HOME histrionics & data transparency

Wasn't this debate settled?

Jack Craver

Jack Craver

— 6 min read
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HOME histrionics & data transparency
Small lot homes built by David Whitworth in 2013 based on a loophole in the code he identified (and that Council subsequently closed). HOME re-legalizes these types of homes.

So we got two stories in today's edition. I've got some updates on the city's IT consolidation (including a correction!) and then I want to wade into some overdue fixes to the HOME ordinance that Council Member Marc Duchen is trying to turn into a controversy.

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HOME histrionics

Tomorrow City Council is taking up a resolution asking staff to make a number of small changes to the land development code to make HOME more effective.

HOME is a series of ordinances Council approved in 2023-24 that allows up to three units on single family lots. HOME also reduced the minimum lot size from 5,750 sq ft to 1,800 sq ft, but only for single units. The old minimum still applies for two or three-unit projects.

Among the changes called for in the resolution:

  • Reducing the minimum lot for two-unit projects to 3,600 square feet.
  • Allowing zero side setbacks
  • Reducing the minimum lot width
  • Allow front porches to project up to 50% into the front yard setback
  • Exempt two and three unit projects from landscaping requirements

There is also some language asking staff to "conform regulations in all zoning districts" to HOME. This is aimed at Neighborhood Conservation Combining Districts (NCCDs), a handful of areas throughout the city that have a bunch of complicated zoning rules intended to protect a historic character. The two that really matter politically are Hyde Park and Travis Heights.

My recollection is that it was assumed that HOME would override NCCDs but there is now ongoing litigation on the matter. Obviously if the city's goal is to make housing more affordable and to boost tax revenue, there is no reason that a couple of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the city should be exempt from HOME.

It would be surprising if this encounters meaningful resistance. Ten of the 11 members of Council, including the mayor, ran on making two and three-unit projects easier to build!

HOME has done exactly what it was intended to do, which is deliver homes at lower prices. It has not done any of what its critics claimed it would do.

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