Madison council votes to change single-family zoning occupancy limits

MADISON, Wis. -- More people who are not related will now be allowed to live together in parts of the city zoned for single-family housing after a vote by the Madison Common Council Tuesday night.

After a lengthy public comment period, members of the council voted 13-6 in favor of changing the city's zoning code to allow up to five people who aren't related or married to live in the same home, bringing the code in alignment with other zoning districts in the city by eliminating the distinction between owner-occupied homes and renter-occupied homes.

Members of the public speaking against the proposal to change the zoning code Tuesday said they were worried it would open the door to more college students renting in their neighborhoods, but those in favor said changing the code was a matter of equity, since people of color and lower-income people are more likely to need to have roommates to split the cost of rent -- especially in the face of rising rent costs in the city.

According to the amendment to the city code, more than one third of the city's land area is zoned as "single-family," which had banned more than two unrelated renters from living together. With the city facing a significant housing crisis, city leaders targeted the change as a way to increase access to housing to more people.

Alders Tag Evers and Regina Vidaver proposed an amendment during Tuesday night's meeting that would have adjusted the maximum number of unrelated renters to 3 -- instead of the limit of 5 in the original proposal -- and would have made some of the neighborhoods near the UW-Madison campus exempt from the changes, keeping the current limit in place.

That amendment was ultimately soundly rejected in a 16-3 vote before the council approved the changes that were initially proposed.