Akron is taking a number of steps to try to increase housing availability in the city. Those include efforts to change zoning rules and the creation of free plans developers can use to build houses in the city.
They also include a proposal, which City Council is considering, to change the rules about how large a piece of property must be to have a house on it. Those lot size requirements date back to the 1980s, Akron Planning Director Kyle Julien said, but are no longer appropriate for the kind of development the city needs.
Council members discussed the proposals, which have community support, at meetings over two weeks. The next time they could vote is Oct. 19.
What is the City of Akron proposing?
Right now, a lot in the city of Akron must be 4,000 square feet for a house to be built on it and 7,000 square feet and at least 60 feet wide for a duplex to be built. Under the new proposal, there would be no minimum lot size requirement to build a house. The proposal would also reduce the required width of a driveway by one foot, to nine feet.
How many pieces of property would it affect?
About 2,000 residential parcels in Akron are vacant, according to the administration, but are too small to have single-family homes built on them under the current rules. An analysis from West Hill Home Buyers estimates there are more than 11,000 parcels that could have single-family or multi-family homes built on them if the change goes through; that analysis says nearly 5,500 are buildable lots and not side yards.
What difference would it make?
The change would allow people to build houses in places where they can’t currently be built — many of them in neighborhoods that previously had houses on lots that were built before the current rules were in place. The increase in lots that could have homes built on them could lead to more housing options and more dense neighborhoods, if homes are built on lots that are currently empty.
When could people start to build new houses?
If City Council approves the change, people could immediately start the process of building homes on smaller-sized lots. They would still have to receive permits and follow zoning and other requirements.
Could they build duplexes, triplexes or apartments if this is approved?
Eliminating lot size requirements doesn’t eliminate the zoning districts that dictate what can be built where. The rule change wouldn’t mean that areas that are zoned for single-family homes can have duplexes built on them. But plenty of areas that are zoned for housing don’t have big enough lots to actually build what’s allowed there. With this change, there would be more opportunities to build duplexes or triplexes in areas that are zoned for them.
Would this mean more tiny homes?
It could mean more small houses — like a 1,120-square-foot cottage, designed to fit on a 30-foot lot, that was part of the home plans the city commissioned — but wouldn’t be a city endorsement of tiny home communities, with houses less than 500 square feet. That said, there’s no requirement that a home be a certain size, as long as it has a bedroom. If someone wants to build a tiny home, they’re welcome to, regardless of the size of the property.
Zoning rules still limit how many homes are allowed on a piece of land, and historic rules treat three separate structures the same as a three-unit building — in other words, an area would have to allow multi-unit building to have multiple tiny homes on one piece of property. Someone who wanted to build more than what is allowed in the zoning rules would have to get a permit from City Council to do so.
There are two neighborhoods, though, where the zoning rules are different — Summit Lake and the Merriman Valley. In those neighborhoods, the rules limit the number of units in a building, not on a piece of land. So if a property is big enough, multiple small homes could be built on one parcel in those neighborhoods.
Would houses be built closer to each other?
The proposed change doesn’t affect the existing requirement that homes be at least five feet away from the property line on at least one side.
Would there be enough room for people to have driveways and park their cars?
Changes to the proposals would shrink the driveway width requirements by a foot, to nine feet. Akron requires one legal parking spot behind the line of a building, and that doesn’t change. That spot could be a garage, a driveway or an alley behind the house.
Is this proposal in line with how the city plans to use land in neighborhoods?
The city’s land use plan dates back to 1987, Julien said, and was a forward-looking document related to what officials then hoped would be built. It’s now out of date. Julien said he hopes to retire that document next year but said it shouldn’t be what the city relies on to determine where homes should be built.
Is this good for residents?
The administration said the change could allow more people to live in areas where there are already city services such as sidewalks, roads and sewers. That could decrease costs for people who already live in Akron, as more people use existing services, and would mean the city doesn’t have to pave new roads or extend sewer pipes into new areas in order to grow. Eliminating lot size requirements could open up 500 acres of land for development, Julien said, without adding infrastructure.
What could the city do with property it owns if this is approved?
Akron owns some parcels that, at the moment, can’t have homes built on them. If the change is approved, it could sell those properties to developers. Julien said that, near the East End development, he has about 50 lots that should be prime for development but are not being used because they’re too small.
How could someone buy a lot?
Akron has a few ways that people can buy properties the city owns. They include the Welcome Home Akron program and Mow to Own. The Summit County Land Bank also sells properties.
Would the proposal help increase the number of houses in Akron?
That’s a key goal of the proposal. Because so many vacant properties that would be affected are in neighborhoods, and had houses on them at one time, the city’s goal is to allow developers to fill in new homes on those streets and increase the number of options in the city.
Would this help bring more residents to Akron?
That’s one of the proposal’s goals. With more houses — including smaller options that might cost less — the administration hopes to encourage more people to live in Akron.
