The Lowell Planning Commission met for a little more than hour last week on Monday, Nov. 11. The main order of business was a discussion about if and how the city’s zoning ordinance should be amended to encourage more affordable housing in the city.
Commissioners Nicki Holst and Colin Plank were absent for the meeting.
Public Comments: Parking Ordinance Request
During the public comments portion of the meeting, Lowell resident Marilyn Branham spoke about her concern that a vehicle had been parked on the street in front of her house from May 25 to Oct. 24.
“It was never moved during those five months, and, to my knowledge, it was never even started,” she said. “In my opinion, that’s an unreasonably long amount of time to be parked on the street.”
She requested that an ordinance be enacted to deem a vehicle abandoned if it remained in the same spot for more than 72 hours.
At the end of the meeting, Andy Moore, a planning consultant to the city from the firm Williams & Works, said he thought this request was better addressed to Lowell City Council. Branham said she had asked the council at an October meeting to consider an ordinance but didn’t get a response from them. After that meeting, someone advised her to bring the matter to the Planning Commission.
Commissioner Marty Chambers suggested Branham schedule a meeting with City Manager Mike Burns and ask that the Chief of Police attend that meeting as well.
Chair Tony Ellis asked who would make a change to the ordinance like the one suggested by Branham.
“City Council would have to do it,” Moore replied. He also thought the best way to proceed would probably be to have Burns or the Police Chief recommend an ordinance change to the council.
“The only way you’re going to get it in front of city council – because I do sit on city council – is Mike (Burns) will have to put it on our agenda,” Chambers told Branham. “Now, whether they do or not, I couldn’t tell you. That’s not my decision.”
Branham said she had spoken to Police Chief Chris Hurst about the matter, but because there is no limit in the ordinance, there is nothing for him to enforce right now.
Housing Discussion
Moore presented a memo to the Planning Commission regarding “housing affordability and supply in the City of Lowell and…ways to address it.”
Moore noted that current housing in the city breaks down as follows, according to Census Bureau data:
- Single family detached homes: 68.3%
- Single family attached homes: 3.1%
- Duplexes (2-unit): 1%
- Tri- or quadplexes (3 or 4 units): 3.3%
- Apartment building with 5-9 units: 11.2%
- Apartment buildings with 10 or more units: 4.8%
- Mobile homes or other housing types: 8.4%
In 2022, the median household income in Lowell was $59,712 and the median housing price was $206,700. Median values represent the midway point, meaning that half of household incomes and housing prices in Lowell are above these numbers and half are below them.
To encourage more affordable housing options, Moore outlined the following possible strategies as “low-hanging fruit” to consider:
- Reduce dwelling sizes to allow homes smaller than the 1,000-1,500 square foot minimum currently required in most zoning districts.
- Reduce parking requirements so properties will no longer need two spaces per dwelling unit.
- Allow accessory dwelling units, such as mother-in-law suites, which could be built above detached garages or as stand-alone buildings on a property.
- Increase or eliminate density limits which currently stand at 10 units per acre in most zoning districts.
- Allow flexibility for nonconforming properties to be rebuilt if they are destroyed.
- Increase lot coverage limits to allow dwellings to cover more than 30-35% of a lot.
Ellis asked Moore what cities similar to Lowell have done in this regard. Moore said a lot of cities have reduced dwelling unit sizes and allowed accessory dwelling units. While some communities allow accessory dwelling units by right, others require a special land use permit which means a review by the Planning Commission before approval is granted.
Ellis was in favor of the commission first looking at increasing lot coverage limits, but Chambers didn’t think lot coverage should exceed 35%. Chambers also wasn’t in favor of eliminating the parking requirements or reducing the dwelling unit size below 1,000 square feet.
“The concern there is that the cost per square foot to build is so high that when you’re requiring 1,500 square feet, the absolute cheapest thing you can build for someone is going to be well north of 300,000,” Moore said in reply.
“It’s a catch-22,” Ellis said. “You don’t want cheap housing – (you want) housing that will keep its value.”
At the end of the discussion, it was decided that Moore would bring back to the commission more information and draft language on accessory dwelling units, greater density in planned unit developments (PUDs), lot coverage and flexibility for nonconforming properties.
Commissioner Comments
During final comments at the end of the meeting, Commissioner Dave Cadwallader asked why Riverside Drive had been closed again.
“Chapter six objectives (of the Master Plan), we’re supposed to keep stuff off of Hudson Road,” he said. “Maybe they should look into that,” he added, presumably referring to Lowell City Council.
Chambers thanked commissioners for their understanding while he was absent for the past few meetings.
Ellis noted that the Planning Commission will not meet in December. The next regular meeting of the Lowell Planning Commission will take place on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, at 7pm in Lowell City Hall.
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