Decatur Moves Closer to Legalizing Duplexes, ‘Missing Middle Housing’

The City Commission of Decatur, Georgia voted this week to once again permit duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes in the city’s single-family zoned districts, reports Zoe Seller in Decaturish. The ordinance requires a second vote to pass.

In addition to the upzoning plan, the commission will also vote on a proposal to maintain parking requirements at 1 space per dwelling unit, “and to allow up to 50% of parking to for duplexes (2-units) and walk up flats (3-4 units) to be on-street parking, so long as frontage space meets requirements, and on-street parking is allowed.”

To quell concerns, the proposed ordinance includes a limit of 3 new duplex or walk up permits per school district to limit impact on school resources.

Like other zoning reform proposals, Decatur’s ‘missing middle housing’ ordinance faces opposition from critics who fear negative impacts on housing affordability, traffic, parking, and local infrastructure, as well as ever-present concerns about “neighborhood character.”