Way back, on Sept. 6, 2023, I wrote a post about an apparent coming push by some private sector folks for changing state code to make general plan compliance of land use regulations mandatory, rather than discretionary as it is now.  I noted at the time, “This is not a new idea – it’s been brought up before, but with the response from the local government side that something like this will take a lot of discussion and collaboration if it is to have any hope of being successfully implemented. … changing our approach to general plans and land use regulation … should be carefully considered and discussed before the trigger is pulled.”

The closest that we’ve come to actually having this happen was in the 2025 legislative session, as discussed in my Feb. 18, 19 and 20, 2025 posts.  I noted what I thought was the primary motivation for such a change in the last of those posts: “From some others who have discussed this with Sen. Fillmore, it appears that what he wants is a shortened, vested process for housing projects to help make them more affordable (by reducing time spent in the government review mill, and limited potential reactions that can kill projects).  He appears to think that it is possible to stipulate that once a general plan is adopted by ordinance and made mandatory, projects then are approved by right without having to go through any further legislative process.”

This is an approach that has apparently been a topic of consideration in some other states around the country as well.  I found this out in a monthly meeting hosted by National APA for state chapter legislative advocates, where legislative issues in the various states are discussed.  The Arkansas APA chapter rep noted that among the bills passed this year by the Arkansas state legislature was one that allows local governments to rezone properties as an administrative rather than a legislative action.  That really piqued my interest, so I did a little research on it.

In April, the Arkansas State Legislature did indeed pass SB505, which is described in the bill “TO REQUIRE AN ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE FOR CHANGES TO THE ZONING OR DISTRICT DESIGNATION OF PROPERTY IN CERTAIN INSTANCES.”

What the bill says is that a property owner may request a rezoning of property to be considered as an administrative action, and as long as it complies with the general plan, the governing body can take such an action.  The bill specifies that such actions do not need to comply with the sections of the state code for normal (legislative) processes for rezonings such as holding public hearings and providing notice for such hearings.  Local governments are not required to take such a course of action – it is optional for them.

A story in the Builder’s Daily (a data-driven media company dedicated to serve key stakeholder interests in real estate and construction industry) about the bill says:

Gov. Sarah Huckabee signed legislation April 14 that permits cities and counties to implement administrative approval on zoning requests as long as the changes being sought fit an adopted land-use plan.

That may seem arcane. However, the relatively simple change to state law means a city or county could enact approval procedures that would bypass a local legislative process.

Like other states attempting this through different policy tactics, Arkansas law aims to streamline zoning changes and reduce barriers to development, speeding up sorely needed housing production.

The story goes on to describe the motivation for the action authorized by the bill:

Developers everywhere tend to dread rezoning a property in areas with strong community activism. Sometimes, they nix a plan because of anticipated opposition and entitlement risk, even if a land-use plan shows a housing use for the site that would be rezoned.

Despite considerable public input on the plan, rezoning that matches the plan all too often still encounters debate through the legislative process.

This seems to be the motivation behind the Utah development community’s advocacy of mandatory general plan compliance as well.

The Arkansas approach is an interesting one.  According to the AR APA legislative rep in the meeting, this move was generally supported by planners and by local government officials.  But she also noted that there were likely legal questions that would come up, such as whether such actions would still be subject to the referendum process (Arkansas provides for citizen-driven referenda on government legislative actions, much like Utah does).  By simply making what was previously a legislative action now an administrative action, does it bypass the referendum process?  There will likely be legal challenges.

Lots of states are facing a housing affordability crisis, much like we are here in our own fair state.  Watching the various ways it is being dealt with brings to mind the statement from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis in 1932, “states are the laboratories of democracy.”

Ain’t it the truth!