement for dumpsters, compactors, waste and recycling containers in some residential areas
- Providing exemptions to UDC fencing requirements for residents within the historic overlay district
- Removing two overlay areas from the courthouse view protection overlay district
- Not requiring select downtown retail stores and restaurants over 20,000 square feet to require off-street parking if a shared parking lot is two blocks away
