Sandy Springs officials are weighing changes to land use and housing policy after an updated assessment found that home prices have outpaced what the median local household can afford and that housing construction has lagged job growth. The City Council reviewed the assessment at an Oct. 6 work session as part of work on The Next Chapter, Sandy Springs’ long-range comprehensive plan. The plan will guide decisions about housing, development, infrastructure and economic growth over the next 20 years. Mayor Rusty Paul pointed to high land and construction costs, rising interest rates and luxury home teardowns as barriers to building more attainable housing. He said the city should consider replacing or reusing aging commercial properties for housing while trying to preserve neighborhood character. “We’ve got to figure out where this housing is going to go,” Paul said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do when it comes to the housing area and being able to get people in here affordably, without destroying the character of our neighborhoods.” The assessment found no population growth since the COVID-19 pandemic, which consultant Christiana Whitcomb attributed to smaller household sizes and families moving away. From 2019 to 2024, Sandy Springs added homes at a rate well below what would be needed to keep pace with new jobs, said Whitcomb, a principal at HR&A Advisors, the firm leading the assessment. New single-family construction has often involved replacing older houses with multimillion-dollar homes, according to city demolition permit data. Apartment construction has also slowed: CoStar data cited in the assessment show 2,084 multifamily units were completed in 2017, while fewer than 600 were built after 2021. Several large apartment projects are now under construction. Whitcomb said changes to building rules contributed to a period in which the apartment market did not deliver enough units to meet demand. Sandy Springs adopted stricter requirements for apartment construction materials in 2016; a 2018 state law later overturned the city’s limits on wood-frame buildings taller than three stories. The city changed its code again in 2023, and Whitcomb said the market is beginning to respond. The assessment points to smaller residential lots as one route to more affordable homeownership. It found that roughly 70% of homes sold in the city’s protected neighborhoods — which cover more than three-quarters of Sandy Springs — were unaffordable to the average first-time buyer. The report used $335,000 as an affordability threshold: 84% of homes sold below that price in 2024 and 2025 were in Urban Neighborhood zoning areas, including smaller-lot locations along Roswell Road and other busy corridors. Council Member Andrew Chinsky said housing costs are connected to population loss, the closure of Spalding Drive Elementary and traffic. Residents who work in Sandy Springs but cannot afford to live there must commute into the city, he said, adding to congestion. The assessment outlines three broad approaches: changing land-use rules, providing public subsidies and preserving housing that is affordable without government assistance. Paul said the city cannot solve the regionwide housing shortage on its own, but must decide where and how additional homes could fit. Assistant City Manager Kristin Smith said the plan’s advisory committee would begin identifying policy options in October, drawing on the assessment and community feedback. Residents, business owners and others can weigh in at a public workshop Oct. 29 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center’s Studio Theatre. The session will include a presentation on planning progress followed by activities to gather input on policy directions and preliminary recommendations.