Pensacola looks to tackle housing crisis by boosting residential density

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Pensacola is looking to increase the density of single-family zoned areas as part of the rewrite of its land development code that is in part aimed at making homes more affordable.

The draft of the city’s rewritten Land Development Code was published on Sept. 9 for public comment, and one of the significant changes includes density changes in residential zoning areas.

The city hired Orlando-based Inspire Placemaking Collective Inc. to conduct an assessment of the city’s code in 2023 and committed to a complete rewrite last year. The firm held several days of public input on potential changes in February and has been working with the city staff over the last few months to complete the draft of proposed changes.

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Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves said the city will hold a public workshop on the proposed draft on Oct. 13 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at City Hall and an open house on Oct. 14 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

“Hopefully (we’ll) wrap this process up and be in a better place to be more efficient, more transparent, and potentially cut some red tape of being able to invest in the city, and make sure that we preserve character and all of those different things that you need to balance with a good land development code,” Reeves said.

What is a Land Development Code?

The land development code is the city’s laws for what can and can’t be done on and with private property.

While the land development code limits what property owners can do, it also restricts the city from rejecting development on a case-by-case basis. Once something is allowed by the code, the city cannot deny a building permit to a development that meets the code’s requirements, no matter how widespread the opposition.

Why is Pensacola changing its LDC?

A rewrite of the city’s land development code was a campaign promise of Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves, and the process to get a first draft of the rewrite has taken nearly two years.

The rewrite of the code is the first comprehensive rewrite since it was adopted in 1947, according to the city.

Most of the rewrite is aimed at making the code easier to read and understand and clearing up ambiguity.

A full copy of the current Pensacola Land Development Code runs to 397 pages. The proposed changes that largely clean up and simplify the code come to a comparably brief 283 pages. The full document of all of the edits to the code, which includes both the old code and all of the proposed changes, runs 444 pages.

Reeves said beyond increasing efficiency and clarity, the changes are aimed “in the right locations to be able to thicken neighborhoods.”

“That does not mean every neighborhood is going to have high-rise buildings in it by any means, but when we have quarter-acre lots, half-acre lots that only allow one single-family house, and we say we’re in a housing crisis, I think we should be looking at those places in the right areas that make sense,” Reeves said.

What are the proposed changes to density in residential areas?

In residential areas that only allow single-family housing, the maximum density that is allowed under the current zoning ranges from 2.2 units per acre to 4.8 units per acre. The new proposal will be to standardize that to 5 units per acre.

In residential areas that allow for both multi-family and single-family housing, the maximum density ranges from 8.7 units per acre all the way to 17.4 units per acre. The new proposal would allow for 18 units per acre in all of those areas.

In high-density residential zoning areas, the limit goes from as low as 17.4 units per acre for single-family and 21.8 units per acre for townhomes to a flat 35 units per acre, which is the current maximum in two of the three high-density residential zoning areas.

The amount of units per acre is still restricted by lot width. The minimum lot width at the roadway will remain 50 feet, but for a large portion of the zoning area, the lot width at the building setback will be decreased from 75 feet to 60 feet.

Another significant change will allow triplexes and fourplexes to be built in areas that aren’t exclusively zoned for single-family homes. The current code restricts triplexes to only high-density areas and has no provision for fourplexes. The proposed code will also allow three-unit townhomes in medium-density areas, where the current code only allows for two-unit townhome buildings.

The code also simplifies the naming scheme for residential zoning names. Under the current code, single-family areas carry the names R-1AAAAA, R-1AAAA and R-1AAA, and they will be called RL-1, RL-2, and RL-3, respectively. Medium-density areas had the R-1AA, R-1A, and R-1B designations, which will have RM-1, RM-2, and RM-3 designations.

Density is not changing in other zoning districts, such as commercial areas or the downtown core, which allow either 35 units per acre or 135 units per acre, depending on the area.

When will the changes be made?

Many affordable housing advocates have called for cities to increase density, and some cities like Minneapolis have gone as far as to completely eliminate exclusive single-family zoning.

Pensacola density changes are minor compared to Minneapolis, but Reeves has said previously that he is expecting pushback to the proposed changes. So far at least, there hasn’t been much public attention given to the rezoning effort, but that could change over the next month, as the public will be able to read and make comments on the proposed changes. The city will use the public comments between now and October to shape a second draft that will be due to the city in January. A final version will be proposed for adoption in April, and the adoption process will play out over the summer of 2026, with final adoption set for August 2026. The process will play out amidst a mayoral election campaign.

Reeves said he believes changing the code is the single most impactful thing the city can do to address the housing crisis.

“I believe that there’s no greater swath, a one-stop swath of improving housing inventory than looking at your code,” Reeves said. “It’s not just in density, it’s not just in being able to build a duplex instead of one house. It’s in speed. It’s in red tape. It’s in the clarity.”

All of the changes can be viewed at the website Inspire-Engagement.com/Pnesacola-LDC.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola residential density increase Land Development Code rewrite