{"id":20201,"date":"2024-10-02T13:15:01","date_gmt":"2024-10-02T13:15:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/?p=20201"},"modified":"2024-10-02T13:23:08","modified_gmt":"2024-10-02T13:23:08","slug":"santa-fe-realtors-promote-diverse-housing-options-in-housing-strapped-region-2-3-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-3-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-4-2-4-2-2-3-2-4-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-3-3-2-2-3-2-2-2-3-2-3-2-2-2-2-3-3-2-2-2-3-2-2-3-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/homepage\/success-story\/slr-land1024","title":{"rendered":"St. Louis REALTORS\u00ae Push Back on Questionable Zoning Proposal in the City of Maplewood, Missouri"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In Maplewood, Missouri, a Bulk and Height Standard was proposed with the intent to keep modest houses from being torn down and replaced by larger, less affordable housing. Recognizing that such a measure would also prevent homeowners from building additions, St. Louis REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup><\/strong> turned to the REALTOR\u00ae<\/sup><\/strong> Party for a Land Use Initiative<\/a> review, which not only confirmed their concern, but also found another issue. Talking points developed from the report helped convince well-meaning city officials not to adopt the problematic new standard.<\/p>\n

Charlie Hinderliter, the Senior Vice President of Government Affairs, explains that when the bundle of proposed amendments to Maplewood\u2019s single-family residential zoning ordinance was unveiled, the REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup><\/strong> were inclined to agree with most of them, including changes to the lot size standards, front yard setbacks, and off-street parking requirements. However, they could not accept the proposed bulk and height clause. According to Hinderliter, \u201cThe sponsor had been working on this for over a year and was honestly struggling to help the community. But while he was attempting to \u2018preserve local neighborhood characteristics and housing affordability,\u2019 the restrictive bulk and height standard would unreasonably prohibit additions to existing homes. The situation called for an LUI review, and as always, Robinson & Cole delivered.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robinson & Cole is the law firm retained by the REALTOR\u00ae<\/sup> Party to analyze zoning legislation submitted by state and local associations through the Land Use Initiative program. Within a week, St. Louis REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup> received the firm\u2019s report, including the talking points it had requested. The following day, Hinderliter had a productive conversation with the amendment\u2019s sponsor. \u201cIt\u2019s much more effective when we can bring ideas backed by legal expertise to a situation like this, instead of simply showing up mad to the hearing,\u201d he observes. A few days later, the concerning bulk and height measure was voted down. When the revised zoning amendments were eventually introduced\u2014and accepted\u2014they were supported by a white paper based on the LUI analysis that the REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup> had delivered to the mayor, the city council, and key city staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the end, the revised bulk and height standard prohibits tear-downs but preserves the right to build additions,\u201d reports Hinderliter. \u201cIf we\u2019re trying to keep people in the community, this was the least detrimental resolution.\u201d The REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup>\u2019 contribution to the process also strengthened its position with local lawmakers: Maplewood\u2019s mayor noted that he\u2019d be looking for the REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup>\u2019 input on the zoning code following the creation of the city\u2019s new comprehensive plan in the next year or two.<\/p>\n

St. Louis REALTORS\u00ae<\/sup> are veteran users of the REALTOR\u00ae<\/sup> Party\u2019s LUI benefit. \u201cIt\u2019s a fantastic resource,\u201d asserts Hinderliter, who has requested the legal analysis pro-actively to help local lawmakers as they\u2019re crafting zoning legislation, as well as in response to questionable proposals. \u201cWe get great value for it,\u201d he says; \u201cSo often, the city has a well-intentioned idea but a bad solution. If it\u2019s something either technical or outside my expertise, I turn to the Land Use Initiative program.\u201d<\/p>\n

To learn more about how St. Louis REALTORS\u00ae <\/sup>is working to maintain private property rights and protect neighborhoods characterized by affordable housing, contact Charlie Hinderliter, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs, at chinderliter@stlrealtors.com<\/a> or 314.348.1322.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Using the legal analysis provided by the REALTOR\u00ae Party\u2019s Land Use Initiative program, St. Louis REALTORS\u00ae discouraged city officials from adopting new Height and Bulk Standards intended to discourage tear-down development, but which would have prohibited any additions in a neighborhood characterized by housing affordability. ","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,296],"tags":[355,501,375],"class_list":["post-20201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-success-stories","category-success-story","tag-land-use","tag-land-use-initiative","tag-missouri"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20201\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtorparty.realtor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}