By Jason W. Brooks | Daily Independent
The message from Arizona municipalities to the state Legislature regarding planning and zoning and creating affordable housing was simple in 2023: Let us figure it out.
The message appears to be mostly unchanged going into 2024.
Thomas Adkins, city of Peoria’s intergovernmental affairs director, says during the 2023 legislative session there were several bills that might have impacted local planning and zoning — and, potentially, the creation of more affordable housing in Peoria.
“In the adopted budget, $5 million was appropriated for use by Area Agencies on Aging housing assistance, such as housing assistance for individuals 65 and up,” Adkins said. “Also included in the budget was a $150 million investment in the State Housing Trust Fund, which funds things like new affordable housing, transitional housing, permanent supportive housing, youth homeless shelters, rental and eviction prevention assistance, and shelter operational services.”
Adkins said the budget also included funding for homeless and shelter services, and mobile-home relocation.
Not all legislation made it through, however. One 2023 proposal was Sen. Steve Kasier’s Senate Bill 1117, which was defeated in a Senate floor vote by a 20-9 margin. A fellow Republican senator told Capitol Media Services the bill would have “kneecapped” municipal governments.
Chandler Mayor Kevin Hartke said the city” dodged some bullets” in terms of 2023 proposals that died somewhere in the legislative process — bills that would have taken away local control from cities in planning and zoning.
SB 1117, in its initial form, was one of those bullets.
“That probably was one of our bigger targets, as it would have allowed, by right, multifamily housing in industrial zones across the state,” Hartke said. “That’s a deterrent, if not a killer, for cities trying to develop their own sense of corporate jobs. Noise and traffic concerns put oil-and-water neighbors together. We look forward to continuing to work with the League of Cities and seeing what the legislature comes up with, but anything that puts residential next door to industrial is a non-starter.”
Adkins said as introduced, SB 1117 would have gutted all local residential zoning control. However, the “as introduced” aspect is important to remember, going forward, as legislative bills often are modified — sometimes extensively — just before or after a House or Senate floor vote, in ways that may sweeten or sour the bill to interested municipalities.
That’s what happened with SB 1117 this past year — the bill got sweeter. However, it never made it to Gov. Katie Hobbs’ desk.
“The (original) measure would have eliminated impactful community engagement and local approval of zoning changes,” Adkins said. “Peoria and other cities, coordinated through the League of Cities and Towns, worked with the sponsor to produce a major compromise that would have helped address affordable housing while preserving local control. Unfortunately, the compromise was not adopted.”
Liz Barker Alvarez, intergovernmental affairs administrator for the city of Avondale, said her municipality opposed SB 1117.
Chris Jacques, Peoria’s planning and zoning director, said beyond the budget, House Bill 2547 was signed into law and requires cities and towns to consider a housing impact statement prior to adopting any amendment to the zoning code.
“This statement will include several specified metrics evaluating the potential impacts to the average cost of constructing housing,” Jacques said.
Jacques said Senate Bill 1103 — technically, the first law-change bill Hobbs signed as governor when she did so in March — authorized municipalities to adopt an ordinance enabling various development plans and final plats to be approved administratively, based on objective standards.
“While many of Peoria’s processes are already administrative, this provision enables the time frame to be reduced for a final decision,” Jacques said.
Chandler’s strategic initiatives director, Ryan Peters, said city representatives had worked with Kaiser on some compromises in House Bill 2809 that would have given city staff more tools and options to help create affordable housing.
“That didn’t quite get across the finish line,” Peters said. “But we’re optimistic that, going forward, many of the reforms in that package could make their way into legislation this upcoming year.”
That would need to happen with a lawmaker other than Kaiser, who resigned from the legislature.
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