City, County & Local Affairs Committee - Senate and House
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- October 2, 2026
Chair
Unverified
6:31
all right members if y'all start finding your way to
your seats we're a few minutes late already I thought I'd give some people time to filter in here but if y'all make your way to seats we'll get this meeting underway or y'all just stand there and keep talking that's fine too I I don't mind we'll we'll stay here all day if we don't want to
right Cher sees corn we'll call this meeting to order I'd like to start off by thanking everybody for for being here and showing up I know it's not easy for a three o'clock meeting on a Thursday when some of y'all probably have kids playing football and games going on in your town some other stuff y'all wanna watch but I I really appreciate y'all being here I think it's it's a very important meeting I think it's gonna be very informative and I'm looking forward to it. we'll start off with
need a motion to approve me of last meeting have motion in a second all in favor sayy aye all opposed right that's passed so moving on first order of business itemam C on the agenda proposed housing policy initiatives Duke Mclarty with groundworks it's my understanding that Duke has been working with the municipal league on a lot of
these policy issues trying to figure out things that'll work and work together and I'll let him talk about more about their process and and what they've done but if you'll state your name who you're with for the record
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
8:26
you may begin I'm Duke Mclarty I'm the executive director ofroundwork housing for Arkansas Mr Chairman, I really really appreciate the opportunity to
share our work with the committee and here we go we're off and running Chairman Gonzalez, Chairman Bryan, I really again appreciate the opportunity to to share groundworks thoughts and learnings with the committee as a groundwork was founded four
years ago as the housing work stream of the northwest Arkansas Council originally focused economic development, business membership organization located in northwest Arkansas this year we expanded our work statewide and the single most important thing we've done this year was get out of northwest Arkansas and spend time listening to the communities across the state we led with listening from April through June we held
9 listening sessions nearly500 people participated and those folks represented more than 80 municipalities across the state. can't get
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
10:29
I can just roll it, I'll just scroll it OK that should work we went to places that are growing quickly we went to places where growth is stagnant and we went to places that are trying to reverse decades of population loss despite those differences we kept hearing the same basic message across the state it's simply too hard to build housing in Arkansas the specific problem may look different from community to community.
In one place it may be the cost of land somewhere else it may be lack of builders or contractors. In another it may be zoning or building code requirements in others it's hundreds or thousands of vacant properties that the city cannot easily put back into productive use. but the common thread was that these communities need more housing and there are often unnecessary barriers standing in the way. The
four barriers that we heard again and again across the state were blighted in vacant properties, outdated rules and codes tooo few builders and too little capital and a mismatch between the kinds of housing people need and the kinds of housing our current system encourages us to build we what we've tried to do with our legislative proposals that follow is to connect potential
state policy directly to one of these four identified barriers to housing production. these tentative proposals for the 2020 excuse me 27 session they're not final in form we have draft legislation that we can share with anyone wanting to work on these issues and we look forward to all of your input and thoughts on these but each one of these proposals is rooted in conversations that we had around the state
the wrong way sorry the first area that that we we're proposing some thought is with regard to modular housing one of the strongest messages we heard, particularly in smaller and rural communities is that there's no labor to build any new housing in some communities people told us that they may wait months or even years to find a contractor for a small project. this creates a structural problem
that conventional site built construction alone cannot solve Modular construction gives us another way to produce housing modular is a construction method not a building type Modular can be built to serve as single family homes duplexes and other missing middle housing types or even larger multifamily apartment buildings the important thing is that significant portions of the building are constructed in a controlled factory environment and then fixed to a permanent
foundation our proposal would create a cleaner statewide framework so a modular building constructed to the state code does not have to navigate a different building standard in every city around the state. Currently modular buildings are subject to both local building codes and the state building code our proposal would remove that local building code exposure so they're built just to one code the state building code the goal is not to replace
traditional builders. it is to expand the number of tools available, particularly in places where labor shortages are already constraining production approximately40 other states have taken taken steps and established their own modular program and it's designed to create a more predictable statewide path for this type of construction. the second proposal is a starter homeme small lot idea
and this may be one of the simplest examples of how regulation can directly affect housing costs in many communities zoning requires a house to sit on a relatively large lot that means that every new home must carry the cost of more land more street frontage, more infrastructure and even more yard than many buyers actually want Our proposal would look at capping the government imposed local minimum lot size
requirements at roughly3,500 square feet anywhere a single family home is already allowed or proposed that does not mean that every home would have to be built on the3,500 square foot lot a developer, a homeowner, a property owner could absolutely build on a larger lot The point is simply to limit the size of the lot that the government can require of that landowner the illustration on the slide shows the basic math on roughly the same quarter acre of land
where traditional larges lot standard might allow one home smaller lots can allow up to3. Arkansas's not alone at looking at this Texas in2025 passed something similar with the focus on new subdivisions Idaho did something similar this year and Kansas has had has also addressed a smallot issue
