In Salt Lake City, where affordable housing is in short supply and available land is just as scarce, conventional incentive programs for new-build efforts don’t apply. So, city planners devised an innovative approach to address the shortage by encouraging infill development, proposing Affordable Housing Incentives (AHI) as a new zoning amendment. The Salt Lake Board of REALTORS®, which had worked alongside the city to craft the incentives, used an Issues Mobilization Grant from the REALTOR® Party to drive voter support for the landmark zoning changes.
“Demographically, Utah is the youngest state in the nation, with a steady influx of residents and a steady increase in housing prices,” states Matt Clewett, Vice President of Public Policy and Advocacy of the Salt Lake Board of REALTORS®. Citing a study by the Kem C. Garner Institute at the University of Utah, he notes that Salt Lake County alone will need to construct more than 49,000 new housing units by 2030 to meet expected demand. Salt Lake City’s new incentives include the city-wide ability to add extra stories to existing houses, as well as townhouses, three- to four-unit buildings, sideways rowhouses, and cottage developments to any lot zoned single-family, so long as setback and certain affordable housing requirements are met.
Salt Lake City’s new incentives include the ability to add extra stories to existing houses, as well as townhouses, three- to four-unit buildings, sideways rowhouses, and cottage developments, based on the current residential zone of a particular property and mandating certain affordable housing requirements. “Fortunately,” adds Clewett, “Utah already has a pretty significant culture of accessory dwelling units and in-law suites, so responding to the housing deficit with incentives for homeowners to add additional units to their existing lots is not a radical idea.”
What is novel, is the incentivized, free-market approach – “It’s a model ordinance based on a creative solution that fundamentally changes the idea of housing in Salt Lake City proper,” says Cate Klundt, Government Affairs Director of Utah REALTORS®, which supported the local board’s campaign to establish the AHI ordinance. “Once the city had identified neighborhood in-fill as the best strategy for a jurisdiction that was already built to its outer limits, it sought ways to remove barriers and found an incentive-based solution. Applying this to the whole city, by zone type, ensures a fair distribution and responsibility for increased housing.”
To convince the City Council that they had residents’ support for the concept, Salt Lake REALTORS® made use of a highly targeted digital strategy. Working with the REALTOR® Party’s polling partner, explains Klundt, “We can find the exact people who will be the best audience for our message and the best messengers to their elected officials. We found so much support by identifying those in key demographics in key parts of the city, who we knew support affordable housing.” These positive calls of reassurance from constituents who believe that the AHI ordinance is good policy tipped the scales: the ordinance passed by a 6-1 vote in early December and will go into effect in May of this year.
“It was a fun campaign, marking great progress for Salt Lake City, and we are really grateful to UAR and NAR for their support!” says Clewett. Amplifying the success of the new legislation, Klundt is already working on replicating the Affordable Housing Incentives in other Utah municipalities. It’s a concept that could be applied in communities nationwide where affordable housing development needs a leg-up, she says.
To learn more about how the Salt Lake Board of REALTORS® is supporting innovative zoning policies to increase affordable housing, contact Matthew Clewett, Vice President of Public Policy and Advocacy, at matt@slrealtors.com or 775-843-1127; or Cate Klundt, Utah REALTORS®’ Government Affairs Director, at cate@utahrealtors.com or 702.767.3994.
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