Title
Consider public testimony regarding, and an ordinance approving amendments to the Comprehensive Plan 2030 including: Modified housing policy and implementation strategies for multifamily development; revised descriptions for low, medium, and high-density multi-family residential development types; and updated location criteria for medium and high density urban multifamily. (First Reading)*
Body
Background:
Economic conditions for multifamily development have been changing quickly and drastically over the last 5 years. Most recently, area rents have declined in response to a glut of new housing units, and funding for new multifamily developments is increasingly difficult to come by to build the type of development required by the city's Zoning & Development Code. The local development community has been voicing concerns to city staff that structured parking requirements for the MF-3 (Urban Multifamily) zoning district make development unfeasible due to high costs associated with construction of structured parking. The Code currently includes the MF-2 (Multifamily - Medium Density) zoning district but the location requirements in the Round Rock 2030 Comprehensive Plan make it difficult to find locations in Round Rock where that zoning can be granted. Therefore, that district is rarely utilized. The strict location requirements for MF-2 development stemmed from city council’s desire to limit traditional suburban-style walkup apartments characterized by external stairways and surface parking, often with parking in the street yard.
As a result of a recent city council work session discussing these issues, staff was directed to reevaluate the criteria for medium density multi-family in the Round Rock 2030 Comprehensive Plan and to update the MF-2 (Multifamily - Medium Density) zoning district with revised development standards that ensure a high quality urban-style design to allow the MF-2 zoning district to be utilized more frequently by developers who desi...
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