The third hou housing proposal is commonly referred to as yes in God's backyard where Yiggby this is kind of the counter to the yes in my backyard movement or or the complement to the yes in my backyard movement across Arkansasures not for profits and other community organizations own land that's often underused a generation ago churches acquired land for future expansion that unfortunately is not going to come
in some cases these churches would like to use that property to expand their mission to include housing but government regulations stand in the way of that desired use These churches are often intimidated by the development and approval process and therefore choose to operate as they have while hundreds if not thousands of acres sit idle and unused This proposal would create a buy right pathway for churches and qualifying not for profits to build housing on land they
already own and allow those churches to avoid a complicated and often subjective path forward because the land of these on these churches is already paid for there's no land bases in the development allowing churches to expand their mission to include housing is that much easier and could be more affordable again some neighboring states that have have looked at this include Virginia Florida Kentucky Maryland and Minnesota
Our fourth proposal we've we're calling homemes near jobs one thing we've saw repeatedly on our listening tour was underused commercial land there are corridors all over Arkansas with empty buildings oversized parking lots and vacant commercial parcels Think about your community back home think about those corridors that are often traveled and then think about why there's not housing on that corridor
my guess is that housing's not allowed on the piece of property that you're currently thinking about. Government restrictions on residential uses have kept that property owner from even considering housing on that property this concept is fairly simple just allow multifamily as an approved use in commercially zoned lands these developments will still have to go through a local approval process but the landowner will now have more options when they imagine what
is next for that property allowing for housing and commercial corridors brings housing closer to jobs and services and it can also bring new customers closer to existing businesses. in larger communities allowing more housing along commercial corridors can also make public transit investments more effective and efficient. Our fifth proposal is state land Ba authorization
vacant and abandoned properties were among the most consistent concerns we heard and saw on our listening tour pine bluff for an example is dealing with more than 14,000 vacant lots that the city is responsible for mowing multiple times a year Other cities talked about the cost and time involved in demolition tax delinquent property and parcels that may sit vacant for decades this proposal would establish clear statutory authority for
land banks and allow cities counties and potentially regions to create them through interlocal agreements. the idea is to give communities a permanent mechanism for acquiring holding, clearing titleI, and eventually returning problem properties back to productive use just to be clear we're not proposing any use of eminent domain we're not proposing that legal due process be reduced in any way we're just proposing that the state affirmatively allows
cities the ability to create a land bank and give them guidance guardrails and structure on how to establish one ererigold has already established a land bank that's a model for our state and earlier today we awarded Mayor Ag our housing visionary award He speaks passionately about the increase in school funding and tax revenue his town has seen because of the work of his land bank in bringing over50
nonperforming properties back into productive use. Our last policy proposal is an idea around preapproved development plans this is aims especially at smaller communities that may not have a deep pool of developers of architects or builders. similar to the modular thoughts preapproved plans would ease the development path for smaller builders and contractors enabling them to do more
The concept would be for a state entity to maintain a catalog of preapproved housing designs a builder or property owner could select one of those plans knowing that much of the design and code review has already been completed and been approved that preapproval reduces uncertainty limits time and upfront costs. preapproved plans can be particularly useful for vacant infill lots where a community may have may have had plenty of
land available but just not enough development capacity to design new project for every home that's needed for smaller towns it creates something closer to an off the shelf development option while still allowing communities to maintain attractive and appropriate building design. So I left these next few slides in here because the groundwork team has put a lot of brain damage into our building code this year
we have not done that alone. we've done it in partnership with the the Arkansas codeviewittee which was in the it was on a regular threey year code review cycle and I want to give that code review committee a lot of credit because they they welcomed us they heard our concerns and through that review process they have expanded what is being allowed to be built in the state
and one of those is single stair apartment buildings this is where a single stairway is built in the middle of a building and the apartments are around the outside that was passed on Tuesday as a recommendation for legislative adoption in this coming session and what is allowed is four stories statewide current law is is three stories so it adds one story statewide and
where certain criteria are met buildings can go up to6 stories Similarly I won't get into the like real geeky stuff but but one of the policy ideas that we were working with the code review committee on was rightsizing sprinkler requirements specifically around apartment buildings small apartment buildings that are the same size as a single family home
stack duplexes like the example on the upper left of your screen are now included in in what the building code review committee put forth and additionally it's recommended that all small apartment buildings only be required to have a a less robust sprinkler system than what is currently required these efforts will bring down development costs ensure that
safety remains and make more housing financially viable to be built. I'd like to just take a second again and thank the Arkansas codeview Committee for their inclusion of groundwork in their review process I'd s specifically like to thank state fire marshal John Hogue and Diane Hughes from the state fire marshal's office uhmi Archdeain from the Arkansas code Officials association Chief Jeremy Ashley of the Arkansas firere Marshals association
