Agenda - Planning Commission - 02/01/2007

Home

Zoning to Expand Affordable Housing By Jeffrey Lubell Despite a recent slowdown in home sales, working families continue to s~ruggle to find affordable homes-both rental and for sale-in communities around the country. @ Auburn Court, a rnixe.d income multifamily developme.nt in Cambridge, Massachusetts, The problem has grown to the point where it is no longer of concern only to the affected fami- lies, but also to the communities in which they live or wish to live. Communities that cannot provide afford- able homes for teachers, nurses, fire fighters, police officers. and other essential workers are at a competitive disadvantage in attracting dedicated workers for these positions. Sim- ilarly, employers will be less likely to stay in or relocate to communities that cannot provide an adequate supply of homes that are afford- able to their workers. Providing affordable homes is a major challenge that requires multiple responses by a variety of actors at the federal, state, and local levels. While city planners, zoning board offi- cials, and others involved in the zoning process ,'52 ._--=-~~:.- cannot solve this problem alone, there are a number of steps they can take to make a mate- rial difference in increasing the availability of homes affordable to working families. This issue of Zoning Practice highlights three zoning tools used by communities to increase the aVailability of affordable homes: . Revising zoning policies to make more land available for residential use and increase allowable densities within residential zones. . Adopting zoning policies that support a diversity of housing types, including multifam- ily, accessory dwelling units, and manufac- tured homes. . Establishing inclusionary zoning require. ments or incentives. To set these tools in context, we start by reviewing the scope of the affordable housing challenge facing working families and the range of policy options available to state and localleaders seeking to address it. Following this overview, the article examines the poten- tial of each of the three zoning policies to Increase the availability of homes affordable to working families. The article concludes with brief suggestions on how to build on these policy proposals to launch a comprehensive and coordinated effort to meet a community's need for affordable homes. HOUSING CHALLENGES FACING WORKING FAMILIES According to Barbara J. Upman, author of The. Housing Landscape for America's Working Families, a publication of the D.C.-based' Center for Housing Policy, five million working families nationwide had critical housing needs in 2003-an Increase of 60 percent since 1997. For purposes of this calculation, "working families" are definedas families with eamings equal to at least full-time mini- mum wage work but less than 120 percent of area median income. These tabulations of data from the 2003 American Housing Survey are the most recent available. Updated tabula- tions will be available in early to mid-2007. The vast majority of these families spent half or more of their monthly incomes on the costs of owning or 'renting a home. Others had criti- cal housing needs because they lived in homes with severe physical problems, such as lack of reliable plumbing or heating. Millions of additional working families have moderate housing cost burdens or can only afford to live far from their places of work, forcing them to endure long commutes and spend much oftheirhousing cost savings on ZONING PRACTICE 12.06 AMERICAN PlANNING ASSOCIATION I page 2