Greater Ohio Policy Center and the Ohio REALTORS® have published Housing Ohio: Tools for Development for use by Ohio communities. This toolkit is designed to promote new housing production and infill development in Ohio by providing three key tools:
A la carte Zoning Adjustments – Actionable recommendations for zoning code adjustments that eliminate barriers to infill housing and encourage new development. These changes are simple enough to be implemented by city staff without requiring outside consultants.
Free Building Plans – Two pre-designed building plans (a single-family home and a duplex) with multiple variations are available free of charge. These plans help reduce soft costs, such as architectural fees, and can be incorporated into pre-approved plans programs to streamline permitting.
Pre-Approved Plans Program Guide – A detailed roadmap for municipalities to establish a pre-approved plans program, enabling expedited permitting and lowering development barriers in their communities.
A rendering of one of the free plans the toolkit offers: a single-family house designed to fit on a narrow lot.
The toolkit aims to reduce barriers to new housing development, with a focus on revitalizing underutilized areas in established neighborhoods that already have existing homes, infrastructure, and amenities rather than promoting development at the fringe of developed areas.
Though available to anyone, we envision early users of this toolkit to be land banks and emerging developers looking for cost-conscious yet high quality designs for development opportunities.
A multi-sector advisory committee of housing and development experts guided the development of the book. Technical guidance and curatorial facilitation were coordinated by Pattern Zones Co.
You can explore the full toolkit and download the building plans at the Housing Ohio website.
You can explore the full toolkit and download the building plans at www.housingoh.org