Lawsuit Filed to Throw Out Midtown South Rezoning

The City Council unanimously approved the Midtown South rezoning in August, but a local nonprofit is looking to upend that with litigation.

The Midtown South Community Council, led by John Mudd, filed a lawsuit last week to overturn the rezoning, Crain’s reported.

The nonprofit claims the city violated local and state environmental review laws when deliberating the rezoning. Air quality, access to open space and potential displacement of residents and businesses are top concerns.

“The rezoning represents a wholescale departure from longstanding public policy that respects air quality, health concerns, open space, air and light, stress on sensitive historical sites, socioeconomic displacement and priorities for affordable housing,” the lawsuit states.

Mudd faces an uphill battle. Jack Lester, an attorney who filed unsuccessful lawsuits contesting City of Yes and the recent charter revision ballot questions, is arguing the nonprofit’s case on similar grounds to those dismissed cases.

In August, the City Council unanimously approved the Midtown South Mixed-Use Plan, rezoning 42 blocks in the Midtown neighborhood for housing development. It’s expected to result in 9,535 housing units — 2,842 set aside as affordable — representing the city’s largest residential rezoning in 20 years.

The rezoning created two new high-density residential districts that require Mandatory Inclusionary Housing and also allowed for the construction of housing projects up to 15 and 18 times the size of their lots. It was the first time that these districts were used after the state lifted the city’s long-standing cap on residential floor area ratio of 12.

— Holden Walter-Warner