St. Paul Zoning Review
Project Details:
Year: 2022
Client: City of St. Paul Planning Department
Services Rendered:
Agency Technical Assistance, Urban Design
1 to 4 Unit Study - Draft Zoning Changes
Images courtesy of St. Paul Planning Department
Project Goals
The City of St Paul was looking to update their residential zoning to increase housing diversity on lots with existing buildings. These updates would better support transportation on major corridors, empower homeowners and small-scale developers to engage in infill development, and To increase housing type equity by allowing greater opportunities for neighborhood-scale housing in every neighborhood of the City.
In conjunction with Neighborhood Workshop, we used a proforma-based zoning approach to test housing types that could benefit lots with existing buildings, rather than relying on types that would require demolition of existing viable housing. We conducted a financial feasibility study of the resulting building types, which allowed us to calibrate the threshold of units per lot in new zones across the city.
Outcome First Zoning
These feasibility studies accounted for alley and front-loaded driveway conditions and for vacancy and backyard infill opportunities, creating a matrix of favorable outcomes we could encourage through regulatory reforms.
In short, by starting with existing opportunities and desired outcomes, the new regulatory language would be more nimble and context sensitive across the entire city.