and the Arkansas association of firere Chiefs. In summary, these are the six areas of focus that that we have spent time on that we have some model legislation on that we welcome the opportunity to discuss with with any of you we welcome your feedback we welcome your amendments we welcome your partnership through this legislative process
these are four other possible areas that that we've identified that we have not dedicated as much thought and effort to we do not have legislation drafted on these the first one is to allow a density bonus for federal tax credit developments this would maximize the investment that's being made on these on these developments the second one
is is a a a planning thought that would require larger and faster growing cities to have a comprehensive land use plan that's tied to realistic growth projections and once that plan is adopted there would be no need for every project to go before a city council for approval because the the debate has happened on the the master plan
this is a way to again pre create a more predictable path for development in cities the third one is is the existing uses be allowed to be reconstructed byright in some instances our older and legacy buildings were built for one use and then the zoning code changed during the life of that building and often the owner
or or owner of that property would like to to replace it and use it in a similar manner and sometimes they're prevented to do that because the zoning code has has shift shifted under their feet and then finally clarity on what is actually required to go to public review and what is actually required is is different than many projects particularly items that go to planning commission review
latt and site plan reviews are often going to planning commissions and we don't think that's necessarily required and again this brings an opportunity to inject a subjective standard into that review process and opens the opportunity for projects to to not not get approved and and get shut down so with that consider groundwork or resource consider us
research organization collaborative a collaborator and I welcome any questions. right it looks like we have some questions popping
Chair
Unverified
28:30
up Representative Ennett you are first on the list thank you
Representative Denise Jones Ennett
Unverified
28:37
Mr chairir. I have a question for you. great presentation in this proposal did you all consider using the Arkansas housing
Trustund or how that can be worked in this proposal
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
28:54
we we did not spend a lot of time examining it just due to its lack of funding
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
29:01
you know if it's an area that that you'd be interested in in exploring you know how other states are using similar finance mechanisms. I'm more than happy to to do some research and and connect
Representative Denise Jones Ennett
Unverified
29:21
could never find a source to fund it so I would definitely like to talk to you about that.
Representative Matt Brown
Unverified
29:32
thank you Representative Brown you're recognized thank
you Mr Chair. appreciated your presentation Mr. Mclarty could you please explain what a
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
29:41
land bank is. Yeah I'm happy to a land bank is it takes different shapes in different communities and and different
states but generally it would be a
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
29:57
mechanism that that either a city a county or a collection of cities or counties could establish and would they have to would they be buying
Representative Matt Brown
Unverified
30:11
would they be buying up property from the current owner that is
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
30:17
that is one way that say I mentioned Perigul's land Bank in my presentation umerigould
acquires their land through purchase so the mayor himself is tracking down landowners and making an offer on their land most instances you know these are owners who are out of state they're they're children you know who have moved away sometimes they don't even know they own the property they will they will meet meet I'm sorry settle on a purchase price and the city actually
takes ownership of that property the city then through the land bank put certain conditions that they would like to see on the property as it's redeveloped so the city will put these up for public auction and builders or developers will bid on them understanding the conditions that are on the property and those conditions can range from you know how much time the the builder has
to to start building a home what the land bank insures doesn't happen is that it's another absent owner that gets a hold of the property with no intent of doing anything with it because the land bank can attach those conditions to it you know we we're open to you know how that property is is acquired and put into the land bank you know I
think tax delinquent properties could be something you know worthy of exploration we heard stories on our listening tour of city spending you know tens of thousands of dollars in maintenance and mowing and then eventually tearing down a structure and then they have no way to to recoup those costs. It often you know they put lian on it but it it gets sold at public auction through the the land commissioner's office oftentimes those liens
are extinguished and and the city is you know out in the purchaser often has no intent of building anything on that property so it would it would create a way for the the city to try to
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
32:44
ensure that that a new structure is is built. follow up
Representative Matt Brown
Unverified
32:50
did you all discuss anything
that cities might be able to do with regard to abandoned properties and absentee landlords that aren't keeping up their property we we have
Speaker 53
33:09
not discussed that it sounds sounds like you're you're thinking
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
33:13
of like a a punitive approach or some way to hold some way for the city maybe just to acquire
Representative Matt Brown
Unverified
33:20
the property from the from the current owner I know we had a situation near me where
a tree drove by it one day and they were a whole bunch of trees a couple of them had been hit by lightning and I could see that this tree was gonna fall it was going to fall soon and it was going to land in the neighbor's yard and there was nothing that could be done even about that tree and it did fall and it did fall in the neighbor's yard and tore up their fence but it would be nice if cities had a way that they could enforce
something on these landowners that aren't taking care of their properties
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
34:06
you know I think this is this is where the land bank you know could play a role. it it would create that entity for that property and that title to go to to to try to give the city some control
