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Council adopts changes to Denton's affordability-incentive program, lowering barriers for small infill and setting a 15% threshold

Denton City Council · April 7, 2026

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Summary

Council approved amendments to DDC §2.12 removing a right-of-first-refusal requirement, setting a 15% unit threshold to access incentives, distinguishing rental vs. homeownership income targets, and shortening some homeownership affordability periods to 5 years. Planning & Zoning recommended approval 5–0; the council voted 7–0.

Leah Atkinson, housing programs coordinator, summarized staff-recommended amendments to the Denton Development Code affordability-incentive program. Key changes the council adopted include removing the city's right of first refusal for participating developments (staff said restrictive covenants already protect affordability), removing scaling qualifications and establishing a 15 percent minimum of units designated affordable to qualify for incentives, revising rental affordability targets to focus on units "affordable for Denton" (preserving 30/50 percent AMI tiers), increasing the homeownership target level to 80 percent AMI (while allowing lower thresholds when other funding requires them) and reducing the affordability period for homeownership projects from 30 years to 5 years to align with other programs.

Atkinson said the program has produced applications for parking and landscaping incentives and that staff will monitor the program and return with adjustments as needed. Planning & Zoning recommended the amendments 5–0; during council deliberations members sought clarifications on threshold math and the rationale for removing the right of first refusal. The council voted 7–0 to adopt the text amendments as presented.