The scene at the legislature on land use issues right now seems to me to be much like a quiet pond with ducks flitting around.  All looks calm and peaceful on the surface, but go just under the surface and you’ll see that the ducks are paddling like crazy.

The Governor’s Senior Advisor on Housing Innovation, Steve Waldrip, attended yesterday’s League Legislative Policy Committee meeting.  Not a lot of new things were unveiled in his remarks, but he did express support for the idea of working together with local officials to produce some meaningful action on housing affordability, particularly for starter homes.  Steve even acknowledged that by and large, local officials are aware of the issues and being supportive of such efforts.  He noted that cities have entitled a large number of new lots for residential development, but that they are not the ones who actually make the building of new homes happen – that is done by the private sector and building community.  Steve expressed his intention to work cooperatively with local governments to find workable solutions.

The tone was somewhat the same and, also, somewhat different in comments made by legislators in a story today in the DesNews – Utah needs 37,000 more homes — are smaller homes and lots the answer?

The story gives a pretty good overview of what’s going on underneath the surface of the pond right now, as we await the big pieces of legislation that were worked on over the interim by the Land Use Task Force and the CHA/UEOC.  The sponsors of those bills, Rep. Whyte and Sen. Filmore, continue to express their willingness to work with local governments to craft solutions:

In addition to the governor’s budget proposal, the commission Fillmore and Whyte chair has produced a number of other recommendations with local officials, industry experts, business leaders and stakeholders.

Whyte said to expect lawmakers this session to pick up policies facilitating the construction of starter homes by allowing smaller lots and smaller home sizes in zoning plans.

“The challenges and the opportunities are in the details — how to do that, while respecting local control, local decision-making within each of the cities, and to also help identify what can be done statewide to be able to help as well,” Whyte said.

Whyte said in his experience, local officials in Utah have recognized the gravity of the state’s housing shortage and have been willing to contribute to the solution.

“Cities and counties, and the state, and homebuilders are working together right now collaboratively to make homeownership possible, especially for first time homebuyers so the American dream of homeownership can continue to be a reality,” he said.

The tone is somewhat different with Rep. Ray Ward, the legislator who is sponsoring H.B. 306 Residential Housing Amendments, which would set minimum lot sizes for residential zones in much of the state (see previous postings for details).

Rep. Ray Ward, R-Bountiful, the author of a successful 2021 bill that forced cities to allow more mother-in-law apartments, introduced another major reform to city zoning practices this session that he says reflects the need to take a centralized approach to a statewide problem.

“Things are going awful,” he said. “I hope everybody’s thinking about it. And when something’s going really bad, it is good to zoom out and say, how did we even get there?”

Ward’s bill, HB306, which is currently sitting with the House Rules Committee, would require urban municipalities to approve single-family starter homes — defined as a home below the area’s mean home price — on one-eighth of an acre.

But this provision would do almost nothing by itself, Ward said, because cities can often cite other regulations that would make it unrealistic for developers to build smaller homes on smaller lots. So to avoid similar work-arounds, Ward’s bill would categorize starter homes as “permitted use” in residential zones in urban municipalities, which would include Davis, Salt Lake and Utah counties, as well as some cities with over 15,000 residents.

Ward is ready for pushback from those who say it is not conservative to override local preferences with state mandates. But just as the federal government delivers edicts regarding problems that effect the entire country, Ward said, so should the state be able to implement requirements to remediate statewide struggles.

“It’s not a citywide problem; It’s a statewide problem,” Ward said.

Rep. Ward has not been involved in the discussions that Rep. Whyte and Sen. Filmore have undertaken in the CHA/UEOC and have some measure of local support for.  Sounds like a battle of dueling approaches is shaping up.  And more to come.

In the next week or so, additional legislation can be expected, Fillmore and Whyte confirmed, potentially dealing with home lot sizes and standards for modular housing.

“It’s going to be a discussion we have for a while,” Ward said. “I think it will take multiple sessions of thinking about it and going back and forth. But I don’t think we will ever get housing affordability unless we make some changes kind of like this.”

On other fronts in the housing affordability scene, the bill to standardize building and inspections codes for modular housing is moving forward, with broad support.  Here’s a story about it – This technology could help build more houses, faster. The Legislature wants to get involved.

And the bill to allow for the creation of a different kind of infrastructure improvement district (like PIDs, but different) – H.B. 13 Infrastructure Financing Districts – is moving forward with at least some local government support, or at least openness to the idea, with the workout of some details needed.  The bill was passed out by committee last week on a unanimous vote.

Keep paddling!