Akron City Council agreed Monday to eliminate lot size requirements to build new homes, a change that city officials hope can spur development and help fill in gaps in neighborhoods where houses have been demolished.
The change means homebuilders won’t need to ask permission to build houses on lots that were previously considered too small — those fewer than 4,000 square feet for a single-family home or 7,000 square feet for a duplex. While rules about parking, zoning and how close to the property line a house can be built remain, there are no longer restrictions that would keep a house from being built on any lot in the city because it’s too small.
“I think it’s just common sense,” Planning Director Kyle Julien said after the vote. “It’s land we had decided as a policy matter didn’t have value and now it has value.”…