The Arizona state Senate passed a bipartisan housing bill Wednesday that some critics say will lead to the expansion of short-term rental use in the state.
Senators passed HB2720 17-11, which would require cities with a population of more than 75,000 to allow accessory dwelling units, or casitas, to be built on any lot where a single-family dwelling is allowed.
Bill supporters say the bill will help Arizona residents find affordable housing. Last year, the City of Phoenix approved an ordinance allowing people to build accessory dwelling units on their property.
“ADUs have wide support across political spectrums,” said Sen. Anna Hernandez, D-Phoenix. “They have support across all kinds of communities. I think that not moving forward and supporting a bill like this with these amendments, then we’re in a position that would actually be detrimental to the current housing crisis that is going on.”
Hernandez has been one of the key legislators who has worked on ADU legislation and is sponsoring mirror legislation to the bill that passed the Senate. The house bill is sponsored by Rep. Michael Carbone, R-Buckeye.
If the bill is signed by Gov. Katie Hobbs, people with accessory dwelling units on their property will be allowed to use them as short-term rentals, but a provision in the bill requires the property owner to reside at the lot’s primary residence.
Rep. Ken Bennett, R-Prescott, said he preferred a provision that would require 30-day leases for accessory dwelling units to curb short-term rentals.
“If we are really trying to make these ADUs address our housing crisis, then I believe in good faith then we would accept the recommendation that these ADUs be used for at least 30-day rentals,” Bennett said.
In a Tuesday news release, the League of Arizona Cities and Towns also gave support for the bill but city officials also don’t want the units to be used for vacation rentals and said the bill would no longer be about affordable housing if the provision remains.
According to the League, 37 cities within the state already allow accessory dwelling units to be built and 13 more are considering ordinances.
Scottsdale Mayor David Ortega also issued a statement Tuesday opposing the bill, referencing current problems city leaders say they have with the more than 4,000 short-term rental units in the city.
“(The bill is) a brazen attempt by the short-term rental industry to take over Scottsdale,” Ortega said in the statement. Adding an STR at every one of these properties yields 8,000 problems,” Ortega said.
Hernandez refuted the problems city leaders say they’ll have with short-term rentals and said most people with accessory dwelling units don’t use them for short-term rentals.
A 2021
study from the University of California found 8% of new accessory dwelling units in California are used as short-term rentals.
Hernandez also said she didn’t want to prevent families from using an accessory dwelling unit as a source of income if they choose to rent it out to short-term rentals.
“What has destroyed our neighborhoods is the fact that cities continue to uphold exclusionary zoning that have not allowed us for years to onboard diverse types of housing,” Hernandez said.
Sen. Janae Shamp, R-Surprise, said the bill would also be beneficial to workers in professions that may need to travel for a crisis such as nursing.
“When I accept a crisis contract and I need to be able to rent some place to live so I can go into a community to be able to help with the health care needs of that community for a short time, this bill would then allow that here in Arizona,” Shamp said.
Hobbs said she would support accessory dwelling unit legislation in a veto letter of the
“Arizona Starter Homes Act” earlier in the session.
The Senate also passed House Bill 2721 Wednesday, which would require cities of a population of more than 75,000 people to allow the development of duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes and townhomes, known as “middle housing.”
The League of Arizona Cities and Towns also expressed support for the middle housing bill.
“I applaud our Legislative partners and the Governor for working on this critical issue in a collaborative and bipartisan manner. We are making progress, but we can’t let up now,” Yuma Mayor and League President Douglas Nicholls said in a news release. “There are simple, commonsense changes, which can be made to existing legislation that would have a positive impact on Arizona's housing needs.”
Both the middle housing bill and the accessory dwelling unit bill will require House approval of amendments from the Senate before the measures can be transmitted to the governor’s desk. That will likely happen next week with both chambers convening once a week.
Copyright © 2024 BridgeTower Media. All Rights Reserved.
Most Popular
Comments / 0