What is allowed under the new zoning code?

Evanston’s proposed new zoning code and zoning map — released earlier this week — would allow larger buildings in most — but not all — residential zones.

Comparing existing AND proposed zoning maps indicate that the proposed reduction from seven to four residential zones generally works this way.

• Properties in the lowest density R1 zone retain the R1 designation.
• The old R2 and R3 zones have been collapsed into the new R2 zone.
• The old R4 and R4a zones are part of the new R3 zone.
• The old R5 and R6 zones are part of the new R4 zone.

These are the general patterns seen on maps. There are many cases where a particular block may not follow this pattern – often because the existing buildings on the block do not fit very well into the existing zoning.

Here is a chart showing what the most important principles are for each of them current AND proposed residential zone. It’s incredibly weird and you might just want to skip it or you’ll go cross-eyed trying to understand it.

Once we had collected the rules, we then tried to see how they would apply to a plot of land with the minimum size and width allowed under the existing rules – what would be the maximum building area allowed on that plot under the old and new rules.

Remember that if different rules produce different results, the most restrictive rule applies.

Here’s how it turned out:

• A building in the new R1 zone could be 40% larger than what is currently allowed in R1.
• A building in the new R2 zone can be 27% larger than the average allowed in the existing R2 and R3 zones.
• A building in the new R3 zone could be more than twice the size of what is currently allowed in the R4 and R4a zones.
• A building in the new R4 zone could be almost exactly the same size as the average allowed in the R5 and R6 zones – much larger than allowed in R5, but much smaller than allowed in R6.

Could these results change if you started with a different batch size and dimensions? Quite possibly yes.

Did we have time to perform these calculations for an infinite number of batches of different sizes? NO.

Much of the discussion so far about the proposed new zoning code has focused on a provision that would allow the construction of a maximum of four apartments on any lot in zones R1 through R3.

Currently, only one primary dwelling unit is permitted per plot in R1 and R2, and only two in R3.

(However, the city’s dwelling ordinance allows a second unit of up to 1,000 square feet to be constructed on lots in any zone.)

This analysis shows that multi-family homes in the R1 zone would not have to be the size of a postage stamp, as some suggest.

Even after subtracting interior space for stairs and other common areas, each apartment in a four-unit apartment on a 7,200-square-foot R1 lot could have approximately 1,500 square feet of space – typical for a three-bedroom apartment.

However, this also means that another potential outcome is that some existing small-scale single-family homes could be replaced by single-family McMansions.

No zoning code can determine how many of these options an actual housing market can provide.

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