Things are starting to heat up on the legislative front for housing and land use as we get closer and closer to the start of the 2026 legislative session.  Bill files are being created by legislators, and groups working on these issues are getting to the point where its time to put up.  So, I guess it’s time for me to get posting again (I haven’t posted anything since mid-July – sheesh!  Lots of reasons, no excuses, it’s not like nothing was happening.)

I was prodded back to life by comments by Gov. Cox reported in the DesNews last week when he spoke at the Ivory Innovations Summit.  On housing and zoning reform, the DesNews reported,

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox previewed a “more aggressive” approach to increase the housing supply on Wednesday that could include a statewide zoning preemption to allow for smaller, cheaper units regardless of city ordinances.

But as Utah continues to see home prices out of reach for more than 90% of non-homeowners, the governor said he plans “to get more aggressive with everything” — even though he would prefer for cities to voluntarily reform their zoning policies to increase housing options.

“Is preemption still on the table? The answer is, yes, it has to be,” Cox told the Deseret News. “I don’t want to go the preemption route, but I would be lying if I said it wasn’t on the table.”

This is an interesting departure (or is it just a bargaining chip?) from the oft-reported “Utah way” of approaching the housing crisis by working co-operatively with local governments, who of course exercise and implement land use plans and regulations.  In the recently released State Housing Plan, and in presentations made by Steve Waldrip, Cox’s “housing czar,” state and local cooperation is emphasized as one of the top guiding principles of the Housing Plan.  From page 3 of the plan,

The following guiding principles are intended to serve as guideposts for how Utah stakeholders resolve to work with one another to address our housing crisis. These principles describe both the “Utah Way” of problem solving and desired long-term outcomes for the state.

• Prioritize Collaboration Over Preemption

Other guiding principles follow.  But this has been an important one as the Governor’s Office and the State Legislature has worked to craft solutions for the housing affordability crisis.  Might that be in danger now, as suggested by Gov Cox’s comments?

I have written in previous posts that while this way doesn’t seem to get as much attention as the top down approach taken in many other states, it often results in better implementation.  Communities in states where the top-down approach is the primary way, I’ve posted plenty of examples of how those communities find ways to drag their feet and stymie the implementation of those measures (and I’ve got more to come, in upcoming posts).  But, we’ve also warned, those local communities must also do their part and actually DO something to enact those changes on their own.  And while many communities in Utah have indeed taken such actions, it’s fair to say that many have not.

It’s a tough thing to judge.  Even in states and places where reform has been undertaken, the change in rate of building is by all measure pretty slow, on the order of maybe 1 or 2 percent per year.  That can be frustrating to those hoping to see change right away!

Anyway, back to what’s happening here now.  In addition to the comments at the Innovations Summit, the next day the Commission on Housing Affordability held its meeting, and Rep. Ray Ward (who is now a member of the CHA) sort of unveiled a bill that he has drafted and is putting forward for this upcoming session.  Rep. Ward, you may recall, introduced bills in the 2025 legislative session that would have, among other things, made small lots (down to 5400 sf) permitted uses in all residential zones throughout the state.  Ward hadn’t really worked with anyone on that bill, and it subsequently didn’t go anywhere.  But now he is a member of the CHA, and is putting this bill forward for comment and collaboration.

What his bill would do (and we only got a quick glimpse of it during the CHA meeting, so I can’t really speak to the details of how it is currently drafted) is create three “state priority” permitted land uses.  These would be permitted in every local jurisdiction by right, but a local governing body could deny an applicant for such a use by taking a vote on the individual application in a public meeting.  The three uses in the bill, my understanding is, are residential lots as small as 5400 square feet, ADUs (attached or detached), and homes with driveways but no garages.  I see a number of problems with such a process, but we’ll see how it goes.  The bill has been made available to the League, and they are in the process of reviewing it.

There’s plenty more to talk about, including proposals by the Land Use Task Force, the CHA, and the Governor’s Office, as well as individual legislators.  We’ll get to those in upcoming posts.