"Public interest organization Institute for Justice is lobbying states to adopt a model bill based on Washington's 2024 SRO zoning law. Called the Restoring Options in Occupancy Models Act, the proposal would legalize single-room occupancy housing statewide. It would also allow new construction and conversions and remove local restrictions that block such projects. The legislation has been dubbed the The Golden Girls bill after the hit 1980s television show with four senior women living together and sharing expenses."
"The effect of this legislation will expand housing options, help people afford to stay in their communities, and modernize housing policies, Philadelphia State Rep. Tarik Khan, the bill's chief sponsor, wrote in a memo with the bill. HB 2109's supporters describe local unrelated persons caps as lifestyle policing rather than safety regulation. They argue such rules unfairly target students, low-income renters and people who cannot afford full apartments."
House Bill 2109 would bar municipalities from using zoning or housing codes to limit the number of unrelated people who can share a home. The measure is sponsored by Philadelphia State Rep. Tarik Khan and supported by seven other legislators seeking a committee vote. Lifting local unrelated-persons caps could reopen doors to boarding houses, single-room occupancy buildings, and other shared housing forms largely removed by past zoning. The proposal preserves building, fire, and property-maintenance codes while removing local criminalization of household composition. The Institute for Justice is lobbying for a model Restoring Options in Occupancy Models Act to legalize SROs statewide.
Read at www.housingwire.com
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