The 6 Zoning Reforms Every Municipality Should Adopt

*(Source:* *Unsplash/Cytonn Photography.)*

At least once a week—sometimes daily—I’m asked by local planners and elected officials where they should start when it comes to zoning reform. It’s a good problem to have. My first recommendation is usually to look at market signals. Are you regularly receiving “rubber stamp” requests for a variance to get out of having to comply with this or that standard? Are you regularly receiving rezoning requests in this or that neighborhood? Well, there’s your sign: those rules are probably out of sync with reality, and a fine place to start reform.

Of course, this answer is often unsatisfying—folks want me to give them specific solutions. (I get it, we’re all busy.) Toward this end, below I list out the six zoning reforms that I think every city and town in North America should adopt. While this program might have seemed radical five years ago, I consider this to be the bare minimum for zoning reform in 2023. These are “no-brainer” reforms that have been tried and tested in more than a few jurisdictions. For each item, I point you to a good “comp” and suggest some educational material on the subject.

Whether your community is trying to tackle housing affordability, kickstart economic revitalization, undo segregation, or retool around sustainability, these six reforms are a fine place to start.

1. Eliminate minimum parking requirements—citywide, all uses.

Minimum parking requirements condition any new development on the construction of lots of new parking. In suburbs, this means giant parking deserts. In cities, this means towering parking garages. All of this parking doesn’t come cheap—there’s no such thing as free parking. On the contrary, these mandates can raise housing costs by tens of thousands of dollars. Worse yet, they effectively write automobile dependence into law, forcing our cities to grow in a way that is hostile to anyone not getting around by car.

Don’t take the half-baked reform approach here. Ten years ago, it might have been a big win to eliminate parking requirements only downtown, or only for certain types of housing, or subject to a study. No more. What are you waiting for? Say it with me: eliminate parking requirements—citywide, all uses.

Looking for a comp? My hometown of Lexington, Kentucky, eliminated parking requirements last year. What’s your city’s excuse?
Looking to learn more? The Parking Reform Network has everything you need to reform your local parking policies.

2. Legalize accessory dwelling units (ADUs)—and do it right.

ADUs are small additional units that share a lot with a single-family home. They may go in unused attics, basements, garages, or new detached structures. ADUs are a win-win: for homeowners, they create a potential new source of revenue, or a chance to bring family closer to home. For renters, they create a new supply of housing, often in high-opportunity neighborhoods that have historically added little new housing. Here in California, statewide legalization has facilitated over 80,000 new ADUs since 2017.

But be careful to do it right: there are a lot of counterproductive ways to “legalize” ADUs. Do: make approvals quick and easy, exempt ADUs from impact fees, and allow detached ADUs. Don’t: impose parking requirements, limit ADUs to owner-occupiers, or mandate public hearings. How do you know if you did it the right way? Keep track of permitting data and find out.

Looking for a comp? Since refining its ADU framework, Portland, Oregon, has emerged as a mecca of the backyard housing boom. What’s your city’s excuse?
Looking to learn more? AARP has a lot of amazing resources on how to legalize ADUs the right way—be sure to connect with your local chapter.

3. Reduce or eliminate minimum lot and unit size mandates.

Minimum lot sizes essentially say: if you can’t afford a lot or a home of a certain size, you are not allowed to live here. If we are going to build the next generation of starter homes, these rules have to go. In contexts where there isn’t water or sewer service, minimum lot sizes may serve health and safety purposes. Everywhere else, they serve no purpose other than to raise the cost of housing and segregate our cities.

Be mindful that you can’t change this rule in isolation: If rules like setbacks or lot coverage still make it physically or financially infeasible to build a home on a small lot, those rules also need to be adjusted. With this reform in particular, I would recommend co-developing standards with your local infill developers—if you are lucky enough to have them—to make sure you are legalizing something that can actually be built.

Looking for a comp? In 1998, Houston, Texas, reduced minimum lot sizes from 5,000 to 1,400 square feet, kicking off a townhouse building boom that has produced nearly 100,000 new infill homes. What’s your city’s excuse?
Looking to learn more? Charles Gardner has a neat report on how (and why) to reduce or eliminate minimum lot sizes.

