A Bill to End Single-family Zoning

A North Carolina senator has introduced a bill that would eliminate single-family zoning throughout the state. The bill would require local governments to allow duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes in all areas zoned for residential. Not surprisingly, local governments are objecting.

Local government officials argue that the bill interferes with their power to dictate land use. The mayor of Fletcher said,

We were not elected to be puppets of the General Assembly. So, here in Fletcher, we are the individuals who are best suited to decide which areas are appropriate for single-family subdivisions or multi-unit developments.

The mayor doesn’t explain why local governments are better suited than developers and consumers to determine what housing gets built. And the reason for his silence on that issue is because a rational explanation is impossible.

The North Carolina League of Municipalities is also fighting the bill. A spokesman for the organization argued,

Land use planning is about determining what fits in a particular community. We just don’t see “some kind of one size fits all” solution that is created in Raleigh [the state’s capital] being able to do that effectively at all.

This is, to be kind, a silly argument. Zoning is a one size fits all “solution.” Single-family zoning eliminates the possibility of any other kind of housing being built. It tells developers, to paraphrase Henry Ford, that they can build anything they choose so long as it’s a single-family house.

Further, local officials across the country have done a remarkably poor job of addressing the housing shortage. Their decisions regarding what “fits in a particular community” have been a primary cause of soaring housing prices.

Eliminating single-family zoning isn’t a one size fits all solution. Indeed, the exact opposite is true. When developers have options regarding the type of housing they can build, they can meet the specific desires of home buyers and renters. They can build the housing that individuals want, and they can build that housing where individuals desire to live. Freed from the restraints of zoning, housing producers can create a wide variety of solutions to the housing shortage rather than the singular “solution” dictated by government officials.