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Village Board to Consider Upzoning
Anthony Hanson
Preface
Zoning: Land use zoning is a method used by the government to classify parcels of land and restrict the physical development or use of certain parcels of land.
Good zoning strikes the appropriate balance between growth and preservation tailored to the needs and visions for the future of individual communities or neighborhoods. A lack of planning can lead to chaotic, unsustainable development, while excessive regulation may preserve existing neighborhoods but not allow communities to evolve and grow.
Areas with little available or very expensive land may choose to encourage the replacement of single family homes or vacant commercial spaces with higher density residential units to reduce commute times and allow residents better access to commercial and cultural resources.
Other communities may feel that their historic, cultural and natural resources are crucial to their vitality and economic prosperity and may opt for a cautious approach to growth that prioritizes preservation. While there will always be tension between these competing needs, strong community involvement and government transparency can lead to a consensus and acceptance by all stakeholders.
What is Upzoning?
Upzoning is a commonly used term in urban planning that describes an alteration to a community's zoning code to allow an increased capacity for development
Up-zoning, Missing Middle, Filtering and YIMBY are all current buzzwords in the planning community. Pro-upzoning advocates place much of the blame of high housing prices on zoning that only allows single family homes on large lots, that take up more land, and are more expensive to rent than multi family houses. Up-zoning advocates generally recommend the following policies to enable more housing;
Renting of whole or part of home in residential areas.(Currently Allowed)
Multi-unit dwellings (Currently Allowed)
Smaller homes -currently 850 sq ft., proposal is NYS min
Multi-Family homes on smaller lots Proposed 6,500 vs. Existing 15,000 sq ft and proposed 40’ width vs. 100’.
Reduced parking requirements (Proposed)
Small second houses on a lot (ADUs), current proposal allows for full sized second homes on smaller lots (6,500 sq. ft.), Current zoning requires 22,500 for a second home.
The stated goals of these changes are admirable; they include;
Creating more housing
Lowering costs
Allowing for growth to support local businesses
Denser development that reduces sprawl
This premise seems reasonable. Housing prices are high because there is more demand than supply. Zoning can be a barrier to supply by restricting what can be built. Therefore, reducing zoning requirements will increase supply and lower prices. This simplicity approach is appealing, but ignores the complexity of the problem.
Issues with this approach
It ignores the main causes of high house home prices.
High Costs of Construction Materials Cost of construction materials remains 37% higher than pre-pandemic according to latest ABC analysis | News | Archinect
Skilled Labor Shortage Construction Workforce Shortage Tops Half a Million in 2023, Says ABC | News Releases
Competition from Investors Investors Snapped Up A Record Share Of Homes In The Spring Buying Season (forbes.com)
These have far larger impacts on housing costs than zoning regulations. In areas that lack developable land, increasing density (smaller lots and more units per acre) and reducing parking requirements could lower development costs and lead to more construction. However, given the relatively low cost of land in our area and available open space within and adjacent to the village, these changes would have little or no impact on the amount of development. The proposed deregulation could possibly lead to some additional housing, but it will probably not be the charming little starter homes for young families that we’d like to see. Builders will most likely maximize their income by building larger, more profitable homes for wealthier, generally older buyers.
Inappropriate for Trumansburg
While the historic areas of Trumansburg were developed without zoning, the founders clearly had a plan. The open spaces and grid layout are similar to that of many other historic towns and villages and reflect the idea that a positive environment contributes to people’s mental and physical health and strong communities, popular at that time.
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These ideas continue to be at the heart of urban planning, as demonstrated by the purpose clause of our own zoning.
“Section 101. Purpose. For the purpose of promoting the health, safety, morals, or the general welfare of the community, and to lessen congestion in the streets; to secure from fire, panic and other dangers; to provide adequate light and air; to prevent the overcrowding of land; to avoid undue concentration of population; to safeguard homes by preserving the attractive environment of residential areas”
Allowing an increase in density to roughly 8 times what currently exists in the village will greatly alter the character of the village. The village was laid out primarily in 80’-100’ wide lots with deep back yards in the late 1800’s and early 1900s. These lots are largely responsible for the feel of the village. Houses are close enough to create community and allow for walkable neighborhoods, but far enough apart to provide privacy, relative quiet, outdoor recreation and daily interaction with nature.
Removal, and/or failure to include reasonable oversight and design/use standards and lack of protections for historic and natural resources could lead to a change in the character of the village. Dramatically reducing lot size will allow developers to purchase older, less expensive houses, and replace them with 2 or 3 expensive homes with no design guidelines or design review to ensure compatibility with existing homes.
Allowing for a second home behind existing or new houses on a single lot would greatly alter what people love about the village. These second houses would consume backyards, resulting in the removal of trees and loss of privacy for neighbors. These backyard houses would not have the front porches or front yards where people meet and interact with their neighbors and which are important elements of good communities.
Failure to Acknowledge the Shortcomings and Negative Outcomes of Upzoning
This supply-side approach, known as the ‘filtering effect’, theorizes that if you add enough new housing to a market, even if it's expensive, affordable housing will be freed up. This trickle down approach embraces the idea that, by lowering development costs and eliminating regulation, developers will supply enough housing to meet demand and lower prices for everyone. However, numerous studies have shown that free-market deregulation of housing has a negative impact on affordability.
Upzoning favors developers. Roads, sidewalks and water/sewer infrastructure- all built by taxpayers- are valuable assets for developers. Reducing lot sizes and allowing more building on those lots increases the development value of land, leading to higher prices. Developers with access to enough capital to construct multiple large buildings on a lot can outbid families looking to build a single modest home.