4. Legalize home-based businesses.

Even after the rise of remote work, it’s still illegal to operate a business out of your home in many North American cities—that is, unless you ask for permission. The zoning regulations we have on the books don’t make any sense and are a constant source of headache for would-be entrepreneurs. Instead of antiquated lists of permitted and prohibited uses, focus your regulations on measurable impacts. Define a category of “no-impact home-based businesses” and exempt them from the need for permits or public hearings.

If you want to take this reform to the next level, consider legalizing accessory commercial units (ACUs)—think ADUs, but for small businesses. Historically, great neighborhoods hosted daily uses like corner groceries, barbershops, and doctor’s offices. Why not again?

Looking for a comp? Ann Arbor, Michigan, recently liberalized their home-based business ordinance to strike a solid balance. What’s your city’s excuse?
Looking to learn more? I just put together a Planetizen Course explaining why and how to reform home-based business regulations.

5. Expand ministerial approvals as much as possible.

If I had a dollar every time I heard a planner say, “We allow that, you just have to request a special use permit/planned use development/variance,” I would have enough money to become a California homeowner. Discretionary process is, more often than not, a waste of time, both for applicants and staff. Worse yet, it stops many projects from happening at all—especially small projects, for which the prospect of a lengthy delay may be an unacceptable risk. If a project is “legal,” but securing a permit requires a public hearing, an environmental report, and two years of haggling with staff, is it really legal?

Take it a step further: Write out objective standards that take the guesswork out of building. Let staff make decisions without forcing the applicant to go before a commission. Adopt permitting shot clocks—typically 60 to 90 days, though you can do better. Treat every application for which no action is taken as “deemed approved.” And require that every denial must be made with written findings.

Looking for a comp? San Jose, California, has same-day permit issuance for preapproved ADU plans. What’s your city’s excuse?
Looking to learn more? I was part of a team that studied how discretion needlessly delays development.

6. Legalize multifamily housing in commercial zones.

In most cities, the most obviously underutilized lots are in commercial zones. You know the ones I’m talking about: the dilapidated strip malls that deaden your city’s major corridors, the half-empty office parks that will never be fully leased in an age of remote work. Yet in many cities, it’s illegal to turn these parcels into mixed-use developments. This should change—housing should be allowed by-right in all commercial zones.

With prudent planning—stop me if I’m asking too much—these upzonings could be used to turn stroads into multimodal corridors. Coordinate all that new density with upgrades like bus rapid transit and protected bicycle lanes to give all those new residents alternatives to automobile dependence, and enrich the quality of life of current residents. (And don’t overthink it when it comes to ground-floor retail.)

Looking for a comp? Arlington, Virginia, spent the past few decades turning a typical stroad into a thriving multimodal corridor.
Looking to learn more? Emily Hamilton explains how nearby Fairfax County turned a sprawling office park into a new town center. What’s your city’s excuse?

“Yes, yes,” you may be saying, “these are all fine ideas. But my city doesn’t have any YIMBYs to advocate for stuff like this.”

I have good news, dear reader: not only does your city have a YIMBY, but you’re the most important one—the one who will start a local pro-housing movement. Start a Facebook Group or Twitter profile, schedule a monthly happy hour, and show up at public hearings. With a modicum of effort, you will be surprised by how rapidly strangers get involved and local elected officials start taking you seriously—many are thinking about zoning for the first time and are searching for low-cost solutions.

How do I know? I’ve seen it happen. Good luck!

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M. Nolan Gray

M. Nolan Gray is the research director for California YIMBY and an expert in urban land-use regulation. He is the author of Arbitrary Lines: How Zoning Broke the American City and How To Fix It. Gray previously worked as a planner in New York City, where he worked on the front lines of zoning. He is a widely published author, with work appearing in outlets such as The Atlantic, Bloomberg CityLab, and The Guardian. He lives in Los Angeles, California, and is originally from Lexington, Kentucky. You can connect with him on Twitter and LinkedIn.