Nashville legislators concerned about mounting affordability challenges pushed forward a proposal this week to allow a greater variety of housing options in residential neighborhoods.
Twenty-four out of 38 members of the Metropolitan Council voted on Tuesday in favor of a bill to create two new zoning districts, where townhouses, low-rise apartment buildings, and other residential types would be permitted. Residents would be able to request the construction of these buildings in neighborhoods made up largely of one- and two-family homes. The council governs the city and the surrounding Davidson County.
The proposal isn’t a done deal, as the council has to vote on it once more in December for it to pass.
“This provides homeownership opportunities for our middle-income and working people,” Councilwoman Jennifer Gamble, who sponsored the bill, told her colleagues at Tuesday’s meeting. “We’re not just talking about people who are moving here, but also those who live here now and the next generation, like my two sons, who were born and raised here and can’t afford to buy a house in Nashville.”
The council also voted to allow more detached accessory dwelling units behind or adjacent to existing single-family houses around the city. That proposal, which met with less resident opposition than the new zoning districts, also needs final approval next month. The city currently allows this type of housing only in selected areas.
Gamble said the city’s rapid population growth has come with a sharp rise in housing costs over the past decade. The city’s median sales price is $520,000, according to Homes.com data, but the City Council member said many of the new houses on the market are closer to $1 million. The housing types her bill would allow are more likely to be priced between $300,000 and $500,000, she said.
Fellow councilor Thom Druffel voted against the bill. He said it was too soon for the city to move forward with the more permissive zoning districts, when it hasn’t thoroughly studied the potential impact on the city’s roads and other elements. It’s also unclear whether new housing will be that much more affordable, he said.
“We know the corporate developer is going to take this and run with it,” he said.
Besides townhouses, the new districts would allow so-called house courts, or groupings of single-family houses around a shared courtyard, as well as three-story apartment buildings with up to 20 units.
Zulfat Suara, another councilor, tried to reassure skeptical colleagues. She said that if a councilor is opposed to rezoning property for more housing in their neighborhood, she doubted the rest of the council would overrule them.
Council member proposes cap on ADU size
The proposal to allow accessory dwelling units would permit them to be up to 1,200 square feet, but at least one council member said at the meeting that capping them at 850 square feet makes more sense.
“That way we are not effectively making it a second dwelling — that’s really getting rid of single-family zoning when you can have a second house in the back,” Councilwoman Courtney Johnston said.