Last week, the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute hosted a panel discussion on the topic Design Solutions for Housing Affordability in Utah. The discussion was well summarized in a story by Katie McKellar for the Utah News Dispatch. Essentially, the gist was that housing affordability could be assisted/enhanced by careful design.
… compact designs could be a key way to lower prices. Especially considering construction costs have also surged — by roughly 30% since 2019, after the COVID-19 pandemic spurred a housing market frenzy.
And how to incorporate such efforts into the review and approval of proposed housing projects?
… housing experts who sat on Thursday’s panel urged local leaders to bring architects with innovative ideas on how to lower the cost of housing early on in the planning process
The panel then appeared to discuss how to get design considerations to make housing more affordable into development project by encouraging both developers and local officials to include design professionals early on in the development process.
The ideas brought forward in the panel discussion were good and worthy of consideration. Just one problem for local officials – section 10-9a-534 of the LUDMA, which in part says:
… a municipality may not impose a requirement for a building design element on a one- or two-family dwelling.
Perhaps this section of code needs to be reconsidered in light of the panelists’ exhortations.
Now, the code does give some ways to work around this restriction. Where a developer agrees to a development agreement for a project with a community, or where the community has design requirements for some zoning regulations that the developer agrees to have imposed on the property, such design considerations might be able to be incorporated into a project.
Still, it seems that this section of code should be reconsidered. Especially if there is going to be a mandatory increase in density allowed in all residential zones through legislative action. To help mitigate against a potential backlash, it would help to be able to allow for design standards that would help incorporate such increased density into existing neighborhoods.
Just sayin’.