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Brandon board debates new "build-to-rent" zoning limits, staff seeks direction before March 16 hearing
Summary
City staff presented proposed zoning map edits that would allow "build-to-rent" developments as a conditional use in limited R8 areas, with a proposed cap of 25 homes per development and lingering debate over a 25% rental-home rule in subdivisions. Legal counsel advised councils cannot outright ban uses but can limit where they go.
Presenter (S2) told the board the March 16 agenda will include proposed zoning map changes and a public hearing on "build-to-rent" provisions that staff wants direction on before formal action. "Look forward to continuing the conversation of the proposed zoning map changes and, some red lines," S2 said.
The discussion centered on two numeric limits staff proposed: a per-development cap and a percentage cap that applies when a subdivision is not designated a build-to-rent. Presenter (S2) said the red-line draft would allow designated build-to-rent developments "25 homes max per development" and that subdivisions not designated as build-to-rent would remain subject to an existing 25% rental-home rule enforceable by local covenants and staff.
A board member (S4) objected to a 25% rental-home allowance in subdivisions, saying, "25% rental homes in a in a development is just I I don't think that's good for a a quality development. I would like 0, but 5." Other participants noted peer jurisdictions use a range of approaches—one speaker mentioned 20% in some build-to-rent rules—and the group tentatively flagged 5% as a figure for further research.
Presenter (S2) also outlined changes from an earlier moratorium-era draft attributed to Bob Barber: the older draft had proposed permitting build-to-rent as a conditional use in R12, R8 and PUD districts and initially contemplated 50 homes within a half-mile radius; the new red line removes R12 and PUD from mapped allowances, keeps conditional use in R8 where it "just makes sense for the city," reduces the per-development cap to 25 homes and extends the coordinating radius to 1 mile.
Agency official (S6) advised the board on legal constraints, cautioning that local governments cannot "exclude any use, just outright exclude it from your local government." He described zoning tools the city can use instead—conditional use review, floating districts, and limited mapping of suitable R8 land—to constrain where build-to-rent projects can be proposed. "If you want to exclude something, that is the only way that I can recommend because I have to say you cannot exclude," S6 said.
Discussion also touched on land-availability realities: S6 noted much R8 is already developed, which in practice limits where new build-to-rent projects could occur, and cited Rankin County as an example of a jurisdiction that relies on mapped district scarcity to limit deployments.
No motions or votes were recorded in the transcript. Staff said it will research peer-city percentage caps and refine red-line zoning language, then present options at the March 16 public hearing for further board direction.
The city’s next procedural step is the March 16 regular meeting, where the board will consider appointments, planning commission operations and the proposed build-to-rent provisions; staff asked the board to indicate how it wants the map and limits to be drafted going into that hearing.
