The Madison Common Council approved a trio of zoning ordinances intended to address the city’s housing crisis by legalizing more types of housing and streamlining development in an unanimous vote last Tuesday.
The passage of these “Housing Forward” proposals marks a step forward in the city’s effort to increase housing supply and accessibility across neighborhoods and a unique moment of unanimous agreement on housing, a topic that often stirs passionate debate.
Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway applauded the council’s action in a statement following the vote.
“By simplifying our processes and enacting forward-thinking policies, we are ensuring that everyone in our city can live and thrive in the neighborhood of their choosing,” she said.
Changes promote development and reform downtown
The zoning code now permits duplexes and twin homes by right on all residentially zoned
Lots, an expansion from a 2023 ordinance that applied only to areas near public transit.
The Council has also relaxed dimensional requirements for splitting larger lots, reducing the minimum lot depth from 200 feet to 160 feet and the minimum frontage from 30 feet to 10 feet. This change allows homeowners to sell or build on newly created lots behind their existing homes.
In downtown zoning districts like Downtown Core (DC) and Urban Mixed-Use (UMX), the threshold for triggering conditional use review was raised. Now, buildings up to six stories can be approved by right, up from the previous four-story limit. The change aims to make development more predictable and consistent with other mixed-use corridors through Madison.
Community engagement leads to mixed reviews for changes
Public comments submitted in the weeks leading up to the Council meeting reflected a mix of enthusiastic support, cautious optimism and pointed concern.
Many residents expressed strong support for the proposals and urged the Council to go further.
“Please vote in favor of those policies so that more folks can call Madison their home,” wrote Jonathan Mertzig, a District 11 resident, who added he would have liked to see even more ambitious reforms like fourplexes allowed by right.
Others echoed a need for greater density and flexibility.
“Dense housing creates strong communities and supports a wide variety of local businesses,” near east side resident Nicholas Reichert wrote. “Every district in Madison should allow the types of housing that are prevalent on the isthmus.”
But not everyone was convinced. Sandra Ward, co-chair of the Capitol Neighborhoods Tree Preservation and Planting Committee, raised concerns about the potential loss of Madison’s mature tree canopies.
“Yes, support more density,” she wrote, “but do so with an eye to protecting the tree canopy.”
Other residents, like Lorne Hillier, questioned the assumption that more units would bring down costs. “More likely, it will just facilitate the demolition of older, modest homes so two, half-million dollar houses could be built,” he argued, suggesting the city consider alternative affordability strategies like incentivizing condos or starter homes.
Additional suggestions included removing minimum parking mandates, revisiting short-term rental regulations and protecting affordability through more aggressive rental policies.
Progress continues after Tuesday’s meeting
The Housing Forward initiative is expected to continue with additional proposals this fall. Council members and city staff have indicated that reforms under consideration may address topics like parking, design standards and rental affordability.
Whether the new ordinances will result in more affordable homes remains to be seen, but for now, the city has cleared the way for more small-scale housing options, one backyard lot and duplex at a time.
