Salt Lake City's push to open up existing neighborhoods to small backyard homes, duplexes and townhomes just got smaller. In a straw poll Tuesday, the City Council signaled that property owners who use the new housing incentives would have to live on the property, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.
That owner-occupancy requirement and a handful of other tweaks are expected to be written into the proposal before public hearings now set for Nov. 10 and Nov. 17. The city's planning commission has already recommended approval, and the Tribune reports a council vote could come as soon as December.
For builders, remodelers and small developers who do infill work in the capital city, the change matters. It shapes who can hire you to build one of these units, and how many of them are likely to get built.
What the plan would allow
The Tribune reports the zoning options could affect up to three-quarters of the residential lots in the city. The proposal would permit backyard dwellings as small as 1,200 square feet on land footprints as small as 2,000 square feet, and it would create a new category of smaller dwellings in city code.
The package would also modestly raise allowed building heights, reduce some required setbacks and change how much of a lot a home can cover. Each new dwelling would need one off-street parking space.
City planners call the idea "gentle infill." Supporters see it as a way to make room for workers earning average wages and for new families in a market where, according to the Tribune, up to 85% of renters can't afford to buy. Opponents have called it a risky venture that could change or even destroy the character of established neighborhoods.
Why the council wants owners on site
Council member Erika Carlsen, who represents District 5 around the Ballpark area, argued that an owner-occupancy rule fits the city's goals of encouraging both homeownership and affordability. "I just want to encourage us to think about that incremental approach," she said, according to the Tribune. "That can allow for us to tweak some things and then see how the market responds."
Council member Chris Wharton, who represents District 3, raised a concern that the new rules could draw corporate and institutional buyers into the market and possibly lead to more demolitions of existing homes.
Other members warned the requirement would almost certainly cut the number of homeowners who use the incentives. City planners had estimated that about 130 property owners might add these smaller homes over the next four years. Council chair Alejandro Puy said the owner-occupancy rule would likely shrink that to a couple of dozen units or fewer between now and 2030.
"We're talking about potentially very few units across the whole city that could potentially be triggered by this," Puy said. "But again, this is about doing it right."
The council also asked for a review of the proposed setbacks for the smaller dwellings, mainly to make sure they better match the homes around them. Members rejected a suggestion to raise the allowed land footprint from 2,000 square feet to 3,000 square feet.
Where the eligible lots are
City planners estimate that about 13,100 residential properties would actually qualify for new dwellings once backyard size, layout, driveways and parking space are factored in, the Tribune reports.
Nearly a third of those properties are in the city's northwest and west-side neighborhoods, and about a quarter are in Sugar House. The east bench has about 17%, the wider Central City area about 13%, the Avenues about 5% and Capitol Hill about 3%.
What comes next
The revised proposal goes to public hearings on Nov. 10 and Nov. 17. If the council follows its straw poll, the version that reaches a final vote will include the owner-occupancy requirement and revised setback language. Builders and designers who want to weigh in on lot coverage, height and setback numbers have two chances to do it before the council votes.
Why it matters for contractors
Small infill units are bread-and-butter work for local general contractors, framers, foundation crews and design-build firms. But an owner-occupancy rule changes the customer. Instead of investors building several units at a time, most jobs would come from individual homeowners building one unit behind the house they live in. That usually means smaller budgets, more hand-holding on permits and financing, and tighter access on established lots.
City leaders' own estimate of a couple of dozen units by 2030 suggests this won't be a big volume market at first. Still, the details being settled now on setbacks, heights, lot coverage and parking will set the rules for every backyard home built in Salt Lake City for years. Contractors who build ADUs or small homes, and who know what's buildable on tight city lots, should keep an eye on the November hearings.