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Council sends zoning change to planners to allow for-sale small multifamily affordable units
Summary
The City Council directed the City Planning Commission to hold hearings on amending the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance so small multifamily affordable developments can include multiple owners on a single lot and to set affordability rules.
The New Orleans City Council directed the City Planning Commission to conduct a public hearing and consider text amendments to the city's Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance (CZO) to allow small multifamily affordable developments to be sold to multiple owners on a single lot and to set affordability requirements for for-sale units.
The motion, introduced by Councilmember Harris and seconded by Council President Morrell, asks the City Planning Commission to amend specific sections of the CZO (including Section 20-3-SSS and Article 26) and to address related use-table, bulk-and-yard, parking, and site-development standards. Councilmembers explained the amendment would enable developers to build two doubles on one lot where each double could be owned at an affordable rate while an additional unit could remain affordable and rented to offset mortgage costs.
Councilmember Harris said staff and his team had discussed practical considerations that CPC should address, including how parish assessment practices would treat multiple owners on a single lot and local concerns — particularly in District A — about potential misuse of small multifamily housing by college students. "I understand from Ashley and my team that there are some considerations that CPC needs to be cognizant of including how the assessor would assess each of these doubles," Harris said, adding that an overlay for District A to address student-occupancy concerns is being considered.
The motion was passed on the council floor; the clerk recorded the vote as "5 yeas." The motion directs CPC to prepare a text amendment and hold the required public hearings; any final zoning change would return to the council for approval following the CPC process.
This action is a directive to the planning commission to initiate the ordinance-text process; it is not a final zoning ordinance. The transcript shows no public comments in opposition during the council action and specifies that the CPC will return a formal proposal to the council for a final decision.
