Oakland considers ending single-family housing zones

City would join Berkeley, others in changing exclusionary regulations

OAKLAND >> Oakland could join a rising wave of California cities aiming to wipe out zoning regulations that allow only single-family houses in certain areas.

On March 16, the City Council will consider asking staff planners to explore the possibility of allowing fourplexes to be built in neighborhoods currently designated just for houses.

“Zoning which allows only for single-family homes in certain desirable areas has been used for many decades to create exclusionary communities which perpetuate racial disparities and inequities,” Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan wrote in a memo to the council.

“Laws which allow only for single-family homes in certain areas reduces the housing supply and worsens the housing crisis and undermines access and affordability,” Kaplan added.

It’s unclear how soon the city actually could see a change in the zoning if the council votes to kickstart the process. City planners would have to study the issue and their findings would be vetted by the Planning Commission before going back to the council for a vote.

Planning staffers also would be asked to assess whether certain areas should be prioritized or excluded from the proposed zoning change, depending on topography.

Other cities already have waded into the so-called “upzoning” movement.

The Berkeley City Council last month voted unanimously to eliminate “exclusionary zoning” and allow multiple housing units in what traditionally have been single-family neighborhoods. More than a century ago, Berkeley became the nation’s first city to ban anything other than single-family homes in a certain area — the Elmwood neighborhood.

Sacramento and San Jose also are considering doing away with single-family zoning.

The rezoning change has gotten some traction as the state is pushing for more affordable housing construction. California set a target of 441,000 permits for new homes and apartments in the Bay Area by 2031.

A two-year study by UC Berkeley’s Othering and Belonging Institute released last summer found that single-family zoning accounts for 84% of the Bay Area’s total residential land and 65% of Oakland’s.

The report’s authors concluded that adding more multiplex housing could be crucial to racial residential integration in the Bay Area.They found that as the proportion of a city’s single-family zoning increased, so did the White population while Black and Latino populations decreased.

The report also calls for adopting some rent control and rent stabilization policies.

Kaplan said her resolution would instruct the planning staff to include tenant protections in any ordinance created to allow multiplex housing in more places.

“This for me is about taking action to help solve our housing crisis in a way that supports our community,” Kaplan said.