Expertise Needed: Please Explain Zoning Variances for High-density Multifamily Construction in Major US Metropolitan Areas
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[{"id": "gqdhqe3", "text": "There's a lot to consider in this question and each city will vary - as you have pointed out. One pretty common one is parking. Developers love to complain about parking. It's expensive and takes up a ton of space. And when you have to have 2 parking spaces per unit... Well... You can do the math. So, sometimes you can get these requirements waived. I don't know about back room dealings but we usually fight our way through permitting meetings and review boards and make our case. These don't usually lead to massive variances like you're talking about, but they help. Odds are, the developer paid some kind of impact fee. Maybe they've included affordable units and been granted a density bonus. Perhaps they were built at a time when a local political administration was friendly to large developments. No two deals are the same so answers are bound to vary but those are a few reasons i can think of off the top of my head.", "replies": [{"id": "gqdnhf6", "text": "Also some munis have TODs that lower the ratio to say 1.2/1 from 2/1.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "gqduwm6", "text": "In 10 years parking will be an antiquated issue.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gqdjwa6", "text": "I do this for a living in very close proximity to your example. There are a few different things going on. First of all is Areas in Need of Redevelopment. These are special zoning districts that are created by the township to spur development and building. In general, they entice development by providing public land (through municipal owned properties or eminent domain) and through upzoning. An ANR can be upzoned to allow way more density and/or lower parking minimums. Another common upzoning \"perk\" is a reduction in the % of inclusionary zoning units. If municipal code requires 15% affordable, the ANR might only require 10%.\n\nThe other thing you see happen a lot is a trade off for municipal improvements. The developer agrees to build a park, a school, a parking garage, etc.\n\n[This plan](https://www.montclairlocal.news/2020/11/27/seymour-street-project-set-to-open-this-winter/) approved in Montclair had more stories and higher density than is allowed in the zone. It basically hits on every point above. It was was declared an ANR by the township allowing for higher density, taller buildings and lower % of affordable units. It also created a new type of affordable unit limited to township residents (teachers, cops, firefighters, muni employees). The developer agreed to build two municipal parking garages on city owned surface lots.\n\n[Here is an example](https://jerseydigs.com/jersey-city-rejects-lefrak-private-newport-waterfront-park/) of a developer that agreed to build a park as part of his approval but then proposed that most of the park be open only to his tenants and the city rejected it. He will most likely eventually get it approved if he opens it up as a real public benefit.\n\nAnother point that I think you'll see mentioned a lot when you look specifically at New Jersey developments is the PILOT program. This is not directly related to your question, but it's one reason town's like to create ANRs. PILOT stands for payment in lieu of taxes. You can set up an ANR so that property developers within the Area don't pay traditional RE taxes for a set amount of time (up to 30 years) and pay PILOT fees instead. PILOT funds go directly to the municipality instead of getting split with the state. Generally the RE owner is paying less than they would in regular RE taxes, but the township is receiving a lot more than they normally would because they're keeping most of it.\n\nLast point, and this gets missed in these discussions a lot. Tons of places have strict zoning, not because they believe only buildings meeting those criteria should get built, but because they want to force every project to go get a variance instead of building \"as of right\". My town has very strict and outdated parking minimums. It's nearly impossible to build a project as of right, because parking is so hard to come by. So every project has to go in front of the board and the board ends up granting A LOT of parking variances. So why not just change the parking minimums to be consistent with the Institute of Traffic Engineers (ITE) recommendations? Because they want to review every project. They can extract other concessions or have input on the size, scale, materials, etc because the developer needs that variance. It's about maintaining a level of control over development.", "replies": [{"id": "gqdsgns", "text": "This is dead on in my neck of the woods too.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "gqeun1x", "text": "I actually worked on one of those projects listed lol", "replies": [], "depth": 2}, {"id": "gqg24gs", "text": "This is great. do you have any resources for zoning code in jersey city since it\u2019s so scattered?", "replies": [{"id": "gqg2d6g", "text": "https://library.municode.com/nj/jersey_city/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=CH345ZO", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gqdl3zh", "text": "In a nutshell, most jurisdictions have a process to apply for a variance from code restrictions. Such variances require negotiation and give-and-take with the city or other appropriate jurisdiction.\n\nI'm not familiar with the NE, but in the western half of the country where I have done a fair amount of work, it's not some nefarious scheme as you seem to intimate in your second paragraph. It's a fairly open process, generally ratified by the city council or similar, that benefits the city or other jurisdiction in exchange for the code variance (which is often in-line with the intended use in the first place such as your example where a 4-5 story building allowed by code became a 10-15 story building on the same footprint).", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gqds7c2", "text": "I will echo the other, better comments that it's less about trunk fulls of cash and more about every town wants you to come to the board and get a variance. This is the process of getting a new bike lane for free, new park, curbs and gutters, etc etc. No two projects are the same of that size.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gqfznuc", "text": "One mechanism I didn't see mentioned yet are transferrable development rights. Homeowners in rural areas can essentially take their building rights and sell them to developers. The rural parcel stays agricultural and the developers use TDRs to increase the allowable density of their project.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "gqgg3ok", "text": "There are many good answers here. I have worked on both coasts and now I'm in Denver. It's a messy process, but I wouldn't expect too much real corruption that involves trunks of cash or bars of gold. \n\nHaving contacts in the approval department helps get things done a little faster because off the record conversations can keep things moving.\n\nVariances happen all the time and there are many tradeoffs that have been mentioned.\n\nIt is also possible to rezone. That entails it's own complicated effort, but can yield big returns. This can be done at very small scale. I rezoned a residential lot to allow an accessory dwelling unit (ADU). This immediately raised the value of that lot far exceeding the amount I put into it.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]