By Bob Christie | Pinal Central
PHOENIX — A sweeping proposal that would strip larger Arizona cities and towns of the right to set standards for single family home lot and building sizes and bar their ability to set design standards or require features like fencing or garages that was vetoed by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs last year after massive pressure from cities and towns is back — with only minor changes.
Rep. Leo Biasiucci’s effort to address Arizona’s housing crisis is to spur the construction of smaller and cheaper “starter homes’’ has only one tweak from last year’s version: the exclusion of areas around military airports that Hobbs pointed to as a major issue in her veto letter. But Hobbs cited larger concerns as well, calling the proposal filled with “unexplored, unintended consequences that are of great concern’’ because they placed such major limits on what could be required for new housing.