State Bill Aims to Designate Local Zoning Districts for Homes on Small Lots

House Bill 1212 by Del. Briana Sewell, D-Prince William, would require localities with populations over 20,000 people to adopt at least one zoning district dedicated to homes on small lot sizes.

The idea is to encourage more housing density while still allowing single-family homes in neighborhoods, and it is among a flurry of housing bills that have been advancing in this year’s legislative session.

A home built by Richmond Metropolitan Habitat for Humanity volunteers. (Photo courtesy Richmond Metropolitan Habitat for Humanity)

Sewell said in an interview that her bill is “designed to empower localities to get creative with housing solutions.”

She envisions this measure being particularly helpful for making home ownership attainable for people who might otherwise struggle to make the leap from renter to owner, as well as senior citizens seeking to downsize.

However, the crux of the debate with many housing bills at the state level is whether or not state authority overrides local authority or if prescriptive measures can work widescale.

With a noted shortage of housing supply and years of rising mortgage and rent costs, state lawmakers have presented a range of bills aimed at curbing housing affordability issues. It’s the purview of local governments to approve developments or make local zoning changes; lawmakers like Sewell have proposed areas wherein the state might have more control. But not all of her colleagues agree.

“Top-down zoning mandates are not the right way to address (affordable housing),” Del. Anne Ferrell Tata, R-Virginia Beach, said on the House floor last week when speaking in opposition to Sewell’s bill.

Sewell said her bill was inspired by the actions of a Central Virginia locality that she feels can be more widely implemented.

Democrats celebrate a handful of housing affordability bills clearing the House of Delegates 

Earlier last year, Henrico County adopted design guidelines for small-lot single-family home developments to incorporate into its comprehensive plan — a guiding document localities update every few years as a blueprint for land use decisions.

Sewell said her bill is a way of “making sure that we diversify housing options in every locality.”

Having cleared the House of Delegates, her bill can now journey through Virginia’s Senate in the other half of this year’s legislative session. It joins other housing  bills that have cleared their chambers of origin, like proposals to encourage apartments and townhomes near certain commercial corridors, lift caps on local housing grants to government workers so they can live in the communities they serve, and various bills to bolster renters’ protections.

By spring, Gov. Abigail Spanberger will sign, veto, or seek amendments on all legislation that makes it to her desk.

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