Not surprisingly, just as energy deregulation led to the Enron crisis and banking deregulation led to the 2008 financial crisis, deregulation in housing has led to high profits for developers, expensive new homes replacing older, more affordable ones and erosion of neighborhood character. In communities including Ithaca, Boise, Austin, Bloomington Illinois, Raleigh, Arlington and Brooklyn, citizens are pushing back on these policies. They have seen higher prices, overcrowding, displacement of long time residents and the destruction of beloved neighborhoods. Unfortunately, rescinding these laws will not bring back the lost neighborhoods, and landowners can sue local governments for lost development value if they revert back to lower density zoning.
Why has the idea of upzoning become so popular?
The promise of mitigating housing costs by freeing up more areas for development and allowing for higher densities has appeal given the scope of the current housing crisis, but how did an unproven idea gain so much traction in only a few years? Changing laws takes time, access, and of course, money. There are certainly many well-meaning citizen groups and planners that have embraced upzoning, but there are also powerful interests involved in promoting this agenda. Some progressive organizations, such as the Sightline Institute (funded by tech billionaires) seek novel, results driven solutions to social issues. Industry groups such as The National Association of Home Builders and National Association of Realtors support upzoning because it benefits their members. Conservative and Libertarian think tanks including Mercatus Institute, The Federalist Society ,The Heritage Foundation have seized the opportunity to promote an anti-regulation, pro-growth agenda by framing upzoning as being about affordability.
ANOTHER APPROACH
The original zoning revision utilized all of the recommendations of pro-up zoning advocates and applied them village wide without regard to the community’s specific needs. Alternatively, a revision that takes the entire Comprehensive Plan into account will ensure that the goals of zoning revision match the community’s desires.
A more modest reduction in lot sizes
Reducing dimensional requirements would allow for development of some empty lots and the subdivision of larger lots. While the historic areas of the village generally have lot widths of 80’ to 100’ and an average square footage of 20,000, reducing the minimum lot width of 65’-80’ and minimum square footage of 8,500 to 10,000 would be a significant drop from current regulations, but allow for additional housing consistent with existing neighborhoods.
Limit the proportion of land that can be built on.
Known as ‘Lot Area Coverage’, limiting how much of a lot that can be covered by house and hard surfaces has multiple benefits;
Increases affordability by reducing building size
Allows for storm water absorption
Prevents overcrowding
Preserves existing trees
Conserves village resources
Protects neighbor’s privacy
Decrease noise and traffic impact on neighbors
Discourages speculative land purchases
Given the existing village-wide storm water issues, increased risk of extreme weather and pending storm water study, this would seem a prudent if not necessary measure.
Encourage efficient and liveable development in remaining undeveloped areas in and adjacent to the village.
The current zoning revision focused on infill development in established, already dense, neighborhoods. However, the larger lots off of King Road and the northern end of Main Street are capable of supporting a large amount of new homes. Promoting new neighborhoods in these areas that provide a high quality of life and that are well connected to the rest of the village should be a priority.
Regulated ADUs
Accessory dwelling units are promoted as a way to provide income for residents facing a financial strain of homeownership and provide affordable rentals apartments. These have been
popular in places where use and design guidelines provide protections to reduce the impact on neighbors. These can include:
Owner occupancy requirements
Restrictions on short term rentals
Limiting size, usually 600-900 feet or 50% of primary house, whichever is less
Design guidelines and oversight to ensure privacy and protection of neighboring property values
The current revision does not include these restrictions and allows for additional houses that are as large or larger than the primary home in backyards. Second primary homes on a single lot is even discouraged by most proponents of upzoning. Rear yards not only provide private recreational space , but when combined, they are our collective parks. They provide shade , wildlife habitat, stormwater absorption and privacy. Preserving them is essential to preserving what people love about living here.
Protection for natural resources and historic buildings and neighborhoods
The Comprehensive Plan placed a large emphasis on the communities desire to protect historic and natural resources. While these topics were not in the scope of the CPZRCs first revision, language that encourages the preservation of historic buildings should be included in the residential and commercial zoning ordinance.
Real solutions for affordable housing
New market based development will never provide affordable housing for everyone. However, two ambitious INHS projects currently under way in Trumansburg will add 56 affordable units and 10 market rate houses at Village Grove and a total of 138 manufactured home sites at the refurbished Compass property that previously had numerous vacant or abandoned sites.
Conclusion
The current proposal has been described as being necessary for the economic health and vitality of the village, claiming that by encouraging development, more affordable housing will be created and tax increases will be held in check. However, no evidence has been provided to support these claims. A study by the left-leaning Urban Institute found only a .8% increase over 5 years in supply and no meaningful change in prices for housing in areas that have enacted this type of upzoning. While growth may lower the tax burden in the short term, these new residents will also require increased services and investments in infrastructure, so the long term effect of growth on taxes is unclear.
One of the reasons that housing is more expensive in the village is because people long to live in places that have not been overwhelmed by growth. This is one of our greatest assets, but it is also fragile. High demand, combined with the increased presence of investors in residential housing markets, will put continued pressure for growth that could lead to the loss of the village's character. In revising zoning laws, the Board of Trustees must be responsive to the current needs of citizens. However, it also has a duty, as the stewards of the village, to ensure that the future residents can enjoy the high quality of life that the Village of Trumansburg provides. Finding a responsible balance of these competing needs is possible, but will require a careful and nuanced approach that is tailored to the needs and concerns of Trumansburg citizens.