Austin Approves Upzoning

Months after ending minimum parking requirements, the city of Austin voted to eliminate single-family zoning and allow up to three homes on each residential lot, reports Austin Sanders in The Austin Chronicle. “Property owners will also be able to install tiny homes on their property and owners of older homes will be able to utilize new bonuses designed to incentivize the preservation of existing homes that meet certain criteria.”

The new rule, called Home Options for Middle-Income Empowerment (HOME), doesn’t apply in the city’s Neighborhood Conservation Combining Districts (NCCD). Recognizing the new housing arrangements prompted in part by the high cost of housing, it also eliminates rules about unrelated housemates, legalizing increasingly popular co-living arrangements. Sanders notes that “Property owners will also be limited by private deed restrictions and homeowners associations that limit the number of homes built on a single lot.”