Dallas Could Follow Austin in Reducing Minimum Lot Size to Accommodate More Housing
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The City of Austin recently approved a measure that reduces the residential minimum lot size to 2,500 square feet, making way for smaller units and greater density. Could such a change be an answer to Dallas’ affordable housing crisis? A handful of Dallas City Council members say they want to discuss its merits.
District 1 Councilman Chad West filed a five-signature memo Wednesday, joined by District 5 Councilman Jaime Resendez, District 7 Councilman Adam Bazaldua, District 9 Councilwoman Paula Blackmon, and District 11 Councilwoman Jaynie Schultz requesting a staff briefing on the subject.
“Housing in the City of Dallas is becoming unaffordable for many would-be residents due to a lack of available housing units,” West wrote in an email to CandysDirt.com. “Reducing minimum lot sizes and increasing the number of residential dwelling units allowed on a lot will allow for the development of additional dwelling units in residentially zoned areas. The purpose of the briefing is to see what the process would be for amending the construction codes and the Dallas Development Code to allow for the construction of additional dwelling units.”
The Dallas City Council’s next briefing agenda is set for Nov. 15, but there’s no word on whether staff would be prepared to present the information that quickly. The memo requests that the item be placed on an agenda within 30 days.
Amendments to Austin’s Minimum Lot Size Ordinance
West has said he wants to consider Austin’s code as a model, but he doesn’t like every aspect of it for Dallas.
Austin’s resolution also legalized homes on every lot by right and exempted duplexes up to quadplexes from submitting costly and burdensome site plans.
The minimum lot size in Dallas for residential use is, on average, about 5,000 to 7,500 square feet, depending on where the base zoning was established.
“At its core, this allows for the construction of ‘missing middle housing,’ or accessory dwelling units, duplexes, quadplexes, and row houses,” West wrote in an op-ed column published in the Dallas Morning News in July. “I would like Dallas to begin the process of doing this in our city with two major amendments to Austin’s plan. The first is technical: adjusting the minimum lot size to 1,500 square feet, as it is in Houston.”
West explained that Dallas is more similar to Houston, “a global city with a population density of around 3,500 per square mile, as opposed to Austin, a state capital and college town with a population density of around 3,000 per square mile.”
Dallas’ population density is about 3,700 per square mile.
The other amendment West proposes to Austin’s plan is “values-based” — only allowing construction of missing middle housing on infill plots where a house does not currently exist.
West thanked his colleagues who added their names to the memo “for their shared willingness to dive into a hard discussion about rethinking our suburban-designed city to better accommodate for the growth that Dallas is experiencing, and the workforce housing we need for our teachers, healthcare workers, public safety personnel, and many others.”
