Inclusionary Zoning
Finding the right tools to strengthen neighborhoods.
Recently, a neighbor asked candidates to explain their positions on Inclusionary Zoning. It was a very thoughtfully prepared question, and one that I know is on a lot of peoples’ minds. Naturally, it deserves a thoughtful response.
I favor looking into inclusionary zoning (IZ) as one policy in a broad menu of options that we should consider to achieve our goals and alleviate our affordable housing challenges. For more information about why, check out my 9 page brief. It provides the data and sources that, along with my personal experiences and values, help shape my opinions on affordable housing.
WHAT IS INCLUSIONARY ZONING?
IZ is a targeted carrot & stick policy tool that encourages investors to develop new housing complexes with units priced below market rate: developers agree to reserve these units for residents who meet preset income criteria based on area median income (AMI) in exchange for tax credits based on future property value. The hope is that IZ promotes economic and racial diversity in any given neighborhood, which ensures stable communities. Research shows these communities withstand economic shifts better than isolated “high income” and “low income” neighborhoods, and family units are strengthened. Residents can live where they work, and more easily transition through the different phases of their lives.
The exact number of units, the exact percentage of AMI that qualifies a family, the exact “affordability duration,” and so on, all are very important details and require thoughtful consideration. Unbalanced in one direction, and the result is a continued lack of affordable housing; unbalanced in the other, and anticipated surrounding growth will be stunted.
Further, for an IZ arrangement to be effective, it must promote racial equity. I would push for strong, statutory measures to ensure:
- Fair and accessible marketing for inclusionary housing stock;
- Anonymized tenant selection based on a lottery system rather than first come/first served; and,
- Prohibitions on the requests for eviction and/or criminal records in rental applications.
THE LEXINGTON PERSPECTIVE
Lexington’s Housing Market is a product of generations of imbalance; caused by policy decisions that facilitate economic pressure on historically middle-income, single-family neighborhoods. Our Comprehensive Plan and efforts to protect the Urban Service Boundary are our current attempts to bring balance to this problem. Any IZ policies would complement these efforts.
I support including IZ into the policy conversation for Lexington.
But IZ is only one tool, and Lexington residents need immediate aid. Previously, I outlined some short-term steps we can take to mitigate immediate crises, and I hope you take a look.
Lexington expects to grow by an additional 200,000 people over the next 10 years. Without smart policy building, housing pressures will only continue to increase, and the consequences of unaffordable housing — homelessness, a brain-drain of recent college grads, and a failure to keep neighborhood generational stability and diversity — will only continue to worsen.
I am currently meeting with neighborhood stakeholders, policy experts, and developers to ensure that the values of the 3rd District influence Lexington’s housing discussion — to protect housing affordability and strengthen our community.
