All across New Jersey, housing prices have been skyrocketing, as there is a critical shortage of new homes to keep up with job and population growth. We need more housing to keep residents in our state and keep housing costs affordable to regular New Jerseyans. While many factors are to blame, single-stair reform is one proven remedy that lowers the cost of constructing new housing and advances more affordable and diverse housing options. Even better, it can improve our streetscapes and make our towns more walkable in the process, and enable fine-grained, human-scale infill that better fits into the character of NJ main streets and neighborhoods. Single-stair reform works by providing flexibility to design new apartment buildings without redundant staircases, while encouraging and prioritizing other more effective fire safety methods. A4972 would give NJ towns the option to enact single-stair rules.

In NYC and Seattle as well as in Georgia, Vermont, most of Europe, and nearly every high-income country across the globe, modern, safe single-stair buildings have been built for decades. Fire departments have been rescuing residents in these single-staircase buildings just as safely as in NJ, supported by high fire safety design standards that are geared specifically toward mitigating fire risk in these types of buildings. In fact, a recent analysis of 12 years of fire data by the Pew Charitable Foundation finds that single-stair buildings in NYC and Seattle had death rates as low or lower than two-stair buildings, with not a single death attributed to having a single stair in the 12-year study period, across tens of thousands of modern single-stair buildings.

• Drastically lower costs – an additional stairwell adds over $200,000 to the cost of a four-story project. Multi-stairwell requirements also force builders to combine smaller parcels to form one larger parcel that can fit all the stairs and hallways, leaving lots vacant for excessive periods of time, and increasing land acquisition costs by as much as 40% over single-stair buildings.

• More environmentally friendly and comfortable – single-stair buildings have more windows and cross-ventilation, thereby reducing the need for air conditioning and lighting and also making them more climate-resilient.

• More flexible and attractive layouts – vertical shared access cuts down on hallways, allowing architects to design a greater mix of apartment types including 3 and 4 bedrooms and to provide residents with additional open/green space and family-friendly homes.

• Accessibility - Many sites in urban locations are too small to make room for both two staircases and an elevator. In many cases, these buildings choose to forego the elevator since eliminating the second stairway is not allowed. This reduces accessibility for people with mobility impairments and families with small children.

• More “gentle density” and “missing middle” housing – many small sites in urban locations are practically unbuildable because fitting two stairs takes up much of the building site. This tips the scales in favor of larger buildings on large sites instead of buildings that fit the existing fine-grained urban fabric. Single-stair buildings can unlock more incremental growth and gentle density in already-developed areas. This means more people can live in high-opportunity, walkable communities while minimizing disruption to existing urban fabric.

• Encouraging walkable, mixed-use development – on narrower urban lots, exits for two stairs takes up street frontage that could be devoted to storefronts, and interior space that could be devoted to retail. This results in awkward, narrow spaces that can be unworkable for retail shops and unfriendly street-facing facades at ground-level. Encouraging ground-level retail makes cities more walkable and reduces traffic by allowing people to take walking and biking trips for small errands instead of car trips.

Single-stair buildings taller than three stories are currently outlawed in NJ, and municipalities have no choice to adopt rules that align better with international standards. However, there is hope for NJ to see the benefits of single-stair reform in the near future. A4972, introduced by Assemblymember Calabrese (Bergen & Passaic), and co-sponsored by District 31 Assemblywoman McCann-Stamato (Jersey City & Bayonne) and other lawmakers, will help make these benefits a reality in New Jersey by empowering municipalities with the choice to allow four-to-six-story single-stairway multi-family residential buildings. These standards set out by municipalities may also include upgrades to existing safety regulations such as higher firewall ratings, pressurized or open-air stairwells, better sprinkler systems and shorter distances to the building exit.

Almost all European countries have long allowed single-stair buildings, a key factor in creating cities with some of the most iconic and charming streetscapes in the world. In the US, cities like New York and Seattle already allow single-stair multi-family buildings up to 6 stories. And in recent years, an increasing number of states across the country have successfully enacted single-stair reform and lowered the cost of their housing. With rising costs everywhere, it is urgent we take this important step toward joining them.

Use our template to email your legislators and tell them to support A4972!