[enelson]

I don’t want to pass up the opportunity to post some notes into this discussion although we’re in mid-March. Deadlines kept me away, so these topics are not fully formed but presented as ideas that I see as having great potential to help in Utah’s housing situation.

First, developers need to be supported in bringing new building to market. Specifically, in the constantly shifting legal environment. Developments are being successfully stopped, even by illegal actions of the groups who fight changes to their communities. Since developers put so much on the line, a few years locked in legal battles easily kills projects; even good projects that would provide great benefits and needed housing. Quoting a developer I’ve worked with: “The legal framework for developers needs continual improvement. Some quality improvements have been made but there are ways to help developers move things along on appropriate timelines.”

Second, custom house plans cost about $10K and take about a year to develop. Every house that has been built recently has gone through the process of meeting the current requirements of a complete plan set. There is a possibility that those on the building side would agree to make the approved plans available to a state library of plans for a savings on their initial building project. Houses are often personally tailored and are naturally site specific, and yet subdivision builders often use no more than 2 or 3 plans. To speed building and save costs, a pre-approved state library of plans might help. A library that encourages using the majority of an existing plan but allows for edits to accommodate specific families, climates and sites would be much more useful. Home design companies and architectural offices may donate the full set for the opportunity to make the small final adjustments. People who want fully custom houses will still go to architects or home designers for a full design, but it could speed along those who might not otherwise consider building.

On the same topic of building homes: I am an architect as well as a planner and I see how unaffordable it is to build new housing due to the adopted building codes. People make the assumption that all new code changes are for the better, or that all codes are equally life saving. Yet, housing built based on tradesmen learning what worked over generations is more long-lasting and successful than many recent houses built without that knowledge and experience. There is no good reason for detached houses to be so expensive to build as they are today. There have been great advancements in insulation, and in the construction of windows and doors. If we built in traditional methods developed specifically for our climate, with these new technologies added, building would be cheaper and work better for our area than through the currently adopted requirements meant to apply universally. It stands to reason that codes designed for international application are probably over-engineered in ways that provide no benefit.

Last: ADUs and flexible housing would have an out-sized effect on helping Utah’s families help themselves. Although updates to state law have increasingly made ADUs easier to build — what would it take for a majority of detached houses to have ADUs? Currently, an ADU is treated like a unit added after-the-fact, where infrastructure is insufficient to allow for the addition. The state and local governments should push for these units to be included in new development, incorporated into the initial build of houses seamlessly. American households are currently structured to need this type of living and working arrangement, but the housing stock we have is not meeting the needs of our contemporary living: working and studying at home, the need for more elder support, the need for more family support in general, the need for more privacy in multi-adult households that a post-war or typical single family house doesn’t provide. ADUs can help new home buyers afford the home because families are pooling resources toward one mortgage. Twice the number of units would be available with each new detached house that included one ADU. Fewer families would need to move to adjust to changes in their life as they aged and communities would be more stable.

Emily N. Nelson, AICP, NCARB

• This reply was modified 1 week, 6 days ago by enelson.

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