The Milwaukee Plan Commission delivered a split vote on Monday, approving one zoning change aimed at making it easier to build housing in the city to address a housing shortage and denying another.
Common Council President
Jose Pérez and Ald.
Bob Bauman are proposing to create a new zoning designation to allow apartment buildings of up to eight units to be developed with Common Council approval and, separately, to allow accessory dwelling units to be built in the city.
Both proposals were included in the Department of City Development‘s much broader Growing MKE initiative, which is an effort to overhaul the city's zoning code that
hasn't been adopted due to community opposition.
For their proposals, Perez and Bauman have now found themselves up against the same community opposition.
Commission denies 'missing middle' housing zoning change
Perez and Bauman introduced one zoning code amendment that would create a new zoning district, RT5, which would allow for multifamily buildings between five and eight units to be built on a lot without the need to create a special zoning district or navigate variances with the Board of Zoning Appeals, both of which can be unappealing processes that cost time and money, supporters have said.
The Growing MKE initiative included a similar recommendation that would automatically apply this zoning designation to certain lots in denser neighborhoods or along commercial corridors. Perez and Bauman's proposal would not automatically change the zoning of any parcel and still require that proposals be heard on a case-by-case basis to preserve Common Council control.
The RT5 designation could also create a pathway for emerging developers, often people of color, to enter the real estate world without having access to large amounts of capital, Perez said.
Perez and Bauman argued that making development of multifamily buildings of this size would boost the city's stock of what's called "missing middle housing," which refers to medium-density housing. Housing and planning experts say missing middle housing is a key part of addressing the housing shortage and affordability challenges nationwide and locally.
However, several opponents of both the Growing MKE initiative and the separate RT5 zoning district argue that the changes could encourage more absentee investor landlords to buy up housing in the city and could lead to gentrification in city neighborhoods.
“When you support these ideas, you just guarantee more racial income inequality,” said
Nicole Robinson, a research consultant with
Leverage Philanthropic Partners.
Opponents also criticized the city's public engagement efforts, saying sufficient feedback from city residents, primarily in the central city, was not gathered and they don't have confidence enough community engagement will be done when proposals emerge under this new zoning district.
As a result, the Plan Commission, which serves in an advisory role, recommended the Common Council reject this change to the city's zoning code.
Commission approves accessory dwelling unit zoning change
Perez and Bauman also introduced a zoning change to establish a more streamlined process to build accessory dwelling units (ADU) throughout the city.
ADUs are a self-contained residence located on a property that already has a separate, primary residence.
The proposal would allow one ADU to be constructed on a property that is owner occupied at the time of construction. The Growing MKE initiative also recommended policies to encourage ADU construction, but did not mandate they be owner occupied units.
While some residents still spoke in opposition to the ADU proposal, and commissioners also had concerns about this proposal, the commission voted to recommend approval of the ADU proposal.
The two proposals will be reviewed next by the Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee and, if approved there, will go before the full Common Council.
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