Here are some more bills that have some land use and planning related aspects to them:

HB196 – Eminent Domain Revisions – expands the ban on the use of eminent domain for a public park to any type of public park, whereas current language is for public parks that are primarily for trails or walking or biking (why is there such an opposition to this?)

HB206 – Airport Land Use Amendments – makes a lot of changes to, and encourages or even mandates entities that have an airport located within their jurisdiction to adopt airport protection land use regulations.

HB32 – Outdoor Recreation Amendments – requires the Division of Outdoor Recreation to prepare a recreation management plan for Provo Canyon.

HB39 – State Resource Management Plan Amendments – adopts the most recent State Resource Management Plan, dated January 9, 2023.

HB169 – Urban Farming Assessment Act Amendments – provides that a county may limit an authorization of urban farming to either cultivating crops or engaging in livestock production or may allow both.

SB20 – MIDA Amendments – technical stuff, if you have one of these in your jurisdiction, take a look, otherwise…

In other news, the Salt Lake Chamber held their legislative preview meeting yesterday, and housing and land use were part of the presentation.  In a foreshadowing of what may be coming up on the Hill, here’s a recounting of what was discussed from a Salt Lake Tribune story about the meeting:

(According to Phil Dean, chief economist and public finance senior research fellow at the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute,) Utah saw more than 40,000 dwelling permits issued in 2021. That dropped below 30,000 in 2022 as rising mortgage rates pushed buyers out of the market, and the report estimates that permits will be closer to 23,000 in 2023 and 2024.

Still, Dean thinks the state has some advantages. “I do think there is opportunity for us to increase housing supply when other states might not be able to.”

He sees two levers in particular the state could pull. One is zoning policy. Even some suburban cities are now coming around to accepting more housing per acre. The other is leveraging federal stimulus dollars, which are still available, to build more infrastructure like water and sewer to support housing development.

Michael Parker, vice president of strategy for Ivory Homes and member of the council, said, in addition to zoning, cities need to streamline their approval processes for new construction, and they need to have better defined affordable housing plans, which are required by the state.

Parker is expecting the Utah Legislature to increase both the carrots and the sticks for cities during the upcoming session to address housing challenges, but the state can’t just buy its way out of the problem.

“We need public policy change to address this issue because we can’t subsidize our way out of it,” Parker said. “We could spend the entire budget surplus and not be in a better spot.”