1. PPA 419 – Aging Services Administration Lecture 7d – Rethinking zoning to accommodate the elderly in single family housing

2. Introduction Demographics of U.S. have changed and goal of 1949 Housing Act to provide “a decent home and suitable living arrangement” for all Americans has not been met. Elderly one segment that will need “affordable housing” in increasing numbers. In the absence of government subsidy, attention has turned to existing housing stock. Planners and others have devised remedies to allow aging in place But, zoning laws place restrictions on their implementation.

3. Introduction Home-rule works against change. –Zoning ordinances devised during a period with very different housing composition. Zoning ordinances no longer meet housing needs. Comprehensive zoning first upheld in 1926 (Euclid vs. Ambler) with special protection of single-family homes from “nuisances”. Problem: Single family household has declined from 44.3 percent of households in 1960 to 26.3 percent in 1990.

4. Zoning for Affordable Housing Zoning regulations will be upheld if: –Their goals are to serve the public health, safety, morals, or general welfare. –The restrictions bear a substantial relationship to those goals.

5. Zoning for Affordable Housing Zoning protects single family dwellings by restricting land-use to single family dwellings. –Occupancy restrictions limiting use to a single family with a restrictive definition of family. –Regulations limiting land use to only one single-family dwelling per lot. The changing composition of both families and households and the need to create more “affordable housing” calls these zoning provisions into question.

6. Affordable Housing for the Elderly: A Role for Local Policy Increases in the number of elderly from 31 million in 1990 to 66 million in 2050. Higher percentage paid for housing by elderly. Few alternatives for elderly beyond family home that are not too large or expensive combined with little market for the family home in some places. Housing is critical to contribution to community.

7. Local government strategies Shared Residences –Zoning definition of family often too restrictive. –The more restrictive the definition, the less likely the court’s are to uphold deviations. –So far, no wholesale trend in local communities to broaden definition unless legally challenged. Second Units (Accessory Apartments and ECHO cottages) –Legal problems: second dwelling unit, occupancy, and removal.