Duplexes and Townhomes Legalized in Raleigh

"Duplexes and townhomes will now be legal to build by right throughout most of [Raleigh]," reports Anna Johnson.

The Raleigh City Council voted 6-1 to approve the new rules on Tuesday night earlier this week. The changes will "allow different types of housing in traditionally single-family neighborhoods without a rezoning."

Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin, who campaigned on a pro-development housing affordability strategy in 2019, is quoted in an earlier article by Johnson describing the intended goal of the approved rule changes:

“We empathized there would have to be some change to zoning to allow for more housing choice, especially what I call gentle density,” she said. “This is what I call gentle density, and it will allow for more homes to be built in our city. It’s a positive thing.”

Planetizne picked up news of Raleigh's ongoing planning and zoning reform efforts in June, when the topic was parking requirements—after the council voted 6-1 (again) to begin the process of removing parking minimums and changing parking maximums around the city. Planetizen also previewed Raleigh's work toward legalizing missing middle density in January 2020.

Raleigh's zoning and planning reform efforts follow closely on the heals of similar news from Charlotte, in the same state, and Charlottesville, in neighboring Virginia.