Council aims to make subdividing property easier

In a move aimed at increasing housing supply, City Council on Thursday passed a resolution to make it easier and cheaper to subdivide properties.

Council Member Ryan Alter, the sponsor of the resolution, said that splitting land into multiple lots means more homes at cheaper prices. 

“If you take a lot, you divide it into multiple pieces, that divides that cost to two or three homes. And that has a real meaningful impact,” he said. “But currently, if you want to subdivide a lot, you must go through a lengthy and expensive process that can add tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of land.” 

According to the city’s fee schedule, subdividing property can cost about $20,000 per acre. Combining lots, on the other hand, costs $6,000 to $8,000 per acre. 

“I just believe it shouldn’t be easier to create large lots for large, expensive homes instead of smaller lots for more affordable homes,” Alter said. 

Making it easier for existing homeowners to subdivide and sell pieces of their land could also prevent displacement, he said. 

The proposal would lower fees and streamline the review process for owners who want to create no more than six lots in existing residential neighborhoods. Developers building larger subdivisions would still pay the current fees. The resolution also proposes giving staffers more authority to approve subdivision plans instead of land use commissions, as well as adjusting subdivision fees based on the income of property owners.

Council voted 10-0-1 to begin the process of drafting the code change. Council Member Alison Alter abstained, saying she wants to wait to see the draft code amendment before voting. She also amended the resolution to assess the impact of the proposal in wildfire-prone areas. 

The code change is scheduled to come back to Council in November for adoption.

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