Austin’s HOME Initiative was supposed to make it easy for homeowners, landlords and developers to build more units per lot, and thus help swell the city’s supply of affordable housing. In a letter to Ctiy Council, the Planning Commission says it has “serious concerns” that HOME may not be delivering as many homes as it should.
The letter, submitted to Council as a recommendation that passed unanimously during a meeting on September 9, argues that a host of “new or conflicting regulations” on the part of city staff in several departments, mixed with flaws in the language of the ordinances that make up the initiative, threaten to block a “substantial portion” of the housing boost it was intended to create.
Some specific issues identified in the letter include a “loophole” that applies site plan landscaping requirements to third units on lots developed under the initiative, an Austin Water rule that requires a separate water meter for each unit on a lot and Austin Energy rules that can sometimes require would-be builders to cover the cost of major infrastructure upgrades, among others.
To address them, Commissioners asked Council to “direct the city manager… to work with relevant city departments and stakeholders to harmonize The City’s technical codes, ordinances and criteria manuals, eliminating contradictions and prioritizing rules or mandates to reduce regulatory barriers to HOME.”
“This is just, if you will, a cleaning of HOME,” chair Greg Anderson said during a meeting.
Several people involved in development in Austin spoke in favor of the commission’s recommendations during the meeting, including several representatives of the Austin Infill Coalition, an organization that “strives to unite urban infill development professionals,” per their website.
“Either we are contracting as a city or we are growing, and if we want to grow, we need to make sure that the regulations and policies that we place give less friction,” said Sharad Mudhol, a board member with the Austin Infill Coalition.
“Here is where you all have a lot of power and discretion to reduce some of these policies and processes that make very little sense,” Mudhol continued.
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