PARCEL RECONFIGURATION
CONTENTS 2
CALLOUT DIAGRAM
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INTRODUCTION
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NEIGHBORHOOD PATTERNS
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EXISTING CONDITIONS
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ANTI-DISPLACEMENT
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PRECEDENTS
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TECHNIQUE
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QUALITATIVE SECTION: PROPOSED
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POLICIES
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GOALS AFFORDABLE HOUSING INCOME SOURCE RESPECTS EXISTING HOMES
PARCELRECONFIGURATION A STRATEGY THAT SPLITS PARCELS TO ALLOW INCREASED DENSITY WHILE ENABLING CURRENT RESIDENTS TO STAY IN THEIR HOMES.
Currently, single-family homes sit on large parcels with wide streets, setbacks and often alleyways. In Central City South, there are also many vacant lots. Front yards are often utilized as social spaces.
Often, new development aggregates adjacent lots and creates proportionately massive structures, disrupting the neighborhood atmosphere. Single-family homes precariously co-exist with monolithic apartment buildings, while owners who sell lose generational equity opportunities.
Single-family neighborhoods can support additional density while retaining the village-like atmosphere and private space that makes them attractive to families. People maintain ownership and equity for future generations but can sell portions of their lots facing an alleyway-easement.
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NEIGHBORHOODPATTERNS alleys vacant lots light rail corridor park infill potential light rail visibility RESIDENTIAL STREETS
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PARCELMAP
property parcels streets, setbacks, rights-of-way, riverbed In this parcel map of the central strip of Central City South, the wide streets running through the residential neighborhoods are apparent, as well as the small sizes of the single-family homes in comparison to their lots. Although not all additions were captured, aerial images consistently show relatively small homes on large lots.
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50% OF THE LAND AREA CONSISTS OF STREETS AND SETBACKS
ONLY 22% OF HOUSEHOLDS OWN PRIVATE VEHICLES
MEDIAN LOT SIZE IS 6500 SF WITH 50’ OF STREET FRONTAGE
According to a rough calculation based on several average Central City South blocks and intersections, approximately half of the neighborhood land mass consist of public streets and required setbacks, while 50% of the land is contained within the parcels. Data is pulled from the Maricopa County Assessor’s map and online resources. Median block and street+setback widths
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80’
300’
60’
260’
EXISTINGCONDITIONS
Streets are wide and built for cars, not pedestrians or bicycles. Large setbacks separate the street from property lines, and many streets lack sidewalks.
Front yards, often firmly delineated with a fence along the property line, are actively used as social spaces, not just for decoration or privacy buffers from the street as is the case in many Phoenix suburbs.
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“FRONT YARD” UNCLAIMED CITY LAND BELONGS MAINLY UTILIZED PORTION OF THE HOMES TO RESIDENTS AND CAN BEGIN TO IN THE COMMUNITY CLAIM OWNERSHIP SIDEWALKS ARE OFTEN NON-EXISTENT
“ONE WAY STREET”
QUALITATIVE SECTION EXISTING
MONTEZUMA STREET
HADLEY STREET
TONTO STREET
THIRD AVE
“FRONT YARD” MAINLY UTILIZED PORTION OF THE HOMES IN THE COMMUNITY
FOURTH AVE
UNCLAIMED CITY LAND BELONGS TO RESIDENTS AND CAN BEGIN TO CLAIM OWNERSHIP
BUCKEYE ROAD
SIDEWALKS DONʼT PROVIDE MUCH WALKABILITY
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anti-cultural-displacement: identity Development takes place at a smaller scale. Incoming residents are literally and mentally integrated into the community.
anti-economic-displacement: opportunity Parcel reconfiguration fights economic displacement by offering opportunities for rental or land-sale-income for property owners and affordable housing for renters.
anti-physical-displacement: housing Affordable rental housing is created in a way that’s woven into the neighborhood fabric. Homeowners are incentivized to stay in their homes instead of selling to developers.
ANTI-DISPLACEMENT Property owners are under pressure to sell their land to developers, who generally plan to demolish existing structures and build large. While they can gain a one-time profit, it would be better if they could develop the land themselves in a way to avoid displacement, not only of their own families but their communities. The practice of additional dwelling units, casitas and granny flats is common in Central City South and across Phoenix. If these dwellings were encouraged but required to front the alley directly as a house fronts its street, the alleys would be active and social spaces. Property owners would gain supplemental income from rent or the outright sale of a subdivided lot. Density would increase organically in a way that retained the comfortable, village-like atmosphere. Since properties would be developed by their own neighbors, the development is woven into the fabric of the neighborhood. Parcel reconfiguration goes hand-in-hand with the development of alleyways as viable neighborhood transit arterials. Property owners who sell their land along the alleys are incentivized to do so.
