Key facts
- Salt Lake City is attempting to reform zoning codes to allow for more housing options and smaller lots to address affordability and supply challenges.
- The proposed zoning changes, which would affect 77% of the city's residential land, have stalled due to resident opposition concerned about neighborhood character.
- The Salt Lake City Planning Commission delayed a vote on the proposal due to a meeting-notice error, raising concerns about the legality of their vote.
- Similar zoning reform efforts have failed in state legislatures in Colorado, Florida, Arizona, and Montana.
- Texas and Maine have successfully enacted statewide minimum-lot-size cuts, while California's SB 9 allows lot splits.
- Salt Lake City's plan would permit small single-family homes, duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, and townhomes on lots as small as 2,000 square feet.
Salt Lake City is navigating a contentious path to reform its zoning code and encourage higher-density housing, a move that has stalled amid significant resident opposition. The proposed changes aim to ease the city's housing affordability and supply challenges by allowing smaller lots and a wider variety of housing types, mirroring efforts that have faced similar hurdles in other cities and state legislatures.
The city's planning commission recently delayed a vote on the proposed zoning changes, which would impact 77% of residential land, after a public hearing was marred by a meeting-notice error. Commissioners expressed concern that proceeding with a vote could render it illegal and open the door to lawsuits, citing the example of Charlottesville, Virginia, which faced legal challenges after ending single-family zoning.
Meanwhile, the Salt Lake City Council is initiating an education campaign through mailers and digital ads to inform property owners about the proposed reforms. This local effort comes after state legislators in Utah, Colorado, Florida, Arizona, and Montana failed to pass similar zoning and lot reform bills this year, often due to local opposition regarding parking, infrastructure strain, and loss of local input.
Notable exceptions to these legislative failures include Texas and Maine, which have enacted statewide minimum-lot-size cuts. California's Senate Bill 9 allows homeowners to split lots into two smaller parcels, and Spokane, Washington, has permanently reduced minimum lot sizes and increased allowable units per lot.
Under Salt Lake City's proposed "Expanding Housing Options" plan, property owners could build small single-family homes, duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, and townhomes on lots as small as 2,000 square feet. The city's planning department states the goal is to create "gentle infill opportunities that fit in with the character of low-density Salt Lake City neighborhoods." Patrick Risk, a land sales associate, views the plan as a positive step toward making housing more attainable by allowing diverse housing types in historically restricted areas.
However, critics like the Neighborhood Housing Alliance are calling for a pause. Alliance member Peter Wetzel, who previously lived in dense Chicago neighborhoods, argues that Salt Lake City's existing urban fabric is not designed for such density and that the changes would be "aesthetically marred." Conversely, Wasatch Advocates for Livable Communities, led by Turner Bitton, is rallying support for the plan, emphasizing that it legalizes housing types already present in beloved neighborhoods.