Beyond Use Zoning: The Role of Deregulation in Housing Equity
Zoning Practice — May 2022
By John Zeanah, FAICP
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Use zoning, or the component of zoning that establishes permissible uses, is only one method to affect housing density, equity, and choice. Acknowledging the legacy of exclusionary policies must go beyond use zoning to effectively lead to change. After all, it is the limitation on "density of population," not "location and use" the Standard State Zoning Enabling Act advised would "make possible the creation of one-family residence districts."
There are various ways local development regulations restrict population density and constrain the supply of housing choices. Looking beyond single-family use zoning to consider how loosening other development regulations can encourage a variety of forms and patterns of housing. Zoning restrictions, such as accessory use standards and bulk regulations, and related codes, such as building codes, affect housing choices, including those in the "missing middle."
This issue of Zoning Practice explores how accessory use standards, dimensional standards, and building codes affect opportunities to build missing middle housing. And it highlights how Memphis and other cities are looking beyond use zoning to advance goals of housing equity in reforming codes and policies.
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About the Author
John Zeanah, FAICP
John Zeanah is an urban planner and policy strategist whose career spans leadership roles in planning, housing, and community development. He is principal and owner of Interval, LLC, a planning and policy advisory firm, and previously served as the director of Planning and Development in Memphis for over seven years. John has been an early champion of building code reform to support housing supply and small-scale development, authoring two local building code amendments and Tennessee state legislation reforming building code. He also serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the Center for Building in North America.