Multi-Family Developers: Easy Targets, Unintended Consequences

Many a good concession has been won from developers through a good old-fashioned tussle with the local planning commission: energy efficiency standards, for instance, or even something as basic as sidewalks. Sometimes, however, such requirements may have unintended consequences, especially when they fall only on developers of multi-family housing. Does singling out these convenient targets ultimately undermine the values of density and walkability?

An interesting case is outlined by Plan Philly. An advocacy group for disabled people in Philadelphia is promoting the value of "visitability" -- homes that have wheelchair accessible first-floor half-bathrooms and at least one entrance without stairs. The Philadelphia Visitability Task Force helped impose a requirement that all homes built by the city's Housing Trust Fund must meet this standard of accessibility. The group is also pushing for a law that would require any city housing developments of 10 units or more to design for visitability in at least half the units.

The value of accessibility for the disabled is unquestionable, particularly as the population ages. But Stephen Smith at Network blog Market Urbanism wonders whether the proposed zoning change will have the unintended consequence of penalizing multi-family development:

In fairness, Plan Philly reports that the Visitability Task Force's goal is to impose their requirements on all new homes built within the city. The group seems to be taking an incremental approach to that goal.

The Philadelphia Building Industry Association has been fighting the restrictions, which they say cost as much as an additional $10,000 per unit. That cost, when passed on to homeowners, might induce potential buyers to purchase homes outside the city, association officials have argued.

Elsewhere on the Network today: Boston Biker introduces a local crash map. MARTA Rocks! asks whether a negative opinion piece on transit could influence ridership. And Extraordinary Observations wonders how car-centric Dallas will change when DART's new Green Line opens this weekend.