The St. Louis Board of Aldermen has taken steps to help ease an affordable housing shortage in the city.
The board on Friday approved without opposition a piece of legislation that reduces the lot size needed to build single and some two-family homes. Changes also were sent to Mayor Cara Spencer intended to make it easier for growing families to find housing.
Right now, a single-family home requires a lot of at least 4,000 square feet, while two-family homes must be built on lots that are at least 5,000 square feet. The first bill reduces the requirements to 2,000 square feet for single-family homes and 2,500 square feet for some two-family units. Other minimum lot sizes are left untouched.
There are thousands of properties in the city that are too small for current construction requirements, said board President Megan Green, a cosponsor of the legislation, and they are concentrated in north St. Louis.
“We ask: ‘Why is development not happening? Why is disinvestment taking place?’” Green said. “One of the problems is, if we’re saying that you can’t build there, then of course there’s not going to be building there.”
The changes were in the works before the May 16 tornado, but Green said it will make rebuilding from the storm easier. Single-family homes can be built on lots that are smaller than required, she said, but it involves a lengthy and often expensive appeals process.
“We're making it so folks aren't having to wait, because oftentimes that waiting period means that they're having to carry other costs that then make it difficult to do the redevelopment,” she said.
Also on Friday, the board approved a bill that says children under the age of 6 no longer count toward an occupancy limit in housing, as long as other minimum space requirements are met. It also changes regulations around what counts as a main bedroom, allowing families to put more people in the largest bedroom in a property.
“We say we want to attract families and attract population in the city, and this is what this bill aims to do,” said its lead sponsor, Alderwoman Daniela Velazquez of the 6th Ward.
The legislation had the support of organizations that serve immigrants and refugees, as well as people trying to escape domestic violence situations. The groups called them “relatively minor occupancy tweaks that will make it helpful for their clients to find housing that's affordable and safe,” Velazquez said.