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
34:33
senator Bryant you recognize Thank you Mr chairir. I've got a just as you went through your presentation just just quick questions kind of pop on my mind that maybe the committee can can gain some more information when we talk about modular homes and running
them through just one buildings the state code instead of the hud code and simplifying that where consumers have access to that what barrier does a consumer or a citizens inside of a city face right now if they had a city parcel that they wanted to stack a a modular type constructed home on
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
35:04
so it's a really good question. generally in I wanna make a distinction between manufactured housing and modular you know man manufactured is built to the hud standard as as you said modular would be built you know with studs in the same manner that a a sitebuilt home would in the the state of Arkansas so your your question is is what are the barriers
for a modular home to be placed currently I'll give you an example300 homeme subdivision built in the eight0s a few
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
35:44
homes burned down or you hit by a tornado and now it's a vacant
lot. Id I go get a build quote the insurance company gave me400,000 my cheapest build quotes500,000. Id drive past a a lot that sells these modular homes. I go to the city, can I
put this there where it may look close to the others because it's single family but instead of all brick it's gonna have maybe not as much brick or etc. like what what is a what is a consumer or a resident roadblock now versus what proposals you might be asking us to
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
36:24
to yeah I think the roadblock would be that local approval process you know these these would be
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
36:38
certified and and approved at the factory as being built to the state code you know it would still have to fit I think the local zoning that you know for that building type but really the the the modular the modular I guess market is limited in Arkansas because we have this exposure to local building standards so we've talked to modular builders who won't enter
the state because they need the entire state to be their market they can't build, you know,3 units
Speaker 91
37:16
for Bentonville and and4 for Conway. So so if we're relaxed if
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
37:20
we if we're able to do a state code that says we're only gonna follow the international code council's model for the international residential code and a producer comes in to central Arkansas and starts mass producing these. would
we need statutory regulations to require cities to adopt this type of construction to be able to place
it into a legacy built community I
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
37:45
think that could be helpful but we're approaching modular with our thoughts more as an alternative construction technique and not a building type so our our thoughts are the modular unit would would fit say single family zoning or it would fit multi right they could they could put him in there and
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
38:07
place them on a lot that had traditional construction
Chair
Unverified
38:13
I'm gonna Mr chair I'll keep going with you well ca I got a quick question on on those building codes the state code versus the potentially500 different city codes that we have in the state. I don't know that all these small cities have have building codes but the ones that that do what are the differences gonna be in those codes what are we looking at it's one based on health and safety issues other based on health safety you know up in northeast Arkansas earthquake
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
38:45
risk you know there's different features at times that need to be included in those local building codes you know fire sprinkler requirements until recently you know inRogers Arkansas they were requiring sprinklers and duplexes and that was kind of a onenoff. so it was the the the state code was was the floor but cities could go beyond and add additional requirements
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
39:16
on top of of the state code thank you Mr
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
39:21
chair and just looking at proposal three the yes and God's backyard I think the chair leaned over and asked me about property taxes so you have a church that's been there for50 years sits on 10 acres yes in God's backyard says hey by right you're going to be able to build affordable housing behind you how would the tax structure go with those when traditional churches are tax exemptsenator
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
39:47
that is probably an area that we need to talk and and collaborate I I I you know have to be honest that we we have not
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
39:56
thought about the tax implications you said other states have considered this and I'm just curious if they've been able to'm happy to follow
up with you on that proposal number4 about homes near jobs about allowing multifamily byr and commercially area I know we got several communities that were built as bedroom communities they're they're zoning and planning rules
relax the need for commercial because people were fleeing commercially viable cities to
build residential communities as residential communities kind of overtake the property the corridors are now backing up to backyards instead of leaving two or three acres for land to build commercial and if c cities rely on sales tax as their primary source of revenue how how do cities feel about this particular one I don't know how I feel about it just property rights in general but
knowing that cities survive on sales tax where where do you see this going with
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
40:53
the our partners yeah I you know think our friends at the municipal league and we've been in virtually constant contact with them you know I think they would identify that potentially as a challenge that their members would would have with this is you know I think I think our argument would be many of these would be
vacant parcels along these commercial corridors that aren't producing taxes as they are so you know this is an opportunity to to bring life back to those structures it doesn't require you know that it be multifamily it's just an allowed use and and gives you know that decision back to the the landowner ultimately thank you all right Representative Rye you're recognized thank you Mr Chairman.ir let
Representative Johnny Rye
Unverified
41:53
