Instead, IZ helps ensure that new development, in which units are commonly the most expensive on the market and draw high-income purchasers, isnot made up of exclusively wealthy families. In our research, we actually find that the folks who show up to oppose the construction of new housing often view themselves as representing their communitys interests and are motivated by protecting their neighborhood, their surroundings. Therefore, rather than allow an individuals testimonywhether or not trueto stand on its own, the process ought to require bureaucrats and commissioners to address in writing the substance of all comments made, thus limiting a comments effect and impact if it is irrelevant or untrue or a resident overstates its importance. It also has shifted residents once-favorableviews on growth, with support dropping precipitously, Cox said, and residents now associating it with clogged traffic, expensive homes and a lower standards of living. Not all of these will make it out into the legislative process, and of those that do, a number will likely not make it all the way through the process. Its by M. Nolan Gray, who is described as a professional city planner and an expert in urban land-use regulation. It seems to prohibit the application of a TLUO to an application that has also been subject to a pending ordinance restriction, but then it seems to extend that prohibition to an application that was filed within 12 months (?). Michael Parker, vice president of strategy for Ivory Homes and member of the council, said, in addition to zoning, cities need to streamline their approval processes for new construction, and they need to have better defined affordable housing plans, which are required by the state. Rep. Waldrip and Cam Diehl confirmed that the station area plan provisions that have been worked on for some time now, will be added into this bill soon, which made the chair of the committee uncomfortable that they are considering a bill that will be changed substantially after they consider it. So another one of Utahs communities just imposed restrictions on development due to water concerns Town of Newton puts hold on new water connections . Follow-up to previous housing affordability bills and opportunities for improvement. are facing as they look for housing. What frequency is Radio Caroline on? Bills or provisions that come out now are usually one of two things they are supported by leadership and will move very quickly, or they are messages not meant to be passed in the short time left, but to send a message to those engaged on those issues. needlessly increase Utahs housing prices. Then comes the preliminary plat, where compliance with the technical requirements of the local ordinance are reviewed. Cox, while unveiling his budget proposal, also said the referendum process can impede housing solutions because, in some instances, small groups of people can shut down any type of development. Always makes for interesting sessions! The bill will force municipalities to pay for construction of housing that developers will not build on their own. The venture has worked out quite well, with leases and agreements worked out between the federal government (owners of the land), local governments for services, and private developers to build the needed facilities. Enacts extensive procedures for review and approval of residential subdivision plats. New Zealand, which is experiencing the sixth-highest increase in housing costs worldwide over the last few years, in part because of, as website NewsHub said in a story on New Zealand housing, Asked what was responsible for the doubling of house price growth over the past seven years, just over half (52 percent) thought rises were due to overseas buyers Oh the tangled webs we weave). Water managers have placed their own moratoriums on buildings requiring new hookups Henefer since 2018, and Oakley since last summer to ensure they have enough water for current needs instead of squeezing that capacity for new developments amid the statewide drought. As might be expected, the comments from city residents went nuts, including from Andreesen. Love to see those, Paul. Unanimous! Heres a good example of how that happens. Such outreach would have resulted in a larger pool of applicants who are longer-term Valley residents, not involved in either development or the construction industry and with greater knowledge of the Valley. Planning commission members must determine if they agree with recommendations from the Weber County Planning Division staff and whether development proposals comply with land-use law. 239preservation element may affect: The issue appears to be about the impact on available housing as much as about the typical neighborhood disruptions from non-permanent renters. Might I suggest that Ms. Nicholson, along with Mayors Wilson and Mendenhall, start with Salt Lake Countys east bench and the Salt Lake City controlled Wasatch Canyons as they channel their unity and momentum to make change? And the overwhelming majority of Utahns understand that means were going to have to build more housing.. SB140 changes units/acre to equivalent dwelling units/acre (EDU). The plan has a number of strategies to help increase the supply of affordable housing. It would also require an owner of a short-term rental to obtain a permit to operate the short-termrental, and establishes safety requirements for short-term rentals. He wraps up his piece with this insightful comment from Sara Bronin of Cornell University: Bronin agrees that modifying rules established long ago can lead to big-picture payoffseven as that is a complicated message to convey, since zoning has for such a long time remained unseen in the background. The station is broadcasting While I agree that the League is very much about keeping local control as much as possible over land use policy and regulations (thats who they represent, after all, are the local elected officials), I think it is rather unfair to characterize them as not concerned about water conservation. Until the fundamentals of the market changewhether through action or inactionpower struggles and political controversies will continue. Some local jurisdictions (mainly counties, but not exclusively) rely on service districts for water. You dont need to know any numbers: just tune it in, by name. A recent survey from Envision Utah suggests for the first time that more Utahns would prefer to slow rather than foster the states population growth (with 45% agreeing to some extent that growth is bad and should be limited compared to 38% agreeing to some extent that growth is good and should be fostered). How else might this Authority concept be used in the future? 