A definition change in a Madison zoning code enacted to discourage student renters in residential neighborhoods could increase housing equity and choice, according to the city’s Building Inspection Division.
The modification would lift a discriminatory occupancy restriction from the 1960s that aimed to protect low-density single-family neighborhoods from higher-occupancy student housing. Zoning Administrator Katie Bannon said the current zoning code presents an equity issue as it differentiates between owner-occupied and renter-occupied housing.
“Owner-occupants are more likely to be white and wealthy, which means that people of color and lower-income residents are disproportionately affected by this zoning regulation, all at a time when rents are high,” Bannon said at a plan commission meeting in late September.
The code also differentiates based on the relationship of tenants. As it stands, the code prevents more than two “non-family” roomers from renting in one-third of the city. The city defines “family” as an individual or two or more persons related by blood, marriage, domestic partnership or legal adoption living together as a single housekeeping unit in a dwelling unit, including foster children and up to four roomers. These same areas allow up to five non-family roomers in an owner-occupied unit and include the residential neighborhoods surrounding the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
The student housing environment that led to the zoning code’s authorization in 1966 changed dramatically in recent years. According to data from UW-Madison and the city of Madison, the city increased by over 36,000 people from 2010 to 2020, and the University increased by nearly 3,000 students in the same time frame.
The rapid growth of the city’s population compared to UW’s enrollment numbers precludes the need to restrict where students can rent, Bannon said.
Fewer students are living in zones with the two non-family member limit as recent housing developments made living closer to campus more attractive. In 2022, the latest large-scale construction project on State Street began for Oliv Madison, a 10-story student housing project. The city’s Building Inspector Matt Tucker said these large, amenity-rich student housing developments increased in popularity over the past two decades.
“Starting back in the 1990s with the first high-rise student project, we have seen a shift of renters from the campus edge neighborhoods to the desired newer student housing type, which makes us ask if the restriction in the edge neighborhoods is still necessary?” Tucker told The Daily Cardinal.
Instead of basing occupancy limits on the “family” definition, the city could adopt an objective measure such as the number of people per room, per square foot or other bases which do not discriminate based on relationship or ownership status, officials said at the plan commission meeting. The recommendation comes as policymakers in Wisconsin become more aware of the factors influencing the city’s housing crisis. Tucker said students who prefer to live further from campus would not be impacted if the city does implement the change.
“Students can still choose to live in these neighborhoods; this is not a high concentration, rather an exception, and we think housing choice is a good thing,” Tucker said.
