The Town’s proposed new housing types for family neighborhoods

The zoning proposal has been changed again, this time to provide two new types of housing that developers could build on residential lots in family neighborhoods (R-1, R-2, and R-3 zoning districts).  Here are  the details of the proposed types that were hidden in the 900 page information packet for council members (pp. 161-165).

There are two new types in addition to the regular duplex included in earlier proposals, except that they are called “two-family” units rather than “duplexes.”  We know, of course, that in a small town like Chapel Hill, where the university enrolls 31,500 students, these buildings will likely be intended for students rather than families.

The first new housing type is “Single Family + Cottage.”  Here are the proposed specs.

A developer could buy an existing house as a rental and add a cottage, or a developer could buy an existing single-family residence and replace it with a new and perhaps larger building designed as a rental, and then add a cottage.  The cottage might not look as pretty as the one in the photo above.

The second new housing type is the “two-family, attached or detached.”  So duplexes have multiplied.

Since the maximum floor area of each unit is 3,000 square feet, and the total square feet must not exceed 40 percent of the square feet of the lot, two detached units with a total of 6,000 square feet could be built on any lot whose area exceeds 15,000 square feet.  There are many lots that big in many neighborhoods in Chapel Hill.  (You can measure the area of lots in your neighborhood by using the measurement tool in Google Maps).

The units could have no more than 4 unrelated occupants, for a total of 8 occupants and 8 vehicles.  Occupancy limits are not well-enforced by the Town.

The proposal also allows “detachment” of triplex and fourplex units, but those would be allowed only in zones where triplex and fourplex units are permitted now (not in R-1, R-2, or R-3 zones).

Bonanza.  So Chapel Hill continues to create bonanzas for developers.

Don