By Jeremy Duda | Axios
A bipartisan group of lawmakers looking to alleviate Arizona’s housing crisisthrough zoning and other reforms is rallying support for a trio of bills they hope can avoid the fate of a proposal rejected earlier this year.
Driving the news: Nearly a dozen lawmakers gathered at the Capitol’s Rose Garden Wednesday morning to urge their colleagues to support the proposal, which has languished since March.
- Sen. Steve Kaiser, R-Phoenix, has abandoned efforts to revive his housing bill, which was defeated in the Senate.
- Instead, he and allies on both sides of the aisle are pinning their hopes on three proposals that contain many provisions from the defeated legislation.
Details: The bills largely pertain to affordable housing and limitations on municipal zoning.
- SB1161 would require cities of more than 525,000 people (Phoenix, Tucson and soon Mesa) to allow low-income rental housing in areas zoned for commercial, multifamily or mixed use within a half-mile of light rail or streetcar stops.
- SB1163 would force cities with populations over 30,000 to allow zoning for duplexes and triples, would restrict their ability to limit total housing units per acre, and would require them to permit smaller lots. Rep. Analise Ortiz, D-Phoenix, tells Axios that last provision will be removed.
- HB2536 would restrict cities’ ability to impose aesthetic and off-street parking requirements, would force them to allow single-room rentals and accessory dwelling units, would set a time limit for approving zoning applications, and would prohibit cities from adopting more restrictive zoning requirements.
