Flagstaff Housing Commission reviews zoning text amendment to allow single‑use residential and expand adaptive reuse incentives

At its May meeting, the Flagstaff Housing Commission heard a presentation from Tiffany Antal, the city’s zoning code manager, on a proposed text amendment to allow single‑use residential development in commercial zones as an affordable‑housing incentive and to add incentives for adaptive reuse projects.

Antal described single‑use residential as "a development containing only residential uses" and said, "Single use means not part of a mixed use project." She told commissioners the proposal would allow certain single‑use residential projects to avoid the current conditional use permit process if they meet affordability requirements, making lending and project planning more predictable for developers.

The draft amendment would require rental projects to set aside a minimum of 20% of units at up to 80% of area median income (AMI) for 30 years. For ownership units, the draft proposes 15% of units at 50% AMI. Antal said those percentages are…