Council preview: single-stair ordinance aimed at lowering multifamily construction costs to move to legislative committee

Council members were asked to review a proposed single-stair ordinance the chair said would align with the city’s Land Development Office policy improvement work and could make certain multifamily buildings less expensive to build.

The chair told the council the ordinance is intended to allow, under specified parameters, single stairwells in multifamily buildings of certain sizes where research shows properly designed single-stair buildings can be as safe as buildings with two stairwells. She said architects and affordable-housing advocates had worked at the state level on similar changes and credited Chris Anderson, members of the affordable-housing team, Nicole and Megan for coordinating with the Land Development Office to identify potential pitfalls.

The chair said the ordinance text in the meeting packet is additional language rather than a replacement redline, and she asked members to read it before it goes to legislative committee. She said Vice Chairwoman Noel will work with staff to place the ordinance in the legislative committee for detailed review.

Why it matters: Council members framed the change as part of a broader effort to reduce regulatory cost drivers in housing construction. The measure was presented as a technical, parameterized code change that would apply only to projects that meet the ordinance’s size and design conditions; no code change was adopted in the meeting.

Questions from council included whether the measure is a new ordinance (the chair said it is new) and how it relates to prior amendments the council has considered regarding sprinklering requirements. The chair said she would provide supporting evidence for members who request it before legislative-committee consideration.