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Commission Debates Allowing 'Mansion Apartments' to Add Missing-Middle Housing
Summary
Commissioners heard a lengthy proposal to allow 'mansion apartments' — house-form buildings containing up to four units — in R3M zones as a missing-middle housing option; staff and commissioners requested design parameters, parking and setback guidance for a future draft ordinance.
Commissioner Carter Wilkie introduced a policy discussion on allowing "mansion apartments" — buildings that look like single-family homes from the street but contain multiple dwelling units — as a tool to add missing-middle housing in R3M zones.
Wilkie described the concept as a way to enable higher-density living without large apartment blocks: units would be limited to four per building, no taller than two-and-a-half stories, and subject to a parking and setback negotiation to make the projects financially viable for developers. "This is just one more tool in the box," a commissioner said, urging a narrow-band approach focused on lots where the form fits.
Commissioners and staff debated whether local lot sizes (many R3 lots are narrow) would accommodate the form, how to tie incentives to development agreements or conditional-use permits without inviting subjectivity or litigation, and how to maintain architectural form so the buildings preserve neighborhood character. Staff and commissioners asked for specific architectural examples and for staff to test overlays on actual lots; multiple commissioners volunteered to do homework and return with examples and measurements.
No ordinance was drafted or voted on; commissioners asked staff to prepare draft language and feasibility work for a future hearing.
