Single Stair Amendment

[Jose Chito Vela]

Colleagues,

I’m sure your offices - like mine - have been receiving many emails in support of a single stair amendment! I wanted to explain why. Proposed building code amendments are set for a public hearing as item 76 on Thursday’s agenda. A vote on the building code amendments is set for April 10th. I will offer an amendment to allow single stair buildings up to 5 stories tall at the April 10th meeting.

Allowing single stair buildings could bring missing middle type housing back into central Austin, especially along our transit corridors and ETOD areas. Single stair residential buildings are one of the most common types of housing in the world. Seattle and New York City have allowed single stair buildings for decades. Recently, other jurisdictions have begun to allow them as we all grapple with housing affordability. With four units per floor, these are smaller buildings that allow more family sized units. Windows on both external sides of the apartments allow for better light and ventilation.

My amendment follows a council resolution I sponsored on May 2nd of last year, asking staff to evaluate allowing single stair designs. I will offer the amendment staff presented at the building and fire code board of appeals, which you can read here:

https://services.austintexas.gov/edims/ ... ?id=444644

The amendment allows single stair buildings up to 5 stories tall. Limitations on building size - such as a 4 unit per floor maximum - will make these buildings much smaller than your typical apartment complex. The amendment also includes additional safety features designed to protect the staircase from fire, including additional sprinkler requirements and a separate enclosure between the apartment and the stairway.

Timothy Bray from my office has prepared a longer breakdown of the benefits, safety features, and where we might see single stair used in Austin. You can read that here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XKl ... nxiq-6CkY/

I look forward to discussing this item.

Chito

[Jose Velasquez]

I want to extend my thanks to Council Member Vela and his team for their work and advocacy in looking at ways to improve the availability of affordable, family-sized units.

I look forward to fully supporting my colleague's amendment to allow single-stair buildings up to five stories.

CMJV

[Krista Laine]

Good morning colleagues,

I want to express my sincere appreciation to CM Vela and the advocates for their exceptional work on this critical housing initiative. The impressive number of speakers at today's discussion underscores the significant community energy and support behind this proposal. I fully support this item as an important step toward increasing affordable, family-friendly housing in Austin.

The recommendation to allow single-stair buildings up to five stories represents a strategic and thoughtful approach to addressing Austin's housing challenges. Allowing single stair buildings up to five stories is a smart step toward more affordable, family-friendly housing in Austin, maximizing space and improving natural light and ventilation—all while maintaining strong fire safety standards.

While this is a meaningful step forward for our community, I’d like to see a study concurrent with the 2027 International Building Code update to evaluate the feasibility of allowing six stories.

I look forward to our continued discussion and collaborative efforts on housing.

Yours in service,
KL

[Ryan Alter]

Colleagues,

I am excited to hear today's testimony concerning new, forward looking building codes, including legalizing single-stair developments.

I was proud to co-sponsor Council Member Vela's resolution that initiated this update, and I appreciate the work that the community, my colleagues, and City staff have dedicated to the process.

This City Council has taken many bold actions to address Austin's affordability crisis, and legalizing single-stair is one more step toward promoting all housing types in all areas for all people. I support Council Member Vela's amendment to allow single-stair up to five stories, and I think we can and should be preparing to expand the impact of this program in the next iteration.

In this vein, I plan to bring an amendment on April 10th asking staff to study to how we can safely utilize single-stair for buildings up to 75 feet, which are accessible by fire department ladder trucks. I am excited to see CM Laine’s post looking at 6 stories, and I hope to work with her on the best approach moving forward, whether that be a height- or story-based limitation.

I also would like to continue to explore the floor plate question taken up by the Planning Commission. We should make this policy as impactful as possible, and ensuring there is enough space to build family-friendly housing and not just studios and one-bedroom units is critical.

Austinites deserve walkable, connected communities, and implementing a robust single-stair code update will help get us to the next level.

Ryan

[Melissa Beeler]

On Behalf of CM Qadri:

Thank you, CM Vela for your work on this item. I’m proud to have cosponsored the resolution last year that initiated this. Single stair buildings provide a better living experience for anyone, especially renters who usually have a lot of big box apartment complexes to choose from. Unlike many of our typical apartment designs, single stair designs provide more opportunities for windows throughout the apartment for better light and ventilation. This type of design would be wonderful to see in our communities, especially near transit. I applaud your leadership on this item and look forward to supporting my colleagues’ efforts to study how we do more in the future to ensure we continue to bring national best practices to Austin.

Best
Zo

[Paige Ellis]

CM Vela and Colleagues-

Thank you for daylighting your thoughts on the single stair item. I’ve been able to have productive conversations about the proposal to go to 5 stories and plan to support it at this time. I also look forward to receiving the additional information about the feasibility and safety considerations before approving an allowed 6th story.

I and my office are having a multitude of conversations about fire protection and wildfire risk, and I want to make sure we are thinking of all angles before moving forward on the 6th story.

-Paige Ellis

[Ryan Alter]

Colleagues,

I'm excited to support single-stair development up to five stories next Thursday. To ensure that this tool is as impactful and inclusive as possible, I plan to bring a motion to increase the maximum net floor area (square footage of a single story of the building) from 4,000' to 5,000'. This will incentivize the development of more family-friendly 2 and 3 bedroom units throughout Austin.

I look forward to discussing and voting on this next week.

Ryan

[Krista Laine]

Colleagues,

I’m excited that we’re moving forward on the single-stair issue—it has been a long time coming. After the extensive public testimony and the vocal support from many of my colleagues, I won’t repeat the well-articulated arguments around affordability, flexibility, and access to light and air.

Tomorrow, I plan to introduce a motion requesting a study on raising the maximum height limit for single-stair buildings to 75 feet, measured from the lowest level of fire department vehicle access to the highest occupied floor. This study will allow us to evaluate whether taller single-stair buildings can be safely permitted while maintaining our commitment to strong safety standards. It also provides an opportunity to assess how the proposed 5-story allowance functions in practice, if adopted.

Laine Motion: http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 092409.pdf

I hope the City will consider partnering with local institutions, such as the University of Texas, to bring academic expertise and localized analysis into this important conversation.

I look forward to discussing this motion with you all tomorrow.

In service,
Council Member Laine

[Jose Chito Vela]

Colleagues,

Here is the exact language for my amendment tomorrow. This amendment matches the language I linked to earlier this week which staff offered in response to the resolution council passed last year asking staff to bring us a single stair option when we consider the building code.

http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 154757.pdf

Passing this amendment is an important step to make missing middle housing a reality in Austin. I want to thank all of my colleagues for their support and for their amendments that continue the work on this issue.

I also wanted to refer everyone to a PEW report on single stair buildings which talks about the excellent safety record of these types of buildings:

https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-a ... ety-record

Additionally, the government of British Columbia, Canada put together an excellent report on single stair buildings when they amended their code to allow them recently:

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/indu ... vation#ses

Saludos,

Chito

[Julie Montgomery]

On behalf of CM Ellis, please see the attached motion sheet, providing direction to annually report data on single-stair developments:

http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 175732.pdf