Flagstaff staff pitch three zoning scenarios to boost housing, cut building emissions

City of Flagstaff planning staff on the Transportation Commission meeting on Jan. 1, 2025 presented the final code concepts report tied to a land-availability and suitability study, outlining three scenarios to increase housing production and reduce building carbon emissions.

The proposals, presented by Michelle McNulty, Planning Director for the City of Flagstaff, and zoning staff Tiffany Antal and Genevieve (Sustainability Division), ranged from enhancing existing incentives to raising by-right residential density and reducing parking requirements. Officials said the scenarios are intended to align zoning, development codes and sustainability incentives with the city’s housing and carbon-neutrality goals. “What is most important as we move through all of this information is there’s a lot of different details and a lot of different pieces of code, that could be affected or talked about as part of this. What we’re really trying to get people’s attention on is to focus on outcomes,” Tiffany Antal said.

The city’s diagnostic report identified a range of code- and process-related barriers to new housing, including residential and commercial zoning rules, parking requirements, the zoning-map amendment and subdivision processes, street-width standards, transportation-impact fees and the resource protection overlay. McNulty said the land-availability and suitability portion of the work is primarily a land inventory focused on residential development and identifying barriers such as infrastructure gaps and environmental constraints.

The staff outlined three scenarios they modeled: scenario 1…