2 0 obj Last week, our Utah Land Use Institute Board met and considered topics for this falls Land Use Law Conference. The pool also might have brought a broader skill set to the table, instead of more building industry occupants. Those are the major land use bills weve been following. This is actually a pretty good body to have these discussions as the Commission is chaired by the Governor, with legislative leadership and committee chairs, state department heads, and local elected officials sitting on it. The legislation stemmed from months of work in the governorsUnified Economic Opportunity Commission, which tasked a subcommittee with finding affordable housing solutions statewide. Things are moving more slowly in cities with strict zoning codes. I would argue this is overkill. New homes arent going unbuilt because of developers ignorance or a lack of landdevelopers are desperate to build in expensive cities, and they can always build up when they cant build out. We just need to have a bigger discussion about the advisory-only nature of general plans and if that should be reconsidered and modified in light of the expectations that are being put on this document by these new provisions being added. According to a recent independentanalysis, these kinds of state and local reforms when combined with policies to improve financing options could lead to the creation of more than 1 million ADUs in the next five years. It must still pass the Senate, and then pass in the House. Toward the end of the legislative session, a few seemingly innocuous sentences were slipped into a bill that would have essentially given Prince carte blanche to demolish the two houses and build his new home as large as he wants and as tall as he wants without the citys approval. As she explains, much has to do with the dynamics of existing market conditions and building climate. Her piece is the voice of those who are hardly ever heard in those rezone meetings. You can listen to live online radio from Radio Caroline for free. "eventCategory": "Listen", The current condition in which first class counties have a separate set of (confusing!) This runs somewhat contrary to the statement made by one of the OVPC members, who said: It makes sense to have people in the industry, he said. You can listen to live online radio from Radio Caroline for free. Clarify the role of the Local Boundary Commission and what its authority is. These historical lots are small with most ranging in size from a 37.5 frontage to a 50 frontage. Do you believe in numerology? Put measures in place that will give you a community that will be bigger and denser than what you have now, but that you can live with, that you will like. And almost invariably, they dont. (you can see here how, as I noted, administrative and appeal actions in NC are combined). The point of this language is to allow for a variety of housing types in single-family areas, not just large-lot single-family detached homes, per the concepts discussed above. First, more on Utah Lake which is becoming more and more of a big deal. While a variety of bills have been introduced in the Montana legislature on land use issues (much as we have here each year), the major effort that will likely supersede them all is Senate Bill 382. Shekarchis attempt to walk a line between sounding the alarm about the urgent need for more housing with the fears of local leaders about losing control reflects in part the fact he has already received pushback from some communities even before revealing his proposals. Ampleresearchhas shown that minimum lot sizes are a major culprit for rising housing costs. Unlike the directional aerial for 648kHz, they are arranged in two parallel rows with three towers in each. Part of the idea behind this is not just to try and make local jurisdictions take MIH planning more seriously and to actually implement it, but also that by making the adoption of the MIH plan the main policy and legislative action, any subsequent action by the local government, including rezoning, becomes administrative (implementing the adopted policy) and thus not subject to referendum. Still, Dean thinks the state has some advantages. WebThe station has two directional aerial (antenna) systems: one for 648 kHz and one for 1296 kHz. The compact works through steering committees. Heres wishing us well in the outcomes of our 2023 legislative session! Its worth the read. It hasnt happened, and now this bill is specifically aimed at that, giving specific development rights to some (a) property owner(s). There are often unintended consequences from legislative changes, particularly when they move along quickly and people dont get a chance to contemplate and stew over them for a while. Nothing more I need to say on this. It does not say, for example, that the person can file a notice related to an application that would otherwise be affected or prohibited by the proposed change, but that if the property owner received a notice then he or she cannot file any application at all even