Zoning Codes Not Expected to Help Wisconsin's Housing Shortage

Monday, January 16th, 2023 -- 11:01 AM

(By Joe Schulz, Wisconsin Public Radio) Wisconsin’s housing shortage is expected to worsen by the end of the decade, and outdated zoning codes could make it harder for municipalities to address the issue.

A new report from Forward Analytics, the research arm of the Wisconsin Counties Association, found the state needs to build at least 140,000 housing units by 2030 to keep up with current demand.

If Wisconsin hopes to increase its working-age population by the end of the decade, the number of housing units needed jumps to 227,000. The report said the number of baby boomers retiring and remaining in their homes long after retirement is expected to exacerbate Wisconsin’s housing shortage, making it difficult for younger workers to find affordable housing.

As a result, Forward Analytics Director Dale Knapp said more young people are living with their parents longer than previous generations. "They can't find affordable housing wherever they are living or working," he said. "The second component is school debt. The school debt payments are so big that it's just not within their budget."

With more affordable entry-level housing, roughly 52,000 young adults could have joined the housing market in 2020, Knapp said. And the study shows 20,000 to 30,000 affordable housing units are needed to solve the problem for young adults.

One of the barriers to providing affordable housing is restrictive zoning codes that often favor single-family homes. In the Fox Valley’s city of Neenah for example, a developer planned to redevelop a 27-acre middle school property into a mixed-use housing development that consisted of apartments, single-family homes, duplexes and townhouses.

But the property needed to be rezoned to accommodate the development. In early December, the Neenah City Council voted against rezoning the property after pushback from neighborhood residents.

The developer has been given more time to garner city approval, and has proposed reducing the number of apartments and eliminating duplexes and townhomes from the project.

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