The Hale neighborhood could be next in line to be rezoned to allow for accessory dwelling units (ADUs).
Councilmember Amanda Sawyer submitted an application to rezone the eastside neighborhood on Tuesday, possibly making the area her second neighborhood rezoning after East Colfax.
After hosting two community meetings in September and a collecting feedback through a survey, Sawyer said the decision to rezone had over 50% support from respondents.
“In general, we received a lot of support. What we look for is that if our feedback in our community meetings and the responses to our community survey are statistically valid and are over 50% then we’ll move forward with it and they are,” Sawyer said.
About 382 responses were received and around 212 were considered valid. According to the response breakdown, the response represents about 14% of the households in Hale and about 4% of the population in Hale. There’s about a 6.5% margin of error within the results.
Courtesy of Councilmember Amanda Sawyer's Office
According to the survey, those who supported the rezoning said the change would increase the housing stock and increase their housing values if they decide to build an ADU on their property. Those who didn’t support the change were concerned with increased density and changes to the neighborhood characteristics.
Sawyer said these opinions and concerns are typical when it comes to neighborhood rezoning and reiterated that if the support wasn’t there, she wouldn’t be moving forward with the change.
Like with the proposed rezoning of neighboring Montclair. About 49% of respondents in Montclair said they were against the rezoning. With the margin of error, Sawyer said it was unclear whether the 50% threshold was met, so the application did not go through.
With the proposed Hale rezoning, the application will move through the city’s Planning Board, council committee and full council with a public hearing. Those dates haven’t been determined as of yet.
Even if a neighborhood isn’t completely zoned for ADUs, individual homeowners can apply for the rezoning. You can also see if your property already allows for ADUs here.
Sawyer said she’ll be taking a pause on pushing ADU rezoning and will not revisit the proposal in the Montclair neighborhood in the immediate future. Instead, she’ll be working on implementing the newly approved Near Southeast Area Plan.
The plan covers the Washington Virginia Vale, Virginia Village, Indian Creek, Goldsmith and University Hills North neighborhoods. It touches on ADUs, but Sawyer said the plan suggests other housing-focused rezoning such as allowing for duplexes in certain areas only if there’s an affordability component.
“ADUs are a good use of space for single family housing and we see that the EHA covers 10 or more units, but there’s kind of a gap there between two and nine units. So, we’re looking at how do we ensure better affordability in those other spaces as well,” Sawyer said.
There’s also possible rezoning along the major corridors in the area Leetsdale Drive and Evans Avenue. Either way, District 5 residents should stay tuned for changes.
