Description:
Inclusionary zoning ordinances are often described as the antithesis of
"exclusionary" land use regulations, such as minimum lot size requirements and restrictions on multifamily construction, which have contributed to the shortage of affordable housing in the United States.3 The description is elegant, but somewhat inaccurate. Inclusionary zoning ordinances do not directly reduce the number of regulations imposed on all types of residential development. Many of these ordinances actually put additional administrative procedures in place to ensure real estate developers construct housing for a specific segment of the market. Therefore, inclusionary zoning must be differentiated from other steps taken by state and local governments to remove
regulatory barriers preventing the development of affordable housing.
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