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Brookhaven planners back map change that moves duplex allowances from interiors to corridors
Summary
The Brookhaven Planning Commission recommended a comp-plan map change that would remove duplexes from interior neighborhoods in parts of the city and concentrate duplex/triplex allowances in corridors and transition areas; staff said design standards and a text amendment will follow to allow rebuilding of existing duplexes.
Brookhaven’s Planning Commission reviewed a proposed change to the city’s Comprehensive Plan that would remove duplexes by right from interior neighborhoods in selected character areas and instead concentrate duplex and triplex allowances in corridor and transition zones. The commission discussed the change, its origins and next steps.
The staff presentation described the recommendation as a limited map adjustment for the Osborne character area, keeping the broader plan adopted in 2024 intact but recoloring some interior blocks so duplexes and triplexes would not be allowed 'by right' in interior zones. "That does not stop somebody from coming in and asking for a rezoning," staff said, describing the change as a map-level constraint rather than a total prohibition.
Commissioners pressed staff on where duplexes and triplexes would remain permissible. Staff said corridor and transition areas would continue to allow duplexes, triplexes, accessory dwelling units and townhomes, and that standards now tied to interior neighborhoods (for example, specific door-placement rules in Brookhaven Historic District) would be carried into a future text amendment and design standards for corridors.
The proposed change followed direction from City Council: staff said some constituents raised concerns during and after the earlier adoption and council asked staff to revisit the interiors. Staff told the commission that council did not provide a head count of complainants and that the request to revisit the map came from elected officials rather than a detailed staff report.
Planning staff said the immediate next step would be a text amendment to the zoning code to allow existing duplexes to be rebuilt in their current configuration and to add more general design standards for duplexes along corridors. The city is also working with MicroLife, a small-home builder, to explore where smaller housing types might fit in Brookhaven.
Commissioners debated market demand and public perception: some noted they have received few actual rezoning requests for duplexes in the past year, and others said opposition often reflects a perception problem rather than an immediate development pressure. "We don't have the facts on who it was," staff said about the constituent complaints, and commissioners urged clearer documentation from council if available.
The commission did not take a formal vote at the work session. Staff committed to bring text-amendment language and design standards back for review; the proposal remains subject to the formal public-review process and City Council action.
