Will the New Council Fix our Crappy Missing Middle Infill Rules and End the Lawsuits?

Its great to see our peer cities like Sacramento adopting truly progressive Missing Middle infill rules – with no community opposition. But Raleigh still can’t seem to get it right. Recently, an entire Raleigh neighborhood of 80+ homes was sued by a developer seeking to take maximum advantage of Council’s new Missing Middle density rules. This suit comes on the heels of another lawsuit in the courts – this one by city residents – who said the infill rules were adopted without required legal notice for thousands of Raleigh homes.

Originally pitched as a way to promote gentle density and more housing affordability in existing single-family neighborhoods, Raleigh‘s infill rules have gone in the opposite direction, spurring the demolition of existing affordable dwellings on tree-shaded lots in exchange for overscaled luxury units on clear cut lots – affordability and gentle density be damned.

Livable Raleigh and other proponents of Missing Middle best practices have lobbied Council for years to engage in a community conversation toward adopting Missing Middle infill improvements on the books in other peer cities that actually promote affordability, compatibility and walkable transit access. The latest, and perhaps best rules so far, have been adopted by Sacramento (population 528,000).

Sacramento’s Missing Middle infill rules were designed by Dan Parolek and Optics Design to:

• • incentivize more affordable/attainable units on a lot rather than fewer, larger units
  • incentivize planting shade trees
  • promote infill dwelling types that fit into the neighborhoods where they are planned
  • allow some front yard development in return for community benefits like porches and more trees
  • allow some added density in exchange for deed-restricted (permanent) affordable units

In parallel with their new Missing Middle infill rules, Sacramento has adopted Anti-Displacement Strategies for vulnerable neighborhoods.

We look forward to the new Council taking up this issue as soon as possible in order to stop the lawsuits. Engage the community in a quality conversation about Missing Middle best practices as promoted by Optics Design and adopt new Missing Middle Infill rules that work for everyone.

More information here: Sacramento Adopts Progressive Missing Middle Code