The news story below my signature is about cities across Arizona imploring Governor Hobbs to veto a half-baked bill to force cities to allow the construction of two to three backyard casitas per single-family lot, in a fantastical belief that this will solve a housing shortage—a shortage mostly caused by Fannie Mae and the Federal Reserve.
Yes, zoning and building codes play a role, but not to the extent imagined by the bill’s sponsors.
Cities as different as Casa Grande and Scottsdale are in unison in their opposition to the bill.
Republicans say they believe in decentralized government when it comes to states’ rights but supported a bill that will take authority away from cities and centralize it at the state capital.
In addition to the legislative overreach, there are three problems with the bill: 1) It allows backyard casitas to be used as short-term rentals, or actually, as hotels via such outfits as Airbnb; 2) it doesn’t require additional off-street parking, which will result in people parking on front yards or overnight on streets, which will conflict with cities that don’t allow overnight street parking so that streets can be swept at night; and 3) it does away with building codes requiring fire sprinklers in new construction.
Cities will be affected differently depending on their mix of housing.
Take Scottsdale. This is the best-run, best-governed, most-visionary, and cleanest city of all the cities I’ve lived. It has a wide mix of housing, ranging from apartments, to high-rise condos, to townhouses, to patio homes, to new tract homes with tiny yards, to older neighborhoods of larger yards. It also has a range of zoning, including a night-club district; the Old Town of restaurants, retail and art galleries; the pretty Waterfront with its mix of high-rises, retail and entertainment; the large Fashion Square indoor mall which is across Camelback Rd. from the Waterfront; quiet neighborhoods of single-family homes and beautifully maintained parks; and the older planned community of McCormick Ranch, which was featured circa 1970 by Time Magazine (or maybe it was Newsweek) for being interspersed with green space connected by walking/cycling paths.
By contrast, around the same time, Life Magazine featured Speedway Blvd. in Tucson as the ugliest street in America. I mention this because it suggests that Tucson might feel differently than Scottsdale about backyard casitas.
When my wife and became empty nesters, we moved from a larger house to a small townhouse in center Scottsdale without a backyard. A block away was a bus stop with frequent bus service, as well as an attractive shopping center of restaurants, retail and a Sprouts grocery store that is a showcase for the company.
Our former stand-alone house was in a family neighborhood. Within a short walk was a pretty park consisting of ball fields, outdoor basketball courts and volleyball courts, a tennis center, racquetball courts, picnic areas, a senior center, a desert garden, and a large lake where I used to take my kayak.
Not surprisingly, Scottsdale officials are chagrined over the one-size-fits-all bill. To quote from the news story:
Scottsdale’s letter to Hobbs, signed by the mayor, vice-mayor and every council member, lists short-term rentals as a major problem in the prime tourist destination. They pointed to a 2016 law that bans cities from regulating Airbnbs and other short-term rentals and said there are now 4,000 of those rentals in their city.
“What were once serene neighborhoods have become party house enclaves,’’ Scottsdale’s letter says.
“Long-term residents of our beautiful city are now plagued by noise, trash, and unseemly behavior on a regular basis,’’ it continues. “This bill will add to this catastrophic scene.”
Scottsdale also points to parking and fire sprinklers, which they require on other developments.
The story below doesn’t mention this, but the building of backyard casitas is very expensive if done with quality and in accord with building codes. They typically require additional sewer, water and electrical capacity; they affect the drainage of rain water; they can create fire hazards; and they are difficult to access with construction equipment. Rosie Romero of “Rosie on the House” fame said that the building cost for backyard casitas is astronomical on a per-square-foot basis.
Last-minute bid seeks to raze Arizona’s “casita” bill
Bob Christie | Capitol Media Services, May 19, 2024
PHOENIX — Cities and neighborhood groups are making a last-ditch effort to derail a bill passed by the Legislature that pre-empts city authority to regulate construction of backyard casitas by urging Gov. Katie Hobbs to veto the bipartisan measure.
City officials from Scottsdale to Casa Grande have sent the Democratic governor letters pleading with her to reject the measure that will allow at least two “accessory dwelling units’’ on each single-family lot, with three allowed on larger properties.
They say the bill touted as one solution to the state’s affordable housing crisis will instead cause major disruptions, mainly because it does not allow them to block the use of the units as short-term rentals. Building casitas and renting them as Airbnb’s won’t provide long-term housing, they argue.
The bill sent to Hobbs last week applies to 15 Arizona cities, including Tucson, those with populations of 75,000 or more.
All but two already have adopted rules allowing backyard housing additions and the other two are working on their rules, according to the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, which lobbied heavily against the final bill. They include Tucson and Phoenix.
League president Douglas Nicholls, mayor of Yuma, wrote a letter to Hobbs urging a veto and listing a trove of complaints…