The ULUI conference yesterday and Tuesday was a great event.  Good sessions, lots of interesting topics and information swirling around. Yesterday morning, Gov. Cox spoke, followed by Rep. Steve Whyte, co-chair of the Commission on Housing Affordability.  Nothing really new was said by these state leaders beyond what we’ve seen at the CHA and UEOC meetings.  It does point, however, to some potentially far-reaching changes to the way some land use issues will be handled in the future.

To give you a sense of much of what is being considered, and the back-and-forth that is shaping up, let me share a couple of things.  Here’s a story from Utah News Dispatch yesterday that summarizes what was reported in the legislative interim meetings last week.  It’s a pretty good summary and gives a good overview of the variety of issues being discussed.

One proposal mentioned in the story in particular also got a lot attention at yesterday’s conference:

While the Utah Legislature has recently loosened restrictions on internal ADUs (like basement apartments), Fillmore said lawmakers should also consider breaking down barriers for external, detached ADUs on single-family lots that are large enough to accommodate them.

(Rep. Ray) Ward last week presented two versions of legislation to loosen restrictions on both single-family housing and accessory dwelling units by making them “permitted uses” on residentially zoned properties.

As was noted in the Oct. 17 post, Rep. Jim Dunnigan particularly pushed back on the ADUs proposal.  The discussion at yesterday’s conference session lasted for nearly 45 minutes, with both pros and cons kicked around.  If you’d like to see that discussion, the conference session will be posted online here at the ULUI website soon.  Keep your eyes open for it.

Monday the League’s Legislative Policy Committee heard reports from League staff about the status and negotiations on some of these issues.  The League also asked for feedback about the proposals and what kinds of modifications might be acceptable.  Here are the slides from the meeting, which really show the broad extent of the various issues, and potential negotiating points (start at slide number 30).  Here’s just one example:

○ publicly owned real estate inventory with parameters

○ parking reductions for deed-restricted, affordable units – statutory standard TBD

○ MIHP: changes coming due to state housing plan; details TBD

○ infrastructure tools and data ○ fix/align terms/definitions in existing tools (e.g. FHIZ, retail incentives)

○ enabling language about affordable, owner-occupied local overlays

There’s going to be a lot of moving parts in this upcoming legislative session!