The concepts for bills for the 2025 legislative session are firming up as groups like the Land Use Task Force, the Commission on Housing Affordability and the Unified Economic Opportunity Commission settle on issues to be addressed.  Additionally, a group recently organized called The Utah Workforce Housing Alliance (full disclosure: I was asked to participate on their policy board) received some funding from the legislature last session to advocate on this issue, is strategizing about policies and messaging.  Key players will be the co-chairs of the CHA, Rep. Steven Whyte and Sen. Lincoln Filmore who will likely be sponsoring the major bills on housing and land use, as they did last year.  Steve Waldrip, Gov. Cox’s Senior Advisor on Housing Strategy and Innovation, is also playing a major role with all these groups, as well as being a former state legislator.

The topic areas are concentrated around the following:

• Application and permit review, processing and inspection
• Condominium enhancement
• Increasing permitted densities, dealing with design standards and impact fees, missing middle housing, ADUs
• Moderate Income Housing Plan modifications/enhancements, particularly for first-time buyers
• Deed restrictions for requiring owner-occupancy
• Parking standards
• Making publicly owned land available for housing
• Dealing with short-term rentals
• Annexation and incorporation statutes

Additionally, we may see something again from Rep. Ray Ward similar to a bill he had in the last legislative session setting minimum lot sizes in all residential zones.

Many of these topics have been forward to legislative staff to begin drafting of bills, so things are underway.

If you’re interested in learning more about what’s happening at the legislative level, consider attending a couple of upcoming events:

ULUI Fall Land Use Conference, Oct. 22-23 in Sandy

Utah Housing Solutions Summit, Oct. 30, Grand America Hotel

Addressing parking standards has been promised to be one of the top priorities for legislative action.  A number of things have been talked about, but not sure just what will be done.  California recently passed a bill that, among other things, expanded the area around transit stops that local codes could not set any parking standards for development.

And the resistance by local officials to state top-down mandates also continues, most recently in New Jersey, where a number of municipalities filed suit against a new state law that requires communities to allow affordable housing.

Where will we be after the next session?  Stay tuned!