Council debates multifamily cap; planning & zoning recommends 3% cap ahead of public hearing

Spring City’s Planning & Zoning Commission recommended that the council lower the citywide cap on multifamily housing from 5% to 3% of single‑family units, a restriction included in an upcoming zoning ordinance that will be the subject of a public hearing later this month.

Planning & Zoning advanced three draft controls in April and again recommended changes in their packet: (1) reduce allowable density (number of dwelling units per lot), (2) cap the overall amount of multifamily housing as a percentage of single‑family units and (3) prohibit duplexes and similar multifamily development within the city’s Main Street historic district. At the meeting the commission recommended setting the percentage cap at 3% rather than the 5% that staff had originally drafted.

Council members discussed the practical effect of the percentage cap. Staff presented a roster of approximately 450 single‑family homes in the city and explained how a 5% cap would allow roughly 22 additional dwelling units (about six more duplexes compared with current approvals), while 3% would yield a lower allowance and effectively “cap” multifamily growth until the city adds more single‑family units.

Some council members supported the planning commission’s recommendation as a conservative measure to limit new multifamily development. Others argued that the 5% figure was already low and that a stricter cap could unnecessarily constrain housing options. Council members noted that any additional multifamily development would require a rezoning, so practical growth would be subject to an additional council process.

No final amendment of the draft ordinance was adopted at the meeting. Staff told the council that if they intended to change the published draft before the scheduled public hearing they needed to adopt that change at the meeting; the draft remained at the previously drafted 5% in the materials that will be presented at the public hearing.

The matter is scheduled for a public meeting later in the month; council members said the public hearing and subsequent council deliberations will determine the ordinance’s final language.