if not affected by the change without a notice being filed as well. In a release announcing the task forces creation, the governor acknowledged that housing has been a long-term affordability issue for Montanans and blamed the states housing shortage on burdensome regulations. Prior to passage by the Senate last Thursday, an amendment was approved with regard to the requirement for all land use applications within 5,000 feet of a military facility to be submitted to a state agency for review and sign off. https://le.utah.gov/MtgMinutes/publicMeetingMinutes.jsp?Com=INTPOL&meetingId=17750, A similar bill was introduced during this years general session back in January, but did not advance far because of ongoing discussions about the scope and particulars of the Authority. Colorado has historically been a state where such land use and zoning decisions are determined at the local level, so city and county officials are nervous about what may be coming from the legislature. Ive got some issues with what the bill does here. $500,000 to begin planning and developing future water storage solutions. The objections often come fast and furious in the public hearings and meetings that are held. That has resulted in the homeless population swelling, families moving to far-flung suburbs, and skyrocketing housing prices. That has caused some issues recently as the information to be used apparently has been found to not be as accurate or detailed as needed to accomplish the requirements of the code. The48-pageSB 382 would require city and county governments in the states most-populous counties to expand their proactive planning efforts, producing forward-looking land use plans that inventory existing housing, analyze projected population growth and determine specifically where theyll allow the construction of enough homes to house future residents. Democracy is at its best when the views and needs of the people are accurately transmitted to their representatives, the representatives act, and voters express their approval or disapproval in the next election. 1171(A) the National Register of Historic places; The anticipated substitute for the other big LUTF bill, SB174 Local Land Use and Development Revisions, came out last night. He also noted the idea of amending the law to allow for those suing local governments not in compliance with state land use requirements, to be able to recover attorneys fees. Given what we were seeing, it was difficult for us to think how anything but annexations of single properties (or small groups of consenting property owners) directly adjacent to current city boundaries, could ever be annexed in the future, and maybe not even those because of other language in the code. zoning) After the public comments, during discussion by the PC members, it was pointed out that a rezone from single-family to R-2 zoning would allow for the construction of three duplexes on the property, which would be about the same number of units as those sought by the applicant, but more of a single-family home character than the townhouses would be (it was later pointed out that a similar result could be achieved through approval of a conditional use for twin homes under the existing zoning). Here are some of the water recommendations in the proposed budget: $200 million for secondary water metering, with an aim to increase water conservation. HB364 Housing Affordability Amendments talked about this above, the substitute bill was adopted in committee today and then passed out favorably by the committee. As promised, it proposes a newly mandated process for approving subdivisions, as well as some issues with the moderate income housing reports, and with ADUs. Also, no more than 15% of property could be used for commercial purposes. And so often, I and my colleagues have tried to say to the officials in these communities, growth is going to come, you cant stop it or ignore it, so plan for it! Never mind theresearchshowing that higher-density is actually beneficial for the environment. 254account for water use or do not include strategies for reducing water demand; and They did that because Ann Arbor is a very constrained environment. The story behind all this is a long and complex one which would take a lot of space to tell, so let me summarize it more briefly. I would say there has been some measure of resistance, or rather I would say push-back to the specifics of the proposed changes, from local officials, not so much because they oppose any changes to land use policies, but rather to allow a more co-operative approach. Laws restricting how Americans use their private property have to be reasonable and serve legitimate government interests. Whats Demsas answer to all this? Airport Land Use Amendments also a big blank for me, Rep. Ballard requesting, Regional Development and Logistics Amendments hmmm, interesting title, might relate to tying state funding to conformity with regional transportation plans, but this is being requested by Rep. Mike Schultz and thats not been one of his big issues. We usually try to focus on whats hot currently and address the thorny problems that accompany the latest hot land use issues. Salt Lake County has its land-use authority, a General Plan and its Resource Management Plan to address forest health and implement Best Management Practices. Well, the bill finally came out Friday, and the details are concerning to local governments. Thought Id give a few more examples of whats happening in some state legislatures around the country on land use issues, partly to demonstrate how we are part of the zoning reform wave, but also to show that maybe were doing it a little better than other places. What if a community in the middle of the system decided, eh, no, were not going to do that? Reception reports: We are still happy to receive reception reports for our 648 AM service. You will find a report form on our 648 AM page. Our next Radio Caroline North broadcast is between 11th-12th March, live from our radio ship Ross Revenge. Be sure to check out the latest info about the conference on this very website (see link headers above). Which is better than nothing! Heres what the League sent out this evening: contact your senators immediately and urge them to vote against SB 295 for these reasons: SB 295 authorizes the creation of new political subdivisions called Dedicated Infrastructure Districts (DIDs). After reading about all this, Im thinking weve got it pretty good here (relatively!) A series of substitute bills have been released, none of which made any real major modifications, mostly just some moderate changes. 