Zoning Out: How Low-Density Zoning Prevents Our Community from Growing

 Written by Ethan Dean

Figure 1: This figure shows the zoning boundaries of State college borough currently. The only area for mixed use is situated right up against the university. This area is a few square miles


Zoning plays a pivotal role in shaping the urban fabric of our communities and is often underestimated in its influence. Zoning has the power to change streets into a row of houses, a dense network with cafes, erect high-rises, or maintain lawn and parking lots. In the State College Area, zoning complexities are of particular interest due to the multiple municipal boundaries.

Within our borough, Figure 1 depicts a significant zoning rule: it is ILLEGAL to build anything but single-family housing units on 10000 sqft parcels within residential zoned areas (this is all the orange to yellow on the map). While these regulations may seem protective, they result in extremely low-density areas that are expensive to maintain and contribute to unused space within our community.

Zoning not only defines our community but also shapes the funding of our infrastructure and public services. For instance, consider the high-rises in downtown State College. Regardless of your personal opinion, this serves as a great perspective of what density can provide to us. Tax documents reveal they make millions of dollars for the borough and each student pays about 200 dollars to the borough in school taxes, which they don’t utilize fully. They require fewer services, reduce traffic, and promote energy efficiency. You can find these documents here so you can see this real impact. This density opens up housing outside of the high-rises for community members and more to live, where they can save money and get access to these amenities. Density does not just have to be high rises; it is just the only financially viable option that is legal in our code.

Figure 2: This figure shows a new development happening across S Buckhout St from the borough. This is a development that will house students and is not giving any of its revenue to the borough to provide services that we can benefit from.

There is a downside to maintaining a low-density borough; housing needs to go somewhere. It still gets built, but instead of inside the borough, new housing is added in the surrounding area, negatively impacting the community’s sustainability and affordability. Look at Toftrees, Aspen rentals, and the Haus State College (Figure 2), all right across the borough boundary. These places are built and use our amenities, costing us money for roads, parking, and more. We have no control over them and miss out on substantial revenue that could be ours if higher-density housing weren't restricted by our zoning laws. In the current zoning rewrite, the current council is recommending we make this density illegal and even harder to build than it is now.

The ongoing zoning code rewritten by the current council further tightens restrictions on density, hindering our housing market's growth. Engagement is the key, such as voting for people who represent the interests of the people, especially in the borough council. If we show up to our meetings and explain we want to legalize more types of housing and stop exclusionary zoning, change can happen. Right now, the council is doing a rewrite of the zoning code and it is very important to make it known what every person thinks and to support making our community more accessible in any way we can.

In summary, zoning's impact is profound, shaping the fabric of our communities and their financial well-being. By actively engaging with the zoning rewrite process and advocating for inclusivity, we can foster a more vibrant and accessible community for all.

Stay tuned for more,

Ethan Dean

STHV Founder
strongtownshappyvalley@gmail.com


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Paved Paradise Book Review

Image
  Written by Evan Ferstl Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World by Henry Grabar. Photo from Penguin Press. Recently, I read the new book Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World by Henry Grabar. Given the current discussions around parking in State College, I thought this would be an interesting read and was not disappointed. Here are some of my main takeaways: There is a massive oversupply of parking in American cities Grabar makes many arguments familiar to anyone familiar with Strong Towns talking points. American cities have built so many parking spots that it has brought them to ruin. While most parking is free for parkers, it is expensive for cities to maintain, creating a massive subsidy (81). Parking availability is the number one predictor of car use, and greater car use in turn leads to an insatiable demand for more parking (82). Cities and their residents routinely believe incorrectly that they are facing a parking shortage. (85). This last point is particularl
Read more

College Communities

Image
  Written by Ethan Dean The Penn State Transportation Services Office, located in Eisenhower Parking Deck. Photo from Penn State Transportation Services. College campuses are some of the most urbanized places in the country, with ample housing where students live and buildings located right near food and downtowns. However, they still suffer from many of the same problems that America has with its transit, if to a lesser extent. In this post, we will briefly look at the structure of transportation design on campuses using our own Penn State as an example. Penn State has a few different groups involved in transportation, but much of the general day-to-day transit is operated and run by the Office of the Physical Plant. This group manages roads, lights, and the broad infrastructure and layout of the university. They even have a master plan and other reports on the state of their infrastructure. I would recommend checking out this page to see who works here, what the projects are, and ho
Read more

Fall Foliage Ride and NextGen Mobility Plan

Image
  Written by Valerie Burnett On this past cool and blustery Saturday people of all ages and abilities gathered at Sunset Park for the Fall Foliage Bike Ride & Festival .  Discussions about the Next Gen Connectivity & Mobility Plan prompted many to express high hopes for all who walk, bicycle, and take the bus in our region.  As riders approached the intersection of McKee Street and Park Avenue it triggered conversations about how it is necessary to put a toe or tire out into the road to show drivers their intention to cross.  Without being assertive it can be a very long wait.  One person commented that even though people have the right of way it is not worth being “dead right.”  Another mentioned that a reasonably inexpensive solution might be retractable bollards.  We traveled through campus working our way to the Blue Course Drive multi-use path with the support of members from the State College Borough Bicycle Ambassadors and CentreBike enabling us to ride through in
Read more