Neighbors,Three business days before the public hearing on the rezoning proposal, scheduled for Wednesday, May 24, at 7 in Town Hall, the Town released a notice that appears to make significant changes in the re-zoning proposal. Since April 10, the proposal has permitted only duplexes in single-family neighborhoods. With this change, it appears from the language used that pigs can fly and duplexes can multiply.In late January, when almost no one had heard of it, we discovered a proposal to eliminate single-family zoning protections for family neighborhoods and a plan to vote to approve that proposal in just over three weeks, on February 22.That proposal would have allowed commercial developers and investors to buy homes in family neighborhoods, tear down the houses, and build multi-unit housing in the form of duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, townhouses, and something called “cottage courts.”After a strong protest the vote was postponed, and at the council work session on April 10 the Town announced that only duplexes would be allowed in zoning districts R-1, R-2, and R-3. This was something of a relief, of course, but a rental duplex can also harm a family neighborhood–you have seen the photos I have taken of duplex complexes already built in some zoning districts that pack in renters and cars and burden local streets.Here is the language in Friday evening’s announcement:“What has changed since the January 2023 proposal?
- Staff have modified the proposed amendments since they presented in January 2023.
- The size of accessory apartments has been increased from 750 square feet to 1,000 square feet.
- Two-family developments, including single-family + cottage and two attached or detached units would be permitted in all residential (R-) zoning districts.
- Three- and four-family developments would be allowed only in areas that already allow multi-family development. The revised proposal will not allow triplexes or fourplexes in R-1, R-2, or R-3 zoning districts.”
It is the third item that is most concerning. It no longer mentions “duplexes” but instead refers to “two-family developments.” Let’s call them duplexes.
With this language it seems there are now three types of “duplexes”:1. A “single-family + cottage development.” Whatever it’s called, that’s two houses on a residential lot. How big can they be? Will they really be marketed to families rather than to students? How many student rentals can they accommodate?2. Two “attached” units. This would be the typical duplex where one building contains two housing units.3. Two “detached” units. Consider a developer who buys a single-family house. The house could be torn down and replaced by two “detached” units. So instead of one duplex we have two separate buildings. One building, perhaps with two stories, can be built in front of the lot, and another built at the rear of the lot. There you have a “detached duplex,” an oxymoron. How big can those buildings be? It is easy to imagine that they are big enough for five student bedrooms, so on that residential lot we could have 10 or more rented bedrooms and perhaps 10 or more cars.What’s going on here? Is the Town trying to use facile language to re-introduce multi-unit structures beyond duplexes that we thought were eliminated from consideration on April 10? The Town owes us an explanation and answers to our questions.The public hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, May 24, at 7 pm at Town Hall. If you wish to speak, sign up with the clerk at the left of the room. Parking is available at the municipal parking lots on Rosemary and on the streets around Town Hall (including, we are told, on MLK Boulevard). The video is available through this link.Don LIner