since 2021 when we had COID it seems like everything has changed inflation is just increased tremendously since that year will this help with that situation I mean being able to to buy this type home and at the same time you got you have some land out there that's hadn't been used it's just been old dilapidated property that's turned into something good you think that could help both sides Representative what's happened with real estate
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
42:25
in Arkansas is not necessarily unique to Arkansas. It is a national trend as you pointed out coming out of COID you know real estate prices and and property appreciation was was massive where I think we have a unique opportunity is is to make some of these changes to try to ease that financial pain at least on the housing side of things you know it is our focus is is
on marketbased solutions with this work to try to enable the development community to deliver more and deliver more faster and in the cities that have done this I think another presenter today will will share some of the data especially out of Austin where they have built so much more new housing that the rent prices and home prices are actually starting to come down but you've got to hit that hit
that point of of over saturation to to see that happen so I think there is a path to relief with this but you know these are just a few of the
Speaker 86
43:37
levers that we feel like the state can pull to to help impact that thank you thank
Representative Denise Jones Ennett
Unverified
43:50
Mrir. I have one more question from my constituent out in the crowd and established neighborhoods with no
requirements for comparable design. What do appraisers say three houses on one lot would do to sell the sale value of the homes around them have not raised this
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
44:11
specifically with an appraiser that's a it's that's an interesting question that that I don't know that we've we've thought about but um'm I'm happy to do so
My inclination is it would not it would not negatively impact the values because the total investment on that acre would actually be greater than just that single home on that acre if if they're added together but like I said I I'm happy to d ig into that
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
44:53
we'll follow up later on with that thank you Senator Johnson you're recognized
thank you Mr Chairman. Mr Mclarry thank you for the work y'all did on this this is very helpful as you know recently our own congressman Hill authored a very major piece of housing legislation I very proud of him for passing it it I hope will result in some more opportunities especially for first time home buyers are are median age of people buying their first home has gone up significantly since my wife and
I first bought our home and a lot of young couples with good incomes literally can't afford a home right now and I'm I'm looking at things that will bring it down one of the things that Congressman Hill told me that he felt that some of the reforms to the hud code and the doing away with the steel chassis requirement being one of the obvious ones will help lower the the cost of of an equivalent square foot house
because of that he also mentioned to me that we would see a a building maybe that's four times as big as what you think of as a modular home now because you can build them in sections and and move them it appears that the the you made the distinction between manufactured homes what we used to call mobile homes or even trailers and modular that is melding somewhat there you could look used to you could
look at a a building well that was built in a factory and now you can't is it can be just as good the only difference is it's was built in pieces and moved there I I've said me for many years that if we built cars the way we build houses nobody could afford a car and so some of these efficiencies I'm I'm just would you think that the greatest impediment to realizing those efficiencies that help more people
get into their first home to help and of course this goes to rental units too we're we're talking about a housing shortage and situation like as you know Mississippi County is creating some tremendous incentives to get people to move there and to get houses built because you know they've got the jobs they but they want those people that are working there to live there as well so can we hopefully overcome is there is the greatest impediment
going to be the tendency of I'm gonna call it inertial tendency of localities to try to apply what probably in some ways is is an obsolete manner of regulation that is local codes I mean I don't want to I won't name a towns I was going to use this one as an example but I don't want to pick on anybody but let's just say uhpounc Arkansas has an electrical inspector and he wants someone with a factory built home to tear out a sheetrock wall so he
can inspect it is there a way we can enact that where it would prohibit and I'm not taking away local control I'm taking away local control where it's not appropriate is there a way that we could work on that and and do that and have y'all looked at suggestions in
that area we have looked at that let me let me start
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
48:41
we actually awarded congressman Hill are housing visionary award for this year
for his efforts he he just really did tremendous work and and you know it's been praised as the biggest housing piece of legislation in a generation to get past so we're really really proud of that work with the modular inspection piece in our legislation we propose that we lean on what this body passed think it was
in 2023 3rd party inspections to allow for those inspections to happen at the factory and so the the modular company will employ inspectors who will certify the final build out that it is built to the Arkansas buildingilding code and that that certification will stay with that unit all the way to the site so it it arrives on site and
the the foundation the plumbing all of that would be inspected locally but then that local inspector will have that that building inspection as reference to to complete the the project I'm familiar with that and I
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
50:04
understand that most places and I I hope you concur that that would be a third party. he would be a not be an employee of that manufacturer he'd be a a contractor someone who is certified to be an
inspector much much as an architect puts their stamp on on a set of plans is that is that analogous to that yes sir great
right thank you for your answers I'm very excited about the work y'all are doing and appreciate it
Speaker 57
50:34
thank you Mr Chairman. thank you Representative Richardson you
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
50:37
recognize thank you Mr Chairman. I got a quick question looking at the modular homes and and the things that you guys are doing at groundwork which is great work. have you put any thought or did any research regarding containers and how they're being used. I'm seeing a lot of container