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Presidio Terrace in San Francisco. The street was sold at a public auction after the HOA failed to pay property taxes for many years. The buyers intended to charge for parking. The sale was later revoked after outry by wealthy residents.
“Underground Atlanta,” a sale of a public street to private developers in Atlanta for the redevelopment of a shopping mall Imagery ©2019 Google, Map data ©2019 Google
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PRECEDENTS While cities such as New York and San Francisco commonly sell streets and sidewalks to private entities, in Phoenix the practice is unknown. In these cities, the land is usually sold to large developers or corporations. These entities can then conduct business such as charging for parking or access, or developing the land. Usually the deals require the private entitities to be developing for a public good, although the definition of that can vary greatly and often these deals are accompanied by public outcry. In the case of Presidio Terrace, the wealthy neighborhood pressured the city council to revoke the sale. A BBC story quotes a law professor at the University of Virginia saying, “There’s always been a very vibrant trade in streets... It has actually been quite prevalent in the US for a long time.” Usually cities sell their land to pay debts, or enable things like restricting guns or creating an entertainment district where patrons must pay to enter. Here, the process would work toward a different goal. Phoenix attempted an “alley activation” pilot program in 2016 which resulted in a few murals in downtown alleys. There is a small precedent of alley abandonment, where the land is given to a private developer, but only one documented case which ended with the developer closing the alley. Phoenix does have formal processes to request to split a property parcel or abandon a street but there are permit fees in excess of thousands of dollars, and the process is confusing. There is no process to abandon a street that is technically in use just because it is too large.
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original parcel lines
the property owner sells or donates the back portion of their parcel
the owner gains a portion of the street which their front yard faces
the final reconfigured parcels
TECHNIQUE
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“FRONT YARD” LATENT POTENTIAL OF THE AREA CAN BE IMPROVED
LAND IS GIVEN TO THE PROPERTY OWNERS IMPROVED “HUMAN” SCALE COULD IMPROVE WALKABILITY
“ONE WAY STREET”
QUALITATIVE SECTION PROPOSED
MONTEZUMA STREET
HADLEY STREET
UNCLAIMED CITY LAND BELONGS TO RESIDENTS AND CAN BEGIN TO CLAIM OWNERSHIP
THIRD AVE
FOURTH AVE
TONTO STREET
BUCKEYE ROAD
“FRONT YARD” LATENT POTENTIAL OF THE AREA CAN BE IMPROVED
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POLICIES parcel reconfiguration Wide streets built to favor cars and large public right-of-way setbacks can be shrunk while giving land back to homewoners as incentives to densify their neighborhoods themselves, on their own terms, while retaining the comfort of a low-scale residential neighborhood.
Affordable Housing Requirement for Developers New parcels created by reconfiguration can be placed in a trust subsized by the affordable housing requirement for developers, wherein instead of placing units within the primary development, the entity finances construction of affordable units nearby. Developers could also directly fund secondary dwellings. Higher-rent units along Central Ave. could be offset by neighborhood infill along the alleys and vacant lots.
open alleys Instead of closing alleys due to trash accumulation and undesirable activity, the city should encourage the activation of alleys to take advantage of unused land, encourage appropriately-scaled density, enable income-producing rentals, add housing stock and create pedestrian-friendly streets.
land trust In exchange for land along the current streets, landowners would give their land fronting the alleys to a community land trust that would be dedicated to permanent affordable housing.
co-op living The land along the alleys could consist of parcels for ownership along the lines of a land trust, or could combine in a co-op housing scenario. In the event parcel reconfugaration does not take place but alley developemnt occurs, a co-op rental system could develop where owners retain the rights to their land but the occupants of alley housing have more custody, and incentive to care for, their buildings.
home-based business Current zoning often discourages and outlaws operating a business from a residential property. Many residential leases prohibit commercial activity. The city should encourage entrepreneurship and small business development and lower the barrier to entry, especially for low-income and historically disadvantaged populations. Finding space to create a business is a crucial barrier to entry.
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