116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Iowa City eyes affordable housing push
Council considering more duplexes, incentives for higher density
Sep. 28, 2023 5:00 am, Updated: Sep. 28, 2023 7:30 am
IOWA CITY — The city of Iowa City is looking at whether changes in property regulations and zoning can increase affordable housing and improve housing choice in the community as demand grows.
Some say it's an incremental step and that more systemic changes are needed to further access to affordable housing. Others see it as a step in the right direction.
And others worry the changes will alter the character of Iowa City's core neighborhoods and fuel more construction and overdevelopment of student rental housing.
If residential growth continues at its recent pace, demand will not be able to keep up with housing supply, Iowa City Development Services Coordinator Danielle Sitzman said.
The city will be able to accommodate less than 6,300 new residents by 2030, compared with a projected demand of 10,240, according to a city analysis.
Iowa City Council members last week held a public hearing and passed an initial reading of five proposed changes to the city’s zoning code that are intended to increase housing supply and the diversity of housing options.
Council members will have the second of three considerations of the zoning code amendment at their next regular meeting Oct. 3. Final passage of the amendments will be voted on at the Oct. 17 meeting.
The changes, in general, would:
- Increase flexibility for a range of housing types, including where duplexes, townhomes and assisted group living are allowed.
- Modify design standards.
- Provide additional flexibility to enhance the supply of housing, including increasing the bedroom limit for multifamily housing outside of the University of Iowa impact area.
- Create regulatory incentives for affordable housing, including density bonuses.
- Address fair housing, including creating a process to request reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities.
Proposed changes
Duplexes and two attached units would be more widely allowed in lower-density, single-family zones, instead of only on corner lots, Sitzman said. Staff estimates that would allow up to 2,900 lots to accommodate duplexes through gradual conversion.
Other changes would allow townhome-style, multifamily uses in higher density single-family zones, and would increase the number of bedrooms for multifamily housing outside the University of Iowa impact area to four bedrooms and the duplex limit to five bedrooms.
Another proposed change would add a 20 percent density bonus in exchange for 20 percent of units in a development being dedicated as affordable housing for 20 years. Doing so would help offset the financial costs of providing affordable housing by increasing the allowable number of dwelling units, according to city staff.
Sitzman said the aim is to increase housing supply and the diversity of housing options, incentivize development of income-restricted affordable housing and address fair housing issues.
More than a dozen residents spoke during last week’s public hearing on the item.
Most were generally supportive of the proposed changes.
Others, including former Iowa City Mayor Jim Throgmorton, said more time is needed to decipher the technical code language unfamiliar to most and assess the potential impacts to different neighborhoods. He asked city officials to delay consideration.
The recommendations stem the city’s affordable housing plan first adopted by the city council in 2016.
The plan included 15 action steps, including changes to zoning regulations, “which were the only action item not yet completed,” Sitzman said.
Improving housing choice was also one of the strategies recommended to help address a lack of affordable rental housing identified in a 2019 Fair Housing Choice Study. The city also updated its affordable housing plan last year.
“These plans were developed after multiple rounds of (public) outreach, including surveys, public meetings, focus groups (and stakeholder) interviews,” Sitzman said. “They were also reviewed and adopted through a public process.”
The proposed zoning amendments were presented in July, with the planning and zoning commission recommending approval by the council last month.
Sitzman and city staff said the recommendations are based on national best practices are intended to allow additional units within the current neighborhood framework, as well as reduce the costs of construction.
Reaction
Iowa City resident Chad Millbrook called the changes “an important small step in addressing” limited housing choice.
Laura Recker, a freshman at the University of Iowa speaking on behalf of her microeconomics group, said the changes will “help alleviate pressure on the housing supply and the wallets of residents by making new, affordable, multifamily housing projects cheaper for developers.”
“The city can increase housing supply, lessen the current market shortage and drive prices down,” Recker said.
Council member John Thomas said he worries that changes will incentivize short-term renting complexes near the UI campus and fail to increase affordable housing in the city because of how competitive the Iowa City rental market is.
The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Iowa City is $1,082 a month, the highest average in Iowa, according to fiscal year 2024 fair market rent data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“Market forces are driven by profit, (and) there is no profit in affordable housing. The profit is in finding how you can get the most rent,” said Thomas, who voted against the amendments to the zoning code in their first consideration.
‘Can’t afford’ I.C.
Other council members supported the changes in a 5-1 vote. While hard to determine what the exact impacts of the changes might be, the city must work to make progress furthering affordable housing options, Mayor Bruce Teague said.
“We’re in 2023, and we are still trying to figure out affordable housing supply, because we have a deficit for people to live here,” Teague said. “I talk to people all the time who live in our neighboring communities that would love to be here in Iowa City, but they can’t afford it.”
He said there will be opportunities to tweak the changes in the future should the need arise.
Council member Laura Bergus said the council cannot afford to delay making progress on an issue that has become a crisis for many in the community.
“Every month we delay we are saying to those who can’t find a home or can’t find an affordable home — or you know you can’t live in their neighborhood — you just need to wait,” Bergus said. “And I’m unwilling to do that. I think we need to act with urgency. This is a carefully crafted, well-thought-out proposal that has been vetted and discussed for a very good amount of time.”
Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com
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