by Anthony Hennen
Onerous rules that restrict new housing and make it impossible to build starter houses or small apartment buildings drive up prices and push homeownership further out of reach, experts told Senate Republicans on Wednesday.
As Pennsylvania faces a housing shortage, a return to abundance may require state-level zoning reforms – and limits on local control, they say.
Land use and building restrictions can drive up construction costs dramatically — even before the first shovel digs into the ground. Glenn Yoder, the legislative committee chair for the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors, said new home construction costs for site preparations and permits often range from $75,000 to $100,000.
“With base prices up to $100,000 and the costs of materials and labor at a record high, builders are essentially forced to build more expensive properties to recoup their costs,” he said. “These increased costs are sometimes coupled with restrictive zoning ordinances limiting housing options, which further complicates the new home construction process and strains affordability.”
Those high costs can stop renters from buying a home altogether.
Estimates for housing underproduction vary widely. One report estimated Pennsylvania was missing 98,000 housing units at a time when prices rose by 14% statewide from 2020 to 2021.
“Restrictive zoning ordinances not only drive up costs, but they also may further marginalize communities and they ignore the desires and trends among consumers,” Yoder said. “It fundamentally illustrates that we cannot continue to think of these issues in a traditional way and solving them will require a unified effort from all groups and parties.”
Solving those issues could mean reforms like allowing accessory dwelling units – also known as “granny flats” – to be built in backyards; reducing or getting rid of parking space requirements; lowering lot size requirements that make smaller homes illegal to build; and allowing neighbors to waive setback requirements, which limit how close owners can build to the property line.
“Minimum lot size requirements are arguably the largest barrier to starter home construction today,” said Emily Hamilton, senior research fellow from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. “As land prices are rising, a large lot size requirement can set a very high floor on the cost of providing each additional new house, and can make it impossible for home builders to provide new housing that’s affordable to the typical household.”
The changes Hamilton advocated for wouldn’t be new territory for Pennsylvania. Many of its older neighborhoods and cities have existing houses that would be illegal to build today due to current zoning rules. Abutting rowhomes from Meadville to Philadelphia to Stroudsburg were built without setbacks, lot size requirements, or parking.
“In many of Pennsylvania’s historic neighborhoods, we see that beautiful neighborhoods can be possible even when buildings are built right up to their lot lines,” Hamilton said. “This is an essential issue for the commonwealth remaining a place where people can move to pursue their opportunities or businesses want to locate.”
The changes would, however, be a dramatic turn from the local control that the state government has granted municipalities and county governments.
“I know that probably going back and say, opening up the municipality planning code and, quite frankly, pre-empting some local control, would be viewed as sacrilege somehow,” Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Williamsport, said. “But it almost sounds to me like that’s what, somehow, we need to do.”
If the state doesn’t take the lead, reform isn’t likely to happen.
“The reality is that it’s expensive to update the zoning rules and regulations, it takes a lot of time and effort,” Yoder said, who serves as a township supervisor. “Unless the state is compelling the townships and boroughs to make changes, it’s probably not gonna happen…Overall, we need to have something, a directive, coming from the state.”
Despite concerns about local control, Republican lawmakers were open to overriding it to reduce housing costs.
“It’s time to seriously reconsider our municipal land-use restrictions that prevent citizens from finding an affordable place to live in the community of their choice,” Sen. John DiSanto, R-Harrisburg, said.
Taking action could make Pennsylvania more attractive for residents and businesses, they argued.
“Abundant housing is critical for Pennsylvania to continue to provide opportunities to its residents and continue to attract new business development and growth,” Sen. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie, said.
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Anthony Hennen is a reporter for The Center Square. Previously, he worked for Philadelphia Weekly and the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. He is managing editor of Expatalachians, a journalism project focused on the Appalachian region.
Photo “A Male and Female Receiving a Key to Their New Home” by Kindel Media.
