Florida amended its 2023 Live Local Act for a third time in the same year, while New Hampshire lawmakers revisited a housing law passed the prior year. Housing advocates said the amendment pattern does not show flawed laws, but reflects the need for continuous revision under state preemption of local zoning authority. California has struggled to produce small ownership homes as land costs, permitting delays, and local design standards steer development toward rentals or larger projects. California’s starter home legislation took effect in 2022 and required ministerial approval for qualifying detached starter-home subdivisions, bypassing CEQA and limiting local discretion. The law proved difficult to use due to inconsistent city interpretations and developer uncertainty about applicable map processes.
"Florida is a noteworthy example. State leaders amended the state's 2023 Live Local Act for the third time this year. New Hampshire lawmakers are now revisiting a housing law passed last year. Housing advocates say the pattern of amendments is not evidence of flawed laws. They argue it reflects the reality that state preemption of local zoning authority requires continuous revision when local governments treat each new restriction as a puzzle to be solved in reverse."
"It was a hard fight to get these laws passed, Matt Lewis, California YIMBY's director of communications, told The Builder's Daily. Now, they want to make sure they work. The 37-0 vote was the latest step in what has become an iterative tug-of-war between state lawmakers and local governments over small ownership housing. California has struggled to produce this category of home as land costs, permitting delays and local design standards push developers toward rentals or larger, higher-margin projects."
"California elected and appointed officials have tried to solve the housing affordability problem for years. Efforts accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic as remote workers left the state for less expensive locales. The original starter home law took effect in 2022. California is one of the rare states to pass starter home legislation lawmakers in Colorado, Arizona, Minnesota, Utah, Kentucky and North Dakota failed to do so. Texas lawmakers largely succeeded last year."
"California's law required cities and counties to ministerially approve projects that subdivided multifamily-zoned lots into smaller parcels for detached starter homes. It bypassed California Environmental Quality Act review entirely and stripped local agencies of discretion to deny qualifying applications except on narrow public health and safety grounds. But lawmakers quickly discovered the law was difficult to use. Cities interpreted the approval pathway inconsistently. Developers faced ambiguity over which map processes applied."
Read at www.housingwire.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]