homes and dual use communities and things like that have you done any research on that to to talk about
the validity of that or the no we haven't you know it's I think we would probably land on we're we're kind of indifferent as far as you know what is used to to say build a modular unit you know if if a builder was able to find efficiencies particularly
around cost by using something like that so long as it is built to you know that code and that standard I I think we would be open to it but specifically with containers you know we
Speaker 40
51:37
we didn't look at that thank you some definitely not an expert
Chair
Unverified
51:41
on that but I would think these the the containers being just an empty shell of of a building basically you could move that in and it will still be subject to inspection of these from from these local
cities now because you're gonna have to add the plumbing add the electric, add all that stuff to it after it gets there so yeah you're recognized yeah and and that's kind
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
52:06
of what I was asking because I've seen some cities that don't have any regulate they don't have anything to regulate how they're inspected because nobody's used them before so that's that's kind of where I was going to kind of get an idea on that but thank you Mr Chair. do you have a question
Chair
Unverified
52:21
right Senator Bryant you recognize I just want to just so say I appreciate the
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
52:26
work groundwork has done. I've attended a couple of your meetings to kind of know what you're
what you're pitching and is it safe to sum up groundwork is saying build baby build and if if government needs to get out of the way we need to help them get out of their own way to increase capacity to lower the
Speaker 133
52:46
overall cost that's absolutely correct characterization I just wanna I
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
52:49
want to jump real quick. I I see another presenter who's gonna touch inside the preapproved development plans it's something that I'm I'm
working on independently as well just because I've seen we got a couple of communities in in the region I live in that have done this and the first time I was excited I looked at it and I realize d that that one of the cheapest plans they have is about350,000 dollars to build. And I was like that really doesn't help the goal to get towards affordable housing and the other community had cheap designs but then they put them in an area where the lots were $250,000 minimums and so there is a right intent just bad bad rollout maybe but my my theory and thinking is is
IRC governs residential construction. I've telling on myself here I've I've turned in plans to cities, waited three months to get them approved and then built a completely different plan and and nobody knew but but me and the homeowner because really you're inspecting as you're building right you have you know 16 2nd inspection points in some areas you got 12 inspection points in others is the idea that there is no plan review process for residential construction other
than sight setbacks certification or affidavit that I'm going to follow the IRC why is that not a viable option for something that is so unique to the individual whether it's customer spec, they all follow the same code. I can understand IBC the InternationalBuilding code for commercial struction is a completely different animal whereas you know we're we're asking cities that hey spend you know hundreds of thousands of dollars with the architect buddies to come up with six design plans that a consumer can just go
pull off the shelf or a builder pull off the shelf. I'm not gonna do that personally but if I was a builder and I said hey I'm going to turn in a five page it's gonna have5 sheets you know what code am I falling? what's my basic for plan? what's my you know basic electrical plan was my ba basichvac plan was my basic plumbing plan th ing else you don't need any detail on you're gonna give me the same day permit because it's going in a residential area and then I go build it because you're gonna come out there 16 different times
which is another totally different subject I know that's a long way around proposal number7 or I'm sorry proposal number6 but what what does groundwork? have you thought of that have you have you broached that theory or
Speaker 26
55:20
discussed it you know our our thought is that these plans would be approved at the state
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
55:26
level and be available to be placed anywhere in the state where it meets that that zoning code
you know I your specific example of you know getting one thing approved and then building something else is a wrinkle in this that we we had not thought about you know that that phenomenon actually occurring our goal is to you know create a a a predictable path forward to give assurance that you're not going to hit the approval desk the you know the planning desk and it just get
outright denied or have a bunch of a bunch of changes and our thoughts are the catalog would include everything from you know panelized wall sections all the way up through small apartment buildings and and we we we highlighted the work of a gentleman in pine bluff who's using panelized wall sections to build modular now and you know when when we were with him in Pine Bluff, he almost got emotional thinking
about what that preapproval wouldu would do because he could build those wall sections much faster and and and keep a shop working but that dynamic you explained is not a dynamic that we we had thought about but but we we're using these as an idea to to bring that predictability to the developers idea I think
you know in a in a dream scenario smaller contractors you know, would maybe take these plans and get comfortable with them and build a new business of just building you know these preapproved plans because that approval's already done but we also you know have have thought you know that that these again would be approved at the state level so I don't think we're asking each city to take this on and and spend a lot of
money to produce these plans you know we we can potentially work on identifying funding outside of government to to pay for the architecture certainly with you know whatever entity is going to hold the plan certainly with their input but yeah that we're really just looking at expediting the review process. seeing no more questions thank you for your presentation thank
Chair
Unverified
58:12
you for your work and thank you for having the easiest name on this agenda to pronounce
Representative R. Scott Richardson
Unverified
58:18
so well Mr Chair I I cannot appreciate you and and this committee anymore for availing yourselves to this and consider us a resource a research partner whatever you need we'll certainly stay in touch right thank you very much Up next item E presentation
Chair
Unverified
58:35
on housing policy changes and other states and localities.
