AKRON, Ohio — Akron leaders are considering a series of zoning changes they say could help address housing shortages, improve affordability and make it easier to build new homes across the city. The proposed updates would reduce barriers that city officials say have made it difficult to develop vacant lots and add new housing options in some neighborhoods.
To help residents better understand the proposals, the city has launched an online StoryMap that explains current zoning regulations, outlines the proposed changes, and allows community members to submit feedback. You can check it out here.
Among the changes under consideration:
- Eliminating or reducing minimum lot size requirements for new residential construction.
- Allowing more duplexes and triplexes in some areas currently limited to single-family housing.
- Making it easier to reinvest in and rehabilitate older residential properties.
Akron Mayor Shammas Malik said the city has many vacant lots that could support new housing, but outdated zoning requirements often stand in the way.
"We kind of created these artificial requirements that your lot has to be a certain size before you can build a house, and so you have two perfectly nice houses, and in between them is a parcel, and you can't build on it even though you could build a house of that size that would fit right in with the neighborhood," Malik said.
City leaders say the proposed changes are intended to create more housing opportunities while supporting neighborhood revitalization. Officials emphasize that any future development would still be required to meet building codes, safety standards, and property maintenance requirements.
"This is about increasing housing supply, bringing down the cost of homes, increasing home ownership in our community, and making sure that people have options, whether it's single-family homes, duplexes, triplexes, and that our beautiful neighborhoods, Akron is a city of neighborhoods, that they remain strong," said Malik.
The city plans to gather public input from the new website over the coming months before presenting recommendations to the Planning Commission and Akron City Council. Some of the proposed changes could be considered as early as this fall.
"If we make it difficult to build in our neighborhoods, our neighborhoods are going to weaken over time and that hurts folks who are existing homeowners in our neighborhoods, because so much of their American dream is in those housing values," Malik said.
