State of the practice : regulatory options for neighborhood protection from out-of-context infill residential development

Successful residential infill is an important development model that benefits a community through reinvestment in older neighborhoods, retention of open space, and improved quality of life. However, local governments around the country are contending with problems created by infill homes that are incompatible with the existing neighborhood. This out-of-context development threatens the character of many older neighborhoods and often causes strong resident opposition to any new construction, to the point that some governments have imposed building moratoria to block all projects. Contextual infill standards and neighborhood conservation overlays are two regulatory tools that jurisdictions can use to guide infill construction that protect community character and reduce neighborhood opposition. In this report, the author provides a survey of how communities currently use these approaches and provides an assessment of their success at promoting compatible development in different infill scenarios.