Oh then my skip I'm sorry hang on I skipped d my fault memphis fire code John Ziana that's why I keep her up here she keeps me straight you'll just state your name and who you're with for the record you may begin your presentation Thank you Mr Chairman John Zena
Speaker 138
59:19
a pleasure to be before you today to talk about some of the work that we've done in Memphis your neighbor to the east related to supporting small multifamily particularly as infill housing through adjustments to building and fire codes and what that has meant for for our community I was
asked by Duke to be a part of this I think because of what was then some of the open questions around the building items that as as he talked you've had some success on and so certainly commend you on the progress there on building code but hopefully what I shared today demonstrates not only you know why this matters
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1:00:22
that's close to Arkansas but how also requirements that may be individually reasonable compound to create costs that greatly limits supply and communities
Speaker 140
1:00:34
like Memphis and communities all over Arkansas and some of the steps that
Speaker 138
1:00:40
we took in Memphis so I mentioned now I'm principal of interterval LllC I spent the last 20 years in
working in local government in Memphis the last 10 years
Speaker 140
1:00:55
of which I was the director of planning and development as well as the chief of development and infrastructure for the city of Memphis both of those roles included not only oversight of planning and zoning but also the building code department for Memphis and Shelby County so it's the largest code department in the state of Tennessee I've also written some work based on some of our
experience published through the Center forBuilding in North America which is nonprofit that is largely involved in a lot of the progress around single stair reform and other building code reforms that have taken place in the last few years what I that that publication is around hidden code barriers to middle scale housing that go beyond zoning and so I'll talk very briefly about zoning and a lot about everything else today so but I want to start with Maloneark
Commons it's in the uptown neighborhood just north of of downtown and Malone Park Commons is the reason why we started even going down the path of considering what needed to change and building and fire codes in Memphis in order to advance goals of creating more housing supply and particularly more diverse housing supply in infill neighborhoods throughout Memphis Malonene
Speaker 138
1:02:18
Park Commons sits on 2/3 of an acre. it is35 units that's
24 unit live work buildings for four plexxes and 11 cottage court units detached cottage court units that are all in the center when developer Andre Jones got the land from Malone Park Commons it was plaited as six single family lots so roughly 10th of an acre per lot and what he ultimately did with it is what you see on the slide which was
to produce over fi0 units dwelling units per acre on a small infill lot north of downtown Noing over two stories as you can see everything is neighborhood scale and that photo there at the bottom shows you how the four plexxes fit right in with the the live work which has a sandwich shop on the ground floor residential on the top floor this is exactly the type of community building that we're
trying to do in Memphis and then I think a lot of communities all over the country are also trying to do but Andre ran into some issues primarily with the building code. Zoning was not his issue He had to get a simple zoning variance it took him a couple of months to clear that hurdle and legally he was on his way to start building Malone Park Commons but Andre ran into challenge after challenge after
challenge from not only building code and fire code requirements getting Malone Park Comms delivered but also through utility requirements at the time I was director of planning and development. he came to me to ask for assistance because what he was proposing to do and what he had been entitled to do was in line with what the city wanted to see not only for the uptown community but also was in line with the city's comprehensive plan of how we wanted to grow in
inward as a city but like I said his challenge was really that he was trying to build a a building type that was governed by a completely different set of standards the IBC even though the scale of what he was building was well in line with what would otherwise be allowed in the IRC so you see the photo on the left there is one of his four plexxes under construction next to a an existing single family home that shows really how
the the scale of those two buildings eququa so as you all know IRC includes single family duplex townhouses accessory structures not more than3 stories. The minute you go to a third unit you jump into the IBC and that cost cliff it not only has implications in the IBC itself where roughly30% more per unit of cost can be added from that cliff but that cliff is also mirrored
in many other requirements many of which are local but that can again sort of add up compound to create costs that prevent otherwise the supply the housing supply that we want in our communities from happening. within the codes themselves that there are differences such as who can build
Speaker 140
1:05:56
them IRC can be built by single family contractors permitting and build for building a site it's usually simpler whereas IBC much more
complex and has to be done by
Speaker 138
1:06:10
commercially licensed contractor in many places the IRC can just be done or can allow for builder prepared
Speaker 140
1:06:19
plans they f the standards follow prescriptive structural tables whereas buildings in the IBC require professional stamp architectural structural civil etc. engineering drawings there's simpler permitting
