Yuba City Housing Supply and Affordability Zoning Code Audit
Yuba City, CA · 2022
Client: City of Yuba City
Location: Yuba City, CA
Year: 2022
CP Role: Lead consultant
Practice Area: Zoning Code Reform
Team: Jamin Kimmell, Principal-in-Charge; Alex Joyce, Project Manager
The Challenge
Yuba City needed to know whether its zoning code, across seven residential and commercial zones, supported or blocked middle housing types, and which development standards were driving up the cost of new homes.
Our Approach
We ran a pro forma-based audit of all seven zones, testing middle housing types in each. We identified the key barriers, showed how each standard affects construction feasibility and affordability, and modeled alternative standards based on the City's policy goals and best practice. Our planners and designers turned the comparison of existing and recommended code into charts, maps, and plain-language narrative for officials and the public.
Outcome
The audit gave the City evidence for specific code amendments and development incentives for middle housing.