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Commissioners say smaller lots haven—t produced more affordable homes; discuss alternatives
Summary
Planning commissioners reviewed a residential-districts memo and questioned whether smaller-lot zoning has increased affordability. They discussed partnering with a development foundation to acquire land, sweat-equity programs and deferred the item for future consideration.
At a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, commissioners reviewed a residential-districts memo and debated whether recent zoning changes that allowed smaller lots have produced more affordable housing for first-time buyers.
Commissioners said they are not seeing the expected increase in entry-level homes. One commissioner said the cheapest building-permit value he had seen in the last year was about $250,000 (permit value only, excluding land), and that full house prices in town appeared to start near $450,000. Commissioners discussed whether higher interest rates and market factors, rather than local lot-size rules, explain the lack of lower-cost houses.
Options discussed included partnering with a local development foundation to acquire and control land for targeted affordable housing, replicating programs that restrict resale or residency periods, and exploring "sweat equity" models in which buyers reduce costs by providing labor on construction. Commissioners noted that smaller-lot products such as villas often attract empty-nester buyers and can be higher-priced than first-time-buyer houses.
The commission deferred the residential-districts item to a later meeting after members said the development committee had not raised pressing concerns. Commissioners agreed further work could include outreach to a development foundation, local builders and a review of incentives or land-acquisition strategies aimed at increasing genuinely affordable home stock.
