This story is from our partner Little Rock Public Radio.
A bill changing zoning and design guidelines for housing in Arkansas has advanced in the state legislature.
Senate Bill 456, referred to as the Home Opportunities Made Easier Act, was introduced before the Senate City, County and Local Affairs committee Tuesday morning.
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jim Petty, R-Van Buren, said the bill was not sponsored by lobbyists, and isn't an attempt to grow big government, remove local control, abolish single-family zoning, or give carte blanche control to developers.
Petty said he did not believe the bill was "insanity" as he was apparently told by one person. He said the bill was created to address the housing crisis in Arkansas by creating more units at lower costs on a shorter timeline.
The bill would prohibit a local government from establishing design requirements for homes, including architectural styles, building materials or landscaping. It also stipulates that zoning ordinances that allow single-family homes must also allow duplexes, and should allow developers to convert single-family homes to multi-family.
Petty said these guidelines were based on “hundreds, if not thousands, of studies.”
"These items are what these studies, over and over and over again, show up as the most common factors and barriers contributing to this housing crisis," he said.
Committee discussion was largely absent, though eight members of the public spoke against the bill. Paul Dodds, owner of Urban Frontier LLC, said the bill would strip protections he valued as a resident and a real estate developer.
"We need locally-focused rules fostering denser development, affordability, and a good housing mix. We need a legal structure to be able to live together in harmony. We need our cities enabled to do this, not to be crippled.”
Rachel Patton, executive director of Preserve Arkansas, said the nonprofit has serious concerns about SB456.
"As currently presented, local governments will not be allowed to create the less restrictive design overlay districts in historic neighborhoods and commercial areas that wish to encourage the preservation of their own neighborhood, their own streetscape," Patton said. "Local ordinance, historic districts, and design overlay districts preserve the character-defining features of our state's historic neighborhoods and commercial areas."
None of the public comments were in favor of the bill.
Petty closed for his bill indicating that amendments would be added later to address citizen concerns, though no specifics were discussed. SB456 advanced through committee on a voice vote, and now heads to the full Senate for a vote.
