Arizona lawmakers want to put 'shot clocks' on local zoning decisions
State representatives approved a bill designed to help address the housing crisis by streamlining the zoning process in Arizona cities.
Senate Bill 1162, which passed the House with unanimous bipartisan support, would require cities and towns to determine whether zoning applications are filled out correctly within 30 days. Municipalities would then have 180 days to approve or deny those applications.
Rep. Matt Gress (R-Phoenix) said the bill would allow local governments to retain control over zoning decisions. But he said it would help increase the state’s housing supply by giving developers certainty over the time it takes to process those requests.
“We don’t want our bureaucracy to be a barrier to building houses in Arizona,” Gress said. “This puts in place a shot clock for developers and for builders to know that when they submit their applications, they can plan on government responding within a reasonable amount of time while still respecting local neighborhoods and their ability to have their voice.”
Housing bills have received a mixed response at the Arizona Capitol in recent years.
An ambitious housing omnibus package backed by former Sen. Steve Kaiser failed to garner enough support to pass last year after facing opposition from the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, which represents municipalities across the state. The new SB 1162 is similar to some provisions that were included in Kaiser’s proposal.
Other attempts to pass bills to boost Arizona’s housing supply have also fallen flat this year. Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed the Arizona Starter Homes Act, which narrowly passed out of the legislature with some bipartisan support.
SB 1162 still needs to be approved by the Arizona Senate, even though the Senate approved a different version of the bill last month. But that version of the bill had nothing to do with housing and actually dealt with an obscure fund administered by the Arizona Department of Administration.
Lawmakers in the House used a “strike-everything amendment” to replace the language originally approved by the Senate with the housing bill. Strikers, as they are commonly known, are a tool lawmakers use to introduce new bills or revive dead legislation late in a session.
Gress said he is confident Hobbs will sign SB 1162 if it makes it to her desk, citing the governor’s letter explaining her veto of the Arizona Starter Homes Act.
“She mentioned this bill by name in terms of administrative efficiencies, so local control with no control is a recipe for disaster and this bill balances both,” Gress said.
A spokesman for the governor declined to comment on the pending legislation. But, in her veto letter, Hobbs highlighted several housing bills she would support.
“I am supportive of ongoing efforts in the Legislature to reach a more balanced solution on other reforms that are still moving through the process including proposals related to accessory dwelling units (ADUs, also known as casitas), missing middle housing options, commercial repurpose and reuse, and streamlining local approval processes,” Hobbs wrote.
And a lobbyist for the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, the powerful interest group that opposed both Kaiser’s package and the Starter Homes Act, said the League supports SB 1162.
Nick Ponder, legislative director for the League, said they also support House Bill 2297, a bill that would allow multifamily residential units to be built on up to 10% of existing commercial, office or mixed use building sites without the need for a rezoning hearing in certain cities.
He said the League could also support a bill to require certain cities to allow homeowners to build ADUs — the casitas referenced in Hobbs’ veto letter — if lawmakers attach an amendment allowing cities to stop homeowners from using those casitas as short-term rentals.
Ponder said without the amendment, the bill would not increase the supply of housing stock and would instead “incentivize” more investor ownership of homes that will be used as vacation rentals.
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