Title
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 50 OF THE DULUTH CITY CODE, 1959, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO REVISIONS OF THE UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER.
Body
CITY PROPOSAL:
The city of Duluth does ordain:
Section 1. After reviewing the planning commission file PLUTA-2510-0003 to amend Chapter 50 of the Duluth City Code 1959, as amended, and the record pertaining thereto and based on the recommendation of the planning commission at its regular meeting on May 12, 2026, the city council adopts the findings of the planning commission and also finds that the proposal meets the objectives of the city’s comprehensive plan, Imagine Duluth 2035, as follows:
A. That governing principle 1 of the comprehensive plan calls for reusing previously developed lands and that most of Duluth was platted and developed decades ago under different zoning regulations, reducing setbacks and increasing height maximums will support redevelopment, from small home additions to new multi-family buildings.
B. That encouraging development of new housing supports governing principles 3 and 4 relating to economic development because employers consistently identify housing as a top need for employees.
C. That allowing existing buildings more space for expansions supports governing principle 5 because it will promote reinvestment in neighborhoods.
D. That governing principle 8 calls for a mix of uses and densities in land use and that allowing a variety of housing types in residential neighborhoods and reducing lot sizes for many districts meets this goal.
E. That governing principle 10 calls for sustainable use of existing infrastructure and lands and that supporting increases in density through the proposed changes allows for more units to be built in a smaller area instead of a sprawling pattern that consumes more resources and requires more infrastructure.
F. That the goal of governing principal 10 also supports changes to sustainability standards, updating point options to new best practices, and adding new tiers of point totals to reflect different types of development.
G. That the planning commission recommended that the proposed designation of form districts not be changed to main street districts, and that the proposed changes retain the designation as form districts.
H. That the planning commission recommended that the proposed amendments not result in a decease in allowable heights in any zone district, and that the proposed changes do not reduce the allowable heights in any zone district.
Section 2. The city council finds that the proposal supports Resolution No. 25-0520R, passed by city council on June 16, 2025, as follows:
A. Simplifying and modernizing zoning regulations and making development processes more efficient by eliminating new residential-planned and mixed use-planned zone districts, and instead allowing more housing uses to be built by-right in zone districts across the city.
B. Increasing housing density and diversity by allowing increased height and density, and allowing missing middle housing types by-right in more residential zone districts.
C. Simplifying standards such as height and setback restrictions.
D. Simplifying form district requirements, including removal of base type and cap type standards, allowing the city to reduce the number of form districts from nine to four.
E. Removing rural residential district clustering requirements to allow flexibility in development.
F. Removing the complicated connectivity index in favor of establishing clear guidelines for where pedestrian and bike connections are required, and expanding pedestrian easement widths to allow for construction of new pedestrian pathways.
G. Eliminating the higher education overlay district, which applied to residential-urban and mixed use-neighborhood zone districts in an area around the campuses and neighborhoods in east Duluth, and incorporating the build-to zone requirement of that overlay district into the requirements of the mixed use-neighborhood district, which supports the intent of that district to establish neighborhood serving commercial areas.
Section 3. The city council finds that the proposal incorporates the following changes identified as needs relating to development, as follows:
A. Allowing open-sided porches to encroach into corner side yards to support investment in existing housing.
B. Allowing wall signs for multi-family developments to support multi-family housing, placemaking, and neighborhood investment.
C. New sustainability standards that reflect new best practices to allow more choices in the sustainability point system.
D. Changes to the administrative adjustments section to reflect proposed reduced setbacks as well as previous code changes that eliminated certain parking minimums.
Section 4. City council concludes that the application:
A. Is consistent with the Comprehensive Land Use Plan;
B. Is reasonably related to the overall needs of the community, to existing land use, or to a plan for future land use;
C. Is required by public necessity, convenience, or general welfare, or good zoning practice; and
D. Will not create material adverse impacts on nearby properties, or if material adverse impacts may be created they will be mitigated to the extent reasonably possible.
Section 5. That Chapter 50, Article I of the Duluth City Code 1959, as amended, be deleted and replaced in its entirety as shown in Attachment 1.
Section 6. That Chapter 50, Article II of the Duluth City Code 1959, as amended, be deleted and replaced in its entirety as shown in Attachment 2.
Section 7. That Chapter 50, Article III of the Duluth City Code 1959, as amended, be deleted and replaced in its entirety as shown in Attachment 3.
Section 8. That Chapter 50, Article IV of the Duluth City Code 1959, as amended, be deleted and replaced in its entirety as shown in Attachment 4.
Section 9. That Chapter 50, Article V of the Duluth City Code 1959, as amended, be deleted and replaced in its entirety as shown in Attachment 5.
Section 10. That Chapter 50, Article VI of the Duluth City Code 1959, as amended, be deleted and replaced in its entirety as shown in Attachment 6.
Section 11. That this ordinance shall take effect on August 31, 2026.
Statement of Purpose
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE: On June 16, 2025, City Council passed Resolution 25-0520R, Resolution in Support of Comprehensive Zoning and Code Modernization to Increase Housing Supply Across All Income Levels. Subsequently, Planning staff completed an assessment of the existing Unified Development Chapter (UDC) to identify ways the zoning regulations could be amended to implement the goals of City Council. At this time, staff is bringing forward several of these code changes:
• Eliminating the creation of new R-P and MU-P zone districts.
• Removing the Higher Ed Overlay district, instead adding the “build-to zone” requirement to MU-N zone districts.
• Simplifying the building design standards in Form Districts while keeping key form requirements, consolidating the districts from 9 to 4, and renaming them from Form Districts to Main Street Districts.
• Increasing residential height maximums and removing complicated height regulations.
• Reducing lot widths and setbacks in a majority of zone districts.
• Allowing more housing types as permitted uses in R-1 and R-2; allowing townhouses in MU-C, MU-I, and all Main Street districts, and eliminating design standards for townhouses.
• Remove the clustering standards required for platting in certain developments.
• Changes to connectivity, including removing the connectivity index.
• Updated sustainability standards to include newer best practices.
At its regular meeting on May 12, 2026, Planning Commission heard from staff (see Planning Commission memo, Attachment 7), held a public hearing, and passed a motion to recommend the text amendments to city council, with the motion passing on a vote of 9 yeas, 0 nays and 0 abstentions. The motion included the following conditions: that form districts be
named something other than “main street” districts, and that there will be no decrease in
allowable heights in any zone districts.