The 2025 Utah legislative session is now one-third done, so I think it’s time to summarize all the bills we are following and their status. Also, a couple more bills have popped out, so I’ll cover those first.
The newly released bills:
HB398 – Auxiliary Housing Amendments – this is an unanticipated bill, it has not been discussed by the various groups that cogitate on housing and land use issues during the interim. I do not know what is prompting this bill, often these kinds of bills have a backstory of someone or some incident driving such bills. This bill would eliminate the provision in the ADU language the stipulates that either the primary home or the ADU must be owner-occupied. Thoughts?
SB211 – Municipal and County Land Use Exemption Amendments – another unanticipated bill, this one would modify the language in the LUDMA section requiring other entities to comply with local land use restrictions, with some exceptions for public and charter schools. This bill would stipulate that public schools (but not charter schools) no longer need to comply with local land use requirements for setback, height, bulk and massing regulations, off-site parking, curb cut, traffic circulation, and construction staging. Again, I’m guessing there must be a backstory to this from somewhere. Again, thoughts?
SB220 – Construction Modifications – this bill was anticipated! It makes a number of changes to requirements for storm water management, particularly during construction. It requires submittal of storm water management plans prior to start of any construction (including for subdivisions and land development). I’ll get more details on this from someone who has been following this more closely.
Okay, now I will summarize the bills we are following and give a brief status report on each.
HB37 – Utah Housing Amendments – as originally filed. Bill has been assigned to the House Political Subdivisions Committee for hearing, not yet scheduled.
HB44 – Private Airport Notice Amendments – this bill is on a 3rd substitute version. The current bill has been modified to put the responsibility for recording the required notice with the land use authority. It also changes the distance standard from 5,000 feet to 2,500 feet. The bill has been passed by the House, was reported out favorably by the Senate committee, and is awaiting final action on the Senate floor.
HB88 – Housing Policy Amendments – this is one of the more controversial land use bills. It has been assigned to the House Political Subdivisions Committee, but not yet scheduled for a hearing.
HB90 – Zoning Amendments – this is the other controversial Rep Ray Ward bill, and it now has a substitute version. The substitute increases the mandated minimum lot size from 4,000 sf to 6,000 sf, and eliminates the provisions to allow residences in all commercial zones. This bill has also been assigned to the Political Subdivisions Committee, with no date set yet for hearing.
HB122 – National Guard and Military Amendments – this bill is on a 1st substitute version, but the changes are not having to do with the land use provisions in the bill.
HB175 – Housing Construction Amendments – the bill was heard in House committee, which amended the bill to change the designation to “one- and two-family dwellings, and three- and four-story dwellings up to two stories). It now awaits final action on the House floor.
HB198 – Highway Expansion Impacts on Signage Amendments – the bill has been assigned to the House Transportation Committee, has not yet been scheduled for hearing.
HB241 – Solar Power Plant Amendments – the bill has been assigned to the House Public Utilities and Energy Committee, no hearing date set yet.
HB255 – Local Land Use Modifications – this bill has been assigned to the House Political Subdivisions Committee, no hearing date yet scheduled.
HB318 – Residential Turf Amendments – assigned to House Political Subdivisions committee, no hearing date scheduled yet.
HB320 – Municipal Ordinance Amendments – bill still resides in Rules Committee (no committee assignment made yet).
HB328 – Water Usage Amendments – bill is still in Rules
HB355 – Critical Infrastructure Materials Amendments – bill is still in Rules committee, but we understand that a substitute version is being negotiated.
HB368 – Local Land Use Amendments – bill is in Rules. With a bill this big and complicated, it is not at all unusual that as it gets looked over, errors and adjustments are found that need changing. I myself have been contacted about some of the provisions in the annexation portion of the bill. A substitute version is in the works making these changes and corrections.
HB398 – Auxiliary Housing Amendments – see the first paragraphs of this posting.
SB23 – First Home Investment Zone Amendments – 1st substitute version of the bill, making some minor tweaks to the modifications for the FHIZ program. The bill has passed the Senate, favorably reported out by the House committee and is awaiting action on the House floor.
SB26 – Housing and Transit Reinvestment Zone Amendments – 1st substitute of the bill, which tweaks HTRZ parameters some more, has passed the Senate, was pulled from the agenda of the House Political Subdivisions Committee today.
SB104 – Boundary Line Amendments – assigned to Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions (GOPS) committee, but not scheduled for hearing yet.
SB129 – Higher Education Development Areas – assigned to Senate Education Committee, not yet scheduled for hearing.
SB152 – Local Land Use Regulation Restrictions – substituted version of the bill changes it so that it applies only to a “housing-restricted community,” which is defined as a municipality in a first or second class county. The bill was heard in the Senate GOPS Committee on Jan. 29, and was held in committee.
SB179 – Local Regulation of Business Entities Amendments – bill has been assigned to Senate Business and Labor Committee, no hearing scheduled yet.
SB181 – Housing Affordability Amendments – bill was scheduled for hearing in Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services committee yesterday, but was not heard. There are some discussions going on about what else to include in the bill.
SB195 – Transportation Amendments – bill has been assigned to the Senate Transportation … Committee, not yet scheduled for hearing
SB211 – Municipal and County Land Use Exemption Amendments – see beginning of this post. Has already been assigned to Senate GOPS committee.
SB220 – Construction Modifications – also see beginning of this post.
That’s it, that’s what we’ve got so far.