A Utah House committee approved a bill this week that would begin to add incentives to cities in the hopes that they would stop blocking the construction of higher density housing and affordable, for-sale units. 

House Bill 37 was unanimously approved during a House Political Subdivisions committee hearing Thursday morning. The bill, sponsored by Rep. James Dunnigan, R-Taylorsville, incentivized cities or counties to allow higher density developments to be built in a round about way. 

The bill adds incentives, like density bonuses and affordable homeownership, to the state’s moderate income housing requirements. Now, cities have had some of these tools in the past, but by adding it to the moderate income housing requirements, the state is looking to create  new financial incentives. 

Cameron Diehl, executive director of the Utah League of Cities and Towns, said cities are required to have a certain number of moderate income housing strategies in place. If a city does not have its required strategies in place and is deemed non-compliant by the Utah Department of Workforce Services, cities could stand to lose state transportation funds, Diehl explained. 

The bill offers cities a new tool to incentivize these types of developments, and Diehl said the hope is to create more affordable home ownership. 

“So right now, yes, a city, through a development agreement, can work with a builder and say, ‘well, let’s work something out here where you exchange density for affordable homeownership,’” Diehl said after the Thursday committee hearing. “But it didn’t really fit neatly into the moderate income housing plans, which is ironic.”

He said that by tying density bonuses to affordable, for-sale units, it creates more of an incentive for cities to create this type of housing. The bill defines density bonuses for both single-family and multi-family housing, Diehl added.

However, there are a number of options cities can choose that would satisfy the moderate income housing requirements, so this incentive is still optional for cities. But, according to Dunnigan, that’s one of the goals of this bill. 

“One of the things that we’re trying to do is give flexibility, but also incent (cities) to get more density with owner occupancy,” Dunnigan told the committee while presenting his bill Thursday.

The bill is an example of the legislature’s desire for more soft-handed approaches to addressing Utah’s ongoing and growing housing attainability woes. 

Last week, the same committee set aside two bills, HB 88 and HB 90, that also aimed to address the state’s housing shortage. HB 88 would have allowed detached accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in residential zones of urban cities, while HB 90 would’ve allowed single family homes to be built on lots as small as 6,000 square feet. 

With its approval, HB 37 heads to the Utah House floor with three weeks remaining in the 45-day legislative session. Sen. Lincoln Filmore, R-South Jordan, will be the Senate sponsor.