Development Challenges According to Dan Parolek, Founding Principal of Opticos Design and pioneer of the Missing Middle Housing concept, “The reality in most cities is that their planning and regulatory systems are barriers to delivering the housing choices that communities need.” A rigid system based on dwelling units per acre, or square footage required for each unit incentivizes developers to simply build for sake of fulfilling market demand, opposed to place-oriented demand. Minimum lot sizes, like those established in Fort Worth’s “One-Family Residential Districts” can (un)intentionally necessitate larger lot sizes than needed or desired, and serve as a significant barrier to redevelopment. Resultingly, minimum lot sizes can stifle the production of housing, oftentimes a product type that is more affordable when or devoid in the market. Neighborhood opposition is a common challenge that prevents (re)development within an established node. Oftentimes, the labor and man-hours needed to devise a plan for building in communities with existing regulations that requires a tedious public process such as a rezoning is enough to deter potential developers. Ironically, the large-scale implication is that this type of push-back stymies context-sensitive neighborhood scale development, and incentivizes developers to pursue larger, more disruptive, and less nuanced development opportunities. The exorbitant development costs required including materials, labor, land, and various fees are a natural barrier to any development type but have heightened implications with Missing Middle type housing. From a material and labor perspective, there is an incentive for both developers and contractors to pursue larger projects, with larger returns. As a result, small-scale projects tend to experience significant challenges competing for construction labor. Another challenge faced by developers pursuing these project types is related to fixed-fees, impact fees, and other utility fees. Unit-based fees, regardless of size, serve as a deterrence to providing alternative housing types. A study by the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) explored the relationship of Missing Middle housing and parking. As anticipated, off-street parking requirements were found to have significant impact on small-scale residential development. Requiring more than one off-street parking space per unit creates significant physical and economic challenges.
Economic Strategies | 177
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator