The second thing I read was a piece on The Atlantic website titled Community Input Is Bad, Actually, by Atlantic staff writer Jerusalem Demsas https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/04/local-government-community-input-housing-public-transportation/629625/He introduces the issue this way: Development projects in the United States are subject to a process I like to call whoever yells the loudest and longest wins. Some refer to this as participatory democracy. The most support for this came from those who identified as very conservative, of which 23% picked do nothing.. We have it on credible information that the definition of rural real property was an oversight when amended into the code a few years ago. Nine lines of code! It was felt, I believe, that putting it in LUDMA Section 4 would give the requirement more weight, make it more visible and apparent to local officials, and hopefully result in better compliance than what had been occurring previously. Some excerpts: Right now, Chrissy Rochford lives in an RV with her dog Riley. (The timing was a coincidence, he told me, because the bill has been in the works for months.) Chris then wrapped up his report by noting ideas to look at ways to speed up the review and approval of development applications, and to develop uniform requirements for development engineering standards for public facilities like streets, sewer and water lines, etc. H.B. But the towns existed for decades without any real sense of place at all. Some people think were trying to control the growth by having a moratorium, but that is not the truth.. I have to say, I cannot recall a legislative session where such games have been played with regard to land use provisions. Click a button below to listen now in your browser. Seattle approved some 500 in 2020 and 800 in 2021. Hoping to discuss all this at the ULUI Land Use Conference October 25. Continuing on the theme from yesterdays post, interesting story in todays Trib about development approval processes in Washington County, where plats and other residential developments will need to have a water district sign-off before they can proceed. Are rural Utahns sacrificial lambs for residential high-density development and a concrete jungle with noise, countless trucks and trains coming and going? Demsas goes on to give several illustrations of his point. Minneapolis shows that eliminating single-family zoning alone or altering other forms of base zoning is not a silver bullet to increasing housing supply. [11] Notionally, therefore, Babcock still retained the right to transmit from Orfordness on the other frequency (1296kHz). We have to break down government barriers, expand private property rights and reduce regulations to actually construct more housing to provide housing options at a lower cost so that all Coloradans can thrive.. Robert Bryce, an energy industry expert, has written on this issue a number of times. This, of course, raised the anticipation of the committee hearing that would be coming for HB446 and the likely huge outpouring of public sentiment. Community members can come and register their opinions about apartment buildings, homeless shelters, dorms, and on and on. Take Williamson County, Texas. Thats housing stock that now isnt being rented to families or available for purchase by first-time homeowners or others.. Observations on some of the bills we are watching as they make their way through the legislative process. And perhaps there is some of that. A petition effort to encourage Gov. Ive argued that, while its nice to have this provision now in state code, the requirements really make it something that local governments could have done anyway under a development agreement, so Im not sure what this provision really gives in the way of a new tool. But in parts the balloon bulges spectacularly, resulting in many more homes than local people need.. A couple of interesting surveys on growth and development that came out in the past week that I want to point out a few things about. So, in effect, these few dictate to everyone else what will happen on the broader scene. Analogue commercial radio map Wrong! Obviously, there are those in the legislature who feel that taking such an action is justified. The provision was pretty obviously aimed at the Kimball Junction project by Dakota Pacific. Most apparent is that many of the provisions in the original bill applied only to municipalities, an apparent oversight. Hopefully the more collaborative nature of the legislative efforts undertaken here during the just-completed session will not see such shenanigans but not everyone was happy with the bills that were passed, so we shall see. The code itself is now, as a result, full of contradictions and inconsistencies. According to the planning council, this double-counting couldreduce the laws impact by 75,000 units, nearly 25 percent of the total, especially in places that are already relatively dense and well served by transitsuch as the college towns of Cambridge and Somerville. as an organizing framework, but is really more a series of anecdotes about how new housing development is being stymied by citizen involvement in the Silver Springs and Montgomery County areas. 654(d) subjecting a micro-education entity to standards within each zone pertaining to drew praise from Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson, development around the Clearfield Frontrunner station, https://www.ulct.org/events/spring-training, https://www.eventbrite.com/e/utah-land-use-institute-spring-conference-tickets-548001305657, https://apautah.org/events/apa-utah-spring-2023-conference/, https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IZ0daUr5CT02aCUX952TczBmyxRxW43Jas8049WHC-4/edit, https://wfrc.org/public-involvement/governmental-affairs-2/, highly controversial mixed-use development near Kimball Junction, proposed gravel pit in Parleys Canyon the right to start ripping up the mountainside, give developers the unprecedented power to issue bonds to finance projects, SB295 Dedicated Infrastructure District Ac, video on PIDs from 2022 Land Use Conference, opinion piece written by one of the organizers, Reconsidering the Use of Direct Democracy in Making Land Use Decisions, county council chair Roger Armstrong said after the bills passage, HB496 Short-Term Rental Enforcement Revisions, https://www.parkrecord.com/news/summit-county/about-dakota-pacific-an-open-letter-to-summit-county-council-from-friends-for-responsible-development-for-greater-park-city/, HB446 Housing and Transit Reinvestment Zone Modifications, HB364S1 Housing Affordability Amendments, Title 20A Chapter 7 Issues Submitted to Voters, 20A-7-602.8 Referability to voters of local land use law, https://le.utah.gov/~2023/bills/static/SB0174.html, https://le.utah.gov/~2023/bills/static/HB0364.html. The availability of quality education beyond high school such as good trade schools, colleges and universities. In the ruling by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the essential decision was that because of First Amendment protections, signs cannot be treated differently and regulated by their content. We are not secretaries to the mob. He also brought up the issue of administrative actions on land use applications. As Ive noted in some past blog postings, states in which the top-down approach dominates, the ultimate achievement of the goals of affordability and community resilience just dont seem to happen because the implementers (the local governing bodies) become footdraggers (see California, Oregon, a few others). I do believe people want us to address this issue, Inslee said last week. To justify transit, higher densities are needed adjacent to and near planned future transit lines and stations. The entire effort has been subject to intense public opposition (see May 16 blog post), which has again been reflected by the second story about the Avenues cottages. east) and was originally mainly intended for night-time (skywave) coverage of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and the western USSR, key target areas for the BBC during the Cold War. But as noted, theres not much time left! Meg went so far in her proposed language for the slide for the legislative update luncheon to say this would encompass a regional share strategy for MIH. Anyone see a problem here? And yet that is the case., As everyday Americans compete with each other and investors for housing that simply isnt available, youve got this bizarre lottery situation, Lara Gale said, with an asset that is treated as though its some kind of commodity when in fact its as necessary as water.. As noted in previous posts, the emphasis that has been placed on the general plans of communities to deal with a variety of important issues housing affordability, water use, and transit/land use has been quite significant. Where I want to spend some more time in this piece is on how administrative hearings are handled (North Carolina calls them quasi-judicial, because they lump their appeals hearings into the same category). The rezone proposal was supported by language in the citys general plan, which, while it generally says this area of the city should have densities around 2 units per acre, should allow for some diversity of housing and modest densities along major roads and adjacent to transit stops. The Washington City Council there recently considered a. proposed 200-unit project by Wasatch Acquisitions named The Ash planned for the northeast corner of Bella Vista Drive and Desert Cactus Drive. The governor characterized Utah as a victim of our own success in the states latest housing crunch, with a soaring population, a strong, diversified economy, and lower taxes all fueling record growth and luring newcomers. The St. George and Cedar City areas also could benefit from it. He did briefly address housing affordability and local land use practices. The two house bills are circled on the House 3rd Reading calendar, meaning they will wait there until the sponsor or leadership feels like they are ready to go, which likely will not happen until the changes under discussion are agreed to and offered as substitute bills. 2) mile radius for FR & TRAX (66 stations) Many of the provisions for SAPs and MIHs being put into this section of LUDMA are rather mandatory as to what is to be considered and how it is to be done, but in the end, all this for a plan that is only advisory? Local governments can apply to be part of that workshop here applications are due by July 29. do not delegate power to any outside group or entity. Two weeks left! How do we encourage job centers to be established throughout the state, rather than concentrated in one or two areas? While this is not a requirement that local regulations must be consistent with the adopted plan, it comes close. He bought it with a former partner just after graduating from the university himself, he noted. This I think is a disservice because its becoming more difficult and incomprehensible to the average planning commissioner, local elected official and even planners. The station was designed to transmit powerful medium wave (AM) signals to much of Europe on two frequencies, 648 and 1296kHz. According to city documents, the zoning change would effectively change the site from very low density to low density. With roughly 10 dwellings per acre, the property would be more densely built than surrounding blocks in the upper Avenues, but in keeping with or below per-acre densities on many of the neighborhoods blocks south of Seventh Avenue, judging from city maps. As I learn more about these, Ill pass them along as well. The members of the task force concluded that we do not have a free market for housing. The bill would prohibit municipalities from annexing land within 5,000 feet of a U.S. military or Utah National Guard facility, unless the military agrees to have the land annexed. Similarly, $25 million of the states ARPA funds will be used to rehabilitate Utah Lake and improve its water quality.. Nothing much to report with the major land use bills, they are awaiting action in the respective chambers. There are many others out there. In a new book, Gray explains what zoning is, where it comes from and says that if we want to improve our cities, we need to re-evaluate zoning policy and possibly even scrap it altogether. Over the last year or so, at least two Utah communities have made the news for imposing building moratoriums. Dufour hoped those items were struck from the eventual package and that the state offers municipalities help reaching the goals that it outlines, since local officials are going to be charged with keeping the peace once state policy trickles down to outcomes., And when that collaboration doesnt happen well, as I pointed out in an earlier post showing how creative people can be when they look for ways to get around rules they dont like, there was a really crazy example from Atlanta in a story in Bloomberg CityLab https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-22/buckhead-fights-atlanta-s-multifamily-housing-push?srnd=citylab, Residents of thearea collectively known as Buckhead in northern Atlanta are tryingtoward off new proposals working their way through city planning channels that wouldallow for more multifamily housing, and many of them are willing tocreatea new cityto prevent this from happening.. The Weber County staff and a couple of the OVPC members correctly noted. The most powerful voices in local housing debates are those of incumbent homeowners. 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. Utah has more young people getting ready to set up their own households than just about anywhere else in the country. Well, many of you know that I serve in my retirement on the Kaysville Planning Commission. Radio Schedule; SDPB Radio Coverage Map; Support SDPB; Music. It was beamed at 131 degrees (i.e. None of this reflects how our system is supposed to work. Some favour loan schemes for first-time buyers, but these only inflate house pricesfailing both homebuyers and taxpayers (because it would just add more eligible buyers to a market that already suffers from over demand). 7 fewer lines in LUDMA, SB76 Water Amendments requires cities and counties to consult with the state Division of Water Resources in preparing water element of the general plan; requires counties to consult additionally with other entities in preparation of the element; requires a number of other water resource and conservation studies by state agencies and water providers. They also mentioned they will be supporting a bill sponsored by Rep. Carol Spackman Moss (District 37) to alter the enforcement protocol for ADUs. It really is that simple. No question, short-term rentals are a significant part of the housing stock in tourism communities, but how much of an impact are they really having, both in those communities, and around the state? "Desire, I Want to Turn Into You" is her seventh album and is already one of the highest With this door now open wider, what will happen in the next session? Well. The story piqued my interest for a couple of reasons first, it is the body which until recently included the state legislator who in the last year or two has become the go-to guy for land use issues at the state legislature, Steve Waldrip; and second, it rang a bell about the presentations Ive been giving at conferences for several years about how small groups, like planning commissions, make decisions and how to do it better. Any housing nonprofit or developer could sue a town for failing to submit or for a plan that did not create a realistic opportunity., Frank DeFelice, chair of the Regional Planning Commission for the Lower Connecticut River Valley Council of Governments, which represents 17 of Connecticuts municipalities, told the committee First, no definition has been provided for the term realistic opportunity. Without a definition, even municipalities that have made the creation of affordable, attainable and workforce housing a priority can expect to engage in protracted and expensive litigation with interested parties.. The Utah League of Cities and Towns particularly gets a battering. Such conversions may become more common in California thanks to a law passed last year which eliminated single-family zoning. an area might not be zoned for installing renewable energy, which means you cant install it unless your local government decides to allow it. , the relevant authorities in each county or municipality translate this into local action. In addition to these interim study items, there will be the activity generated by the funding provided for the statewide conversation about growth to be conducted by the Governors Office of Planning and Budget (through state planning coordinator Laura Hansons office), and the funding for two non-profit-led initiatives on land use law and on housing affordability (these efforts will be fleshed out in the coming months through RFP processes by the Dept. In yesterdays Legislative Policy Committee meeting of the Utah League of Cities and Towns, League executive director Cameron Diehl said of all the land use proposals floating around the legislature right now that we must not do as California did (we dont want to be like California!) where such changes were forced onto the local level by the state, but should instead have state officials work cooperatively with local officials to craft solutions that will have a better chance of being accepted and succeeding. $75 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds, on top of $25 million already appropriated, to bring clean water to Westwater for the first time from nearby Blanding and improve drinking water systems in other small rural communities. Unlike the many other such efforts around the country I mentioned earlier that are getting national media attention, this one isnt so much. The common factor here is that areas around transit stations are viewed as the place to start with allowing more housing and more kinds of housing. b"_7ap?sj"[g4]]vF**PfCJ_#%e]g_v,}qZ]D}2AE6@k~C\~`q"'D^z4*"fZTmJ/luH*|` s5XDn2e]wza!wF3 This newest version, with a new title, is available for anyone interested, just jump on over to Amazon and order. So we have the flip side of what has happened earlier in one of the major land use bills. Nothing more I need to say on this. The tone of that posting was echoed by a story in the Trib last week, https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2022/07/04/building-booms-wasatch-back/. Greetings! Katie McKellar, the storys author, points out: There have been some cases of upset local officials take what happened withSummit County a state lawmaker accused the county of violating state law for not adopting a housing and transit reinvestment zone at Kimball Junction. Heres what Demsas has to say about this: after sitting through countless community meetings and reading thousands of public comments, Ive noticed that opposition to local projects doesnt always come from an easily caricatured millionaire homeowner; typically, its from people of all sorts who are afraid of change.