ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Fifty-sixth Legislature

Second Regular Session

 

HB 2518: municipalities; housing needs assessment; zoning

Sponsor: Representative Gress, LD 4

Committee on Commerce

Overview

Establishes requirements relating to zoning ordinances and an assessment and annual report regarding housing.

History

Statute authorizes municipalities to adopt zoning ordinances and codes to conserve and promote the public health, safety and general welfare and outlines zoning guidelines and requirements. Municipalities must adopt, by ordinance, a citizen review process that applies to all rezoning and specific plan applications that require a public hearing. If a municipality has a planning commission or a hearing officer, the commission or officer must hold a public hearing on any zoning ordinance. At least 15 days before the hearing, a notice of the hearing must be published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality or posted on the affected property in a manner as to be legible from the public right-of-way and printed so that the word "zoning" is visible from a distance of 100 feet.

Municipalities, by ordinance, must establish a zoning administrator office which is responsible for zoning ordinance enforcement. Appeals on decisions of the zoning administrator are heard and decided on by a municipal board of adjustment. Notices of hearings of the adjustment board must be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality and posted in conspicuous places close to the affected property (Title 9, Ch.4, Art. 6.1, A.R.S.).

Municipalities are statutory required to have in place an overall time frame for issuing licenses during which the municipality will either grant or deny each type of license that it issues.  The overall time frame for each license type must separately state the administrative completeness review and the substantive review time frame. The municipality must issue a notice of administrative completeness or deficiencies to a license applicant within the administrative completeness review time frame. If the municipality does not issue a notice of administrative completeness or deficiencies within the time frame, the application for the license is deemed administratively complete.  If the municipality issues a timely notice of deficiencies, an application is not complete until all required information has been received by the municipality (A.R.S. § 9-835).

Provisions

Zoning Ordinance Amendment

1.   ☐ Prop 105 (45 votes) ☐ Prop 108 (40 votes) ☐ Emergency (40 votes) ☐ Fiscal NoteInstructs a municipality, by January 1, 2025, to adopt an amendment to the zoning ordinance that requires the determination of whether a zoning application is administratively complete within 30 after receiving the application. (Sec. 3)

2.   Stipulates the municipality that determines the application is not administratively complete must follow the statutory procedures relating to administrative completeness for licensure until the application is administratively complete. (Sec. 3)

3.   Instructs a municipality to determine whether a resubmitted application is administratively complete within 15 days after receiving the resubmitted application. (Sec. 3)

4.   Requires the municipality to approve or deny the application within 180 days after determining that the application is administratively complete. (Sec. 3)

5.   Provides reasons for which a municipality may extend the time frame to approve or deny the request beyond 180 days. (Sec. 3)

6.   Specifies the requirements for a zoning ordinance amendment do not apply to:

a)   land that is designated as a district of historical significance:

b)   an area that is designated as historic on the national register of historic places; or

c) planned area developments. (Sec. 3)

Housing Needs Assessment; Annual Report

7.   Instructs a municipality, beginning January 1, 2025, and every five years thereafter, to publish a housing needs assessment. (Sec. 4)

8.   Outlines information that the housing needs assessment must include. (Sec. 4)

9.   Instructs a municipality, beginning January 1, 2025, to submit an annual report to the Arizona Department of Housing which accounts for the total number of:

a)   proposed residential housing units submitted to the municipality;

b)   net new residential housing units submitted to the municipality; and

c) new residential housing units that are entitled, platted, permitted and have received a certificate of occupancy. (Sec. 4)

10.  Outlines information that must be included in the annual report. (Sec. 4)

11.  Requires a municipality that has previously conducted a housing needs assessment report to amend the report to include the required information as outlined. (Sec. 4)

12.  Exempts a municipality from the requirement to fulfill certain required projections in the housing needs assessment. (Sec. 4)

13.  Exempts a municipality from the housing needs assessment and annual reporting requirements that is located on tribal land or has a population of less than 30,000 persons. (Sec. 4)

Miscellaneous

14.  Removes the requirement for a public hearing notice to be published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality. (Sec. 1)

15.  Removes the requirement for a municipality's board of adjustment to give notice of the hearing by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipality. (Sec. 2)

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19.                    HB 2518

20.  Initials PB           Page 0 Commerce

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