Sacramento moves forward with change to single-family zoning
Albany Times Union
Jan. 20, 2021
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Sacramento is a step closer to becoming one of the first cities in the country to eliminate traditional single-family zoning.
The City Council on Tuesday voted 8-0 to proceed with a draft zoning plan that would allow houses across the California city to contain up to four dwelling units, the Sacramento Bee reported.
City officials said the proposal would help the city alleviate its housing crisis and achieve equity goals.
“Everybody should have the opportunity to not only play in Land Park but to live in Land Park,” Mayor Darrell Steinberg said, referring to a neighborhood and its namesake park considered one of the more desirable places to live in Sacramento.
The vote is the first step in a long process. If the council adopts the 2040 General Plan in about a year, property owners would then be able to start adding units to houses in roughly two years.
The cities of Portland, Oregon, and Minneapolis have passed similar ordinances in recent years. The state of Oregon passed a law eliminating traditional single-family zoning statewide. A similar bill was introduced in the California Legislature but died. Sacramento could be the only city in the state formally considering the change.
A similar proposal that would have forced California cities to increase housing density failed last year after being introduced to the Legislature by state Sen. Scott Wiener.
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