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Council reviews zoning map amendments and discusses allowing rebuilds on original footprints
Summary
City staff told the council they will rezone 44 parcels in older neighborhoods from multifamily to R‑2A to allow two‑family and smaller‑lot housing; council members also discussed letting property owners rebuild on the original house footprint when home demolition occurs.
City planning staff told the City Council on May 19 they will move forward with rezoning 44 properties on several older blocks to correct zoning classifications that currently prevent owners from rebuilding or remodeling to fit existing lot sizes.
Shauna, the city planner, told the council the proposed amendments affect about 44 parcels along the 600 block of Ingersoll Place and the 200 blocks of South Park and South Harrison, where most lots are currently labeled multifamily residential. Under the proposed change, those parcels would be rezoned to R‑2A, a two‑family residential designation with a subsection that accounts for smaller lots typical of older neighborhoods.
Shauna said the change is intended to ensure property owners can repair or rebuild houses without being forced into nonconforming status by the current multifamily classification. “If anything happens to those properties and they have to rebuild,” she said, “they’re not able under the current zoning because they don’t fit in a zoning classification that’s conducive to their use or their lot size.” The city attorney and staff will prepare the map amendments; the new zoning map is expected to be published by March following the ordinance process.
Separately, several council members discussed a policy change to allow property owners to rebuild on an existing house footprint after demolition so the lot does not remain vacant. One council member described the proposed approach as allowing a replacement structure “as long as you don’t change the footprint,” saying that practice exists in nearby jurisdictions. Staff said they encounter small‑lot issues frequently and will evaluate how to incorporate an exception for core older neighborhoods.
Ending: Staff asked council members to review the list and suggested further public hearings or map amendments through October; no rezoning ordinance was adopted at the May 19 meeting.