3) Mandatory menu item under SB 34+ with DWS Last year, HB462 required those communities with a transit station to prepare and adopt transit station area plans, with particular provisions for affordability and parking. These efforts will be designed for immediate implementation by local leaders, planners and others working to combat the housing crisis.. It would not, on its own, solve a shortage the Kem C. Gardner Public Policy Center has estimated at about 44,500 housing units in Utah, alone. The 2023 general session of the Utah State Legislature ends tonight at midnight, and as usually happens, there are still a lot of bills left to be dealt with and things to consider. 207microenterprise home kitchen shall be permitted to operate from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.; Im not disagreeing with these provisions necessarily, I think theres a lot of benefit that will come from them (if nothing else, they are certainly full-employment measures for planners! Heres a viewpoint on how covid has impacted housing costs from last weeks issue ohThe Economist: In Floridas Collier County, a haven for golfing pensioners, house prices were flat in the two years to February 2020. Utah Sen. Mike Lee has a bill that would let state and local governments buy federal land at a discount, to be used for the construction of affordable housing. Again, controversy surrounds the discussions about what to do and how to do it, most notably about a proposal by a private entity to dredge the entire lake bed making it deeper, using the dredged material to create new island in the lake, and building new communities on some of the islands. The solution, in part, has been mooted to be, get those local governments to reform their zoning and land use codes, those laggards! The substitute bill, while it still would allow home-based and micro-education entities to be allowed in all residential zones, reduced the size of these facilities (for home-based, the number went down from 25 to 16, for micro-education from 150 to 100). Community needs would include schools, churches, grocery stores, hospitals and health clinics. Oh, and lest you think that this all has little to do with our land use policies, the column also makes this observation: Economists cared less about land in the 20th century. Cam Diehl, the Utah League Executive Director, has said hes getting calls from municipal league directors in other states asking how Utah has been able to get the collaborative effort from the legislature. Currently Radio Caroline broadcasts on 648kHz AM to the east of England and on DAB+ in Aldershot/Woking, Norwich, Portsmouth, Glasgow, Birmingham, Brighton and London. I committed a real rookie mistake of not looking at the entire bill. Much of the criticism against having development industry people on the PC is that they give blanket approvals to development applications. which had been changed to keep most decision-making on landscaping with local municipalities. This initial moratorium period was set to be in place until March of 2022. Caution and deliberation are good in moderation, but waiting cannot relieve this uncertainty; it merely changes its form. State Planning Coordinator Laura Hanson then talked about the plans for holding a statewide Conversation About Growth with the states residents and some other initiatives, for which the Governors budget includes about $1 million for the coming year. First, it creates a new definition of administrative land use authority.. At the Planning Commission hearing on the proposed rezone, the expected usual concerns and opposition were expressed by the residents of the adjacent single-family neighborhood. Wow! The bill goes on to stipulate that preliminary plats must be reviewed in a public meeting. A week ago, a bill came out that would have done something extraordinary something I have not seen to this scale in all my years of dealing with land use issues there. The other is leveraging federal stimulus dollars, which are still available, to build more infrastructure like water and sewer to support housing development. Were bringing people into our community. 235(F) use of an irrigation system, including drip irrigation, best adapted to provide the Substituting the bill means it just needs to complete this last step (pass on the floor of the Senate) and then be concurred to by the House, which it likely will. Tony Semerad of the Trib wrote a good retrospective of this effort last year, and makes the case for a shift in focus for transportation funding that grew out of this, but beyond that? As a potential future resident of Kaysville, but who currently cant afford a single family home anywhere in the city.. Well, I guess I was wrong. It continues to amaze me the arguments that normally rational citizens bring up in land use hearings. In the end the bill passed favorably out of committee, but with a lot of comments about how some members didnt like how big this bill was coming out so late, and was going to be amended. No new bills out in the last day or two, so, with apologies to Stephen Colbert, MEANWHILE. We need public policy change to