A Florida university town became the first in the Sunshine State to eliminate single-family zoning. But in a reflection of the high level of conflict over the issue, there’s a chance the law won't live long.
After months of wrangling, Gainesville's city commission narrowly approved eliminating the zoning this week with the goal of increasing density and adding more affordable housing. Developers in Gainesville now will be able to build duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes across the city.
The home of the University of Florida joins the city of Minneapolis and the states of Oregon and California, which have all lifted more restricted zoning in order to increase density. Other areas around the country have been considering similar moves, while cities such as Durham, North Carolina, have already taken steps to increase density in single-family neighborhoods near their downtowns.
Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., is considering ending single-family zoning through new laws that would allow up to eight attached units. The county is home to e-commerce giant Amazon's East Coast headquarters, now under construction. Amazon also has been funding efforts to create and preserve affordable housing in the area.
Eliminating the zoning in Gainesville could be short-lived. Opponents have vowed to overturn the ordinance through legal means or by electing new commission members in November who oppose the ordinance.
Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut, who voted against the ordinance, vowed during the meeting this week to make her first act with a new commission in January to try to reverse the ordinance. “To the [city] attorney, I hope you’re not planning a Christmas vacation,” Chestnut said.
In September, the state warned through a letter from the Florida Economic Opportunity Department that it could take action against the city if the ordinance was approved.
Affordability Concerns
Like many cities and states, Gainesville faces a housing shortage as well as affordability concerns that have followed. Supply isn’t matching demand in Alachua County where Gainesville is the largest city with a population of about 140,000, representing slightly more than half the county’s population. The shortage is most acute for those earning less than $50,000 annually, according to data from the Florida Apartment Association. Supply is more equal to demand for those earning more than $50,000 and less than $75,000 per year while supply is outstripping demand at higher income levels.
Similar scenarios have been seen across the country. Single-family zoning has been cited as one of the chief culprits since it prevents density and can lead to housing shortages.
“Eliminating exclusionary zoning is one of many innovative solutions that will collectively help our nation grapple with its housing affordability challenges, spurred by a critical shortage of housing at all price points,” Nicole Upano, National Apartment Association’s assistant vice president for housing policy and regulatory affairs, said in an email. “Removing barriers to apartment development helps responsibly improve affordability long-term.”
Single-family zoning is called “exclusionary” because it codifies the exclusion of multifamily development and has also been linked with segregation. The basis for the zoning that grew across the country was established by a 1926 Supreme Court ruling that concluded in part that development of detached house sections is greatly delayed by the "coming of apartment houses, which has sometimes resulted in destroying the entire section for private house purposes” and that an apartment building is a “mere parasite.”
Gainesville put its single-family zoning in place in 1958. Gainesville Mayor Lauren Poe said during the Monday meeting that discussions date back to 2016 on how to repair the damage done by passing the zoning decades ago that led to some areas becoming more exclusive.
Similar arguments to the old Supreme Court ruling have been made for decades in zoning battles over apartment development across the country. It was no different in the Gainesville fight. One resident called the city’s ordinance “anti-neighborhood” during the public comment period Monday.
To challenge the view that the ordinance would destroy neighborhoods, Joshua Ney with advocacy group Gainesville is for People pulled up a photo of a triplex built in the late 1940s in the middle of a neighborhood with single-family homes to illustrate how multiple housing types have coexisted. “They have forever,” Ney said.
Some of the strongest opposition to the ordinance argue that it prevents people from advancing economically.
The ordinance specifically impedes the ability of residents in East Gainesville, an historically Black neighborhood, from achieving the American dream of owning a home and building generational wealth, Commissioner Desmon Duncan-Walker, who represents the area and voted against the ordinance, said during the hearing.
Once the ordinance passed, Chestnut, who represents part of East Gainesville, said it was a sad day for that area because the law opens the "floodgates for gentrification.”