The city of St. Louis, Missouri and the REALTOR® board that serves it have been working diligently to lower barriers to badly needed housing development, and their efforts are gaining momentum. As Mayor Cara Spencer described in a speech to the business community in early October, three recent zoning accomplishments have given property owners and builders substantially more flexibility in municipal housing law, resulting in a greater ability to beef up the city’s housing inventory. Tools from the REALTOR® Party have been helping to get it done.
Charlie Hinderliter, St. Louis REALTORS®’ Senior Vice President of Government Affairs, agrees with the mayor’s framing of these efforts to reform individual zoning laws: “Taken as a whole, they will give residents more options with their own properties and provide more housing options to those seeking them. We’ve been able to effect change to city ordinances governing lot size, occupancy limits, and just this week, ADU zoning. Together, these create a housing environment in St. Louis that favors greater density housing for more residents.”
The municipal occupancy limit, he notes, did not actually change, but the REALTORS® worked with the city to change the way the number of residents allowed is determined: children under the age of six are no longer counted, giving some temporary grace to larger families and multigenerational households.
The success of ADU zoning, which the REALTORS® initiated, was two-and-a-half-years in the works. “It makes so much sense, but it took some doing,” reports Hinderliter. “First, we talked to the city, then we got AARP involved, because they’re the experts. Having the right partners is key to all legislation.”
In exploring the possibility of reducing St. Louis’ minimum buildable lot size, the city approached the REALTORS® for help. “We were standing by, with ready access to the REALTOR® Party’s Land Use Initiative program,” says Hinderliter, referring to the services of Robinson & Cole, LLP, the law firm retained by NAR to review and analyze zoning legislation submitted by state and local REALTOR® associations. The goal was to make it easier to develop housing on vacant lots that once had homes but no longer conformed to lot size minimum, he explains. “Thanks to the expertise and responsiveness of Robinson & Cole, before the legislation was even filed, we were able to provide the Board of Aldermen and the Planning Department with information that served as a critical touchpoint for their deliberations. The analysis helped the city legislators clarify their thinking around the appropriate square footage for the minimum lot size and ensured that the legislation was rooted in data from the way the city is currently built.”
The change in the resulting ordinance lowers the minimum buildable lot size from 4,000 sf to 1,500 sf. “This is how we give greater flexibility to housing,” says Hinderliter. “Now there are building options that weren’t available before. And, once again, the REALTORS® have proven their value to the city as partners in zoning legislation.”
To learn more about how St. Louis REALTORS® is working to support private property rights and promote affordable housing, contact Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Charlie Hinderliter at chinderliter@stlrealtors.com or 314.348.1322.
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