address this issue because we cant subsidize our way out of it, Parker said. There are a number who, after they get into office and learn about what the issues really are and how it all works, are supportive of changing land use and housing policies and ordinances. Because getting through zoning processes in areas where no one really wants to see these facilities weve experienced that many times.. Whos right? The state code is currently silent on how such applications are to be treated, and Cam noted that there appears to be agreement among the League membership that perhaps this process should be looked at for further definition on how public input should be handled and how the process should work. I know of several communities that are considering curtailing the approval of new development because of their concerns about local water supply, and a few have even already done so. Now to assess the damage. There were those who opposed it because of the perceived negative impact to single-family neighborhoods (expected), but also those supportive of allowing more affordable housing were critical of the proposal, largely because they think it doesnt go far enough. In fact, the writers point out, there are other local regulatory and policy measures that are likely more effective. Take a look where the fastest growing communities in our fair state are. The whole issue was unveiled when the property owner published a public notice required for a state mining permit. It was really clear that the university wasnt going to have the resources to make the project successful, he said as we walked up through the UC Berkeley campus. So, Fillmore said hes aiming to create a penalty thats more targeted to cities, by withholding state money for road improvements known as Class B and C funds. Narrowing the scope of testimony, as permitted by the Model State APAs evidentiary rules, does not address the problem of veracity. The first is HB527 Mining Operations Amendments. And now most recently, inflation and interest rates will likely exacerbate things. The bill then goes on to require either direct notification of property owners within 300 feet of of the site of a proposed subdivision, or posting of notices on the property itself. Over the weekend I saw a couple of stories that epitomized for me the challenges of addressing housing affordability in our quite conservative state. Your job is to listen to the current residents. He bought it with a former partner just after graduating from the university himself, he noted. IT AINT OVER YET. Imagine a balloon that is being gripped by a pair of hands. For some of the minor bills (theyre not minor really, just in comparison to the biggie bills), heres some updates. He says in part. Anecdotally Ive heard several comments from different communities about them, not necessarily against them, but concerns about how they get implemented and what is done with them. The property proposed for rezone was a half acre located on the corner of the intersection of a subdivision street with the busy Main Street (a UDOT collector road, with Davis High School right across the street). And it isnt really just advisory anymore, because these new amendments provide that if they are not complied with, certain types of state funding can be withheld from the offending communities. As the state toughens rules related to its housing allocation process, cities statewide may finally be forced to overhaul their zoning codes to ensure an adequate supply of housing at all affordability levels. From this mornings story in the DesNews about the first day of the legislative session. IZ had been talked about for some time as a way to address housing affordability, and is used in some high-cost communities like Park City and Summit County in an attempt to provide for housing that can be accessible to the needed local workforce that cannot afford the high resort-community prices (like teachers, police officers, restaurant workers, etc.). As advertised, Im going to continue the citizen input dogpile today with a discussion of a story from last month in the DCist, a community news blog for Washington, D.C., underwritten by the areas NPR-affiliate radio station WAMU. There appears to be some possibility that this year will see some kind of standardization requirement with possible options for justifiable variations. Le centenaire des Seiz Breur dans Ecouter Voir sur Radio Caroline. It is our understanding that the current situation is strictly due to the availability of culinary and secondary water. What are those reforms in Utah? Wither the future of. In addition to inflation, the other top factor to decreased life satisfaction is traffic and road conditions, which likely means theres more traffic, congestion and delays. SB181 Campaign Sign Amendments creates a category of political signs for those running for office, and says that if such signs in public rights-of-way need to be removed, the entity owning that ROW can charge the campaign for removing those signs. allow townhouses, 3-4 unit buildings, and cottage developments on properties that are currently zoned for single- or two-family homes and are located within 1/4 mile of high frequency transit or are located adjacent to arterial streets. Dozens of current and former lawmakers, local leaders, transportation officials, housing advocates and more accompanied the governor, speaking briefly to the bevy of bills that Cox said are aimed at managing growth and growing in the right way.. Often, it is the semantics of the issue, calling the new development proposals high-density or multi-family that seems to cause the problems. Heres a snippet from the story about Californias moves: In California, which has arguably the worst housing shortage in the country, some state lawmakers have repeatedlysoughtto force cities to allow denser housing near transit stops.