Land use is local, and so are many housing policy opportunities. In the 2024 ULI Housing Opportunity Conference session, “A Look Back on the Latest State and Local Housing Policy Innovations,” moderator Michael Wilt, senior manager of external relations for the Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation, asked the panelists: “The dynamics and conversations around housing are changing a lot. What is going to net the greatest benefits?”
Zoning Reform Takes Off Nationally
Zoning—long regarded as arcane local land use regulations embraced only by policy wonks—has lately become fashionable and widespread, with zoning reform efforts spreading nationally. Several states have even taken on zoning to compel municipalities to allow accessory dwelling units, add apartments, lower minimum lot sizes, or streamline parking requirements. In 2023, more than 200 housing bills were introduced in at least 23 states.
“We’ve had exclusionary zoning since Euclid vs. Ambler,” said Toccarra Nicole Thomas, director of land use and development at Smart Growth America. “Ninety-eight percent of all American land is under some form of Euclidean zoning. The great communities that we all love were created without the boundaries of Euclidean zoning.”
Updating Boise’s Zoning Code
Boise, Idaho, began implementing a new zoning code in December 2023, with a particular focus on housing needs. Boise completed the zoning code rewrite in three phases and ample community outreach. City planning staff, in collaboration with a consultant, explored tools to preserve and enhance community character, and to integrate with existing neighborhoods.
While conducting public outreach, innovative approaches included collaboration with the Boise State University anthropology department to pursue a grassroots effort to hear from city residents who are less inclined to show up at public hearings. To that end, Tara Bingham, a Boise State graduate student, gathered 100 hours of interviews with local residents in laundromats, ethnic markets, coffee shops, and other locations across the city.
Panelist Nicki Hellenkamp serves as housing advisor to Boise’s mayor. “There have been significant changes in the Boise housing market in the last decade,” she said. “What can we do as local government in the state of Idaho to address the pain of people trying to hold onto their homes and avoid being pushed out?”
Sorting Out Density Bonuses in Austin
In 2017, Austin, Texas, adopted a Strategic Housing Blueprint with the goal of 60,000 affordable units by 2027. Today, Austin deploys many tools to attract more affordable housing, including “density bonuses” that offer incentives, such as additional units in exchange for affordable housing. Over the past decade, Austin has accrued dozens of density bonus programs, such as vertical mixed-use and transit-oriented development regulating plans.
Jen Weaver, president of Vivid Development Company in Austin, observed, “We’ve only delivered 10,000 housing units since the Affordable Housing Blueprint was released. Calibrating all of our density bonus programs is an important step.”
Austin is currently working to clean up the administrative and other complications that have emerged under multiple density bonus programs, with completion of that process expected by fall 2024.
Texas Sets Deadlines for Local Review
Nicole Nosek, board chair at Texans for Reasonable Solutions, explained that housing policy was a major advocacy focus in the 2023 Texas legislative session. One law that was adopted was HB 14, aimed at speeding up the local permit review process for commercial buildings, setting a 15-day deadline for relevant public agencies to complete this crucial step.
“Now, if the city is taking too long to review a project, the developer can go to a third party for development approvals,” Nosek explained. “I was surprised to hear about how much ‘time is money’ when it comes to building housing. Every month added to the development timeline can add up to five percent to the final price tag.”
