Summary: Asheville City Council will vote Tuesday on allowing duplexes in more neighborhoods and permitting accessory dwelling units to be larger and easier to build. These relatively modest reforms are unlikely to produce either a great deal of housing or widespread displacement. But the City is about to begin a comprehensive overhaul of its development rules that is supposed to include displacement-risk analysis and anti-displacement strategies. Council has not demonstrated why these changes must be approved separately before that work is ready. It should postpone the amendments and consider them through the more complete and appropriately cautious process that is about to begin.

The Facts: City Council will hold a public hearing Tuesday on amendments to Asheville’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO).

One amendment would allow duplexes by right in the RS-2, RS-4 and RS-8 residential districts and several neighborhood and River Arts districts where they are not currently permitted. Related changes would allow the two units and their land to be divided for separate ownership.

A second amendment would increase the maximum size of an accessory dwelling unit, or ADU, from 800 to 1,000 square feet, provided it remains smaller than the principal residence. It would allow an ADU on a property containing a duplex, permit an ADU in front of the principal building, and cap detached ADUs at 25 feet according to the City’s method of measuring height.

City staff recommends approving both amendments. The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the duplex and ADU changes by 6–1 votes. You can see the presentation slides here, and read the staff report on duplexes here, and ADU’s here.

Our Assessment: Duplexes and ADUs can both theoretically help address housing shortages and displacement. They can accommodate extended families, create rental income that helps a homeowner remain in place, and add housing without the disruption associated with much larger developments. However, when other cities have made these particular changes, it typically results in relatively few new units, and is therefore among the least consequential forms of upzoning.

So we have to wonder: if the changes are unlikely to produce much housing, what is the urgency to approve them now?

Later this year, Asheville is expected to begin a comprehensive UDO overhaul that will continue through 2028. That process is intended to examine the cumulative effects of zoning changes and apply displacement-risk analysis and anti-displacement strategies that are not yet fully formulated. Approving development entitlements first and developing protections later puts the cart before the horse.

We recommend that Council postpone the duplex and ADU amendments and consider them through the comprehensive UDO overhaul beginning later this year. The reforms may ultimately be reasonable, but they should be evaluated alongside other zoning changes using the City’s forthcoming displacement-risk analysis and anti-displacement strategies.

Things to do: Email City Council and ask members to postpone the duplex and ADU amendments until they can be evaluated through the City’s comprehensive UDO overhaul and informed by its promised anti-displacement analysis. You can use our email template below, within the surveillance issue report, which addresses this issue as well as that one.