How's this for shady? A developer looking to put up a seven-story, 274-unit apartment building at 333 12th Street is trying to skirt zoning laws that call for a certain mix of larger units by designing two-bedroom units that have the exact same square footage — and almost the same layout — as the building's one-bedroom units.

Socketsite is calling out the project, noting that the developer is aiming to get a density bonus to go beyond the allowed five stories. Essentially, the developer, Panoramic Interests, wants to construct a building of small units, all about 400 square feet (or 350 square feet without the ADA-compliant bathrooms). But in attempting to comply with zoning that requires 40 percent of the units to have two bedrooms or more, Panoramic has just tweaked the floor plan of the one-bedroom unit to make the living room tinier, and have a second "bedroom" basically be a curtained-off part of the living room. See below.

The Planning Commission, rightfully, has pushed back on this plan, telling Panoramic that "the small size of the 2-bedroom units proposed meets the letter, but not the intent, of the Plan’s 40% 2-bedroom requirement, which aims for a mix of unit sizes in new housing units, to provide housing opportunities for a variety of household types."

Right, and how dare you even try to call that a two-bedroom?!