Speaker 138
1:06:39
processes and systems oftentimes for residential buildings versus buildings that go through IBC or often commercial building types the fire safety differences are fairly stark48 out of the50 states generally exempt one and two family buildings from any sprinkler requirements. usually it's just
Speaker 140
1:06:59
smoke alarms and fire rated separations that are required whereas once you jump into the IBC there are sprinkler requirements usually beginning
with NFPA13R if there is some sort of mix vertical mix of commercial and residential often triggers NFPA13 based on the size
Speaker 138
1:07:25
of the structure inFPA13 may also be required umnFPA13d is used for IRC single familymi construction but like I just said48 of the50 states largely exempt that so there is a less costly alternative that is available
in NFA13d but they're not they're they're not as frequently seen in the wild as asnFA13R and and 13 because of those exemptions but the the cliff does not stop there there are differences often between residential and commercial buildings relative to parking relative to taxes relative to commercial or to tra sh pickup residential and commercial that have cost implications. They are often differences in stormwater requirements even though the
footprint of of the building may be exactly the same commercial or yes commercial stormwater requirements are often times found to be more strict than residential requirements utility requirements often carry the same cliff where with buildings that are built as residential structures have more straightforward traditional utility connection policies as well as fees once
Speaker 140
1:08:42
you get into that three unit
and above they're are often not only requirements for larger meter sizes upgrades required to water and sewer and there are other devices like backflow preventers that may also be required there are energy code differences between IRC and IBC there are accessibility differences between IRC and IBC the SA requirements which have been noted a moment ago our more relaxed for IRC and then once you go to four
stories it sounds like there's been some progress there additional stairs are
Speaker 138
1:09:24
required there's also an existing building code so if even if a building was built without a lot of these components and once it goes to be converted or or even remodeled there may
Speaker 140
1:09:39
be some triggers that drive more cost increases as well vertical mixed use like I said often requires commercial
sprinkler ler s whereas more horizontal mixed use you can get away with with less involved systems so all these things kind of weighed on us as
Speaker 137
1:09:59
we were thinking through how to make Malone Park Commons happen in 2022 Memphis and Shelby County
Speaker 138
1:10:05
worked through the code development process locally through our building code advisory board at our city council and county commission passed a local amendment to the IRC
Speaker 140
1:10:15
that allowed for up to 6 units into
our residential code that big that began enforcement in on January12022
Speaker 138
1:10:26
very shortly after that we were we got intervention from the Tennessee State fire marshal's office to prevent us from continuing to enforce that we spent a couple of years trying to negotiate with the state fire marshal's office to get to a point where still could achieve some of the cost savings that our
efforts were designed to create but still address his concerns ultimately that ended in going to the legislature in 2024 the city of Memphis working with the Tennessee homebuilders association
Speaker 140
1:11:06
as well as the mortgage bankers association secured passes of legislation that would allow for proportionate fire separation a proportionate fire separation alternative for 3 and4 family buildings it does allow 13d for three and four family buildings it
also allows two hour separations in place of any sprinkler system for3 and4 family buildings the state fire marshal ended up being neutral on that bill and so it was passed and it has been in effect since it is a perm it was written as a permissive bill so local governments don't have to adopt it into their code. Many have
Speaker 138
1:11:46
but that also meant3 in4 family uh3 to6 family had to go back to the internationalal building code since then
we continued to take a look at what could be done around continuing to expand our approach towards supporting you know quote unquote the missing middle what we generally call middle scale housing up to 24 units in the same year that this bill was passed Tennessee's state legislature also passed a single stair bill that allowed cities
same same type of approach permissive ability to adopt a single stair provision up to6 stories4 units per floor and so 24 seemed like a magic number for a lot of reasons. Number one so that we could sync with what had already been done around single stair but also because as we looked at the different types of housing that are considered in the missing middle. what we see
is not just three family and4 family and6 family we also see small courtyard apartments that may comprise of 24 units and may not be any taller than 2 stories but our present not only in the landscape in Memphis but present in many older cities throughout the state so what we did was to this time instead of working against the state
fire marshal in concert with the Tennessee State Fire marshal's office in concert with obviously our building official and our fire official drafted an appendix to our IBC again keeping 3 to24 units in the IB C not moving them to the IRC develop proportional standards for a variety of items sprinklers and alarms obviously sort of started the conversation since that that that was where we began with the legislation but we also
talked about requirements around egress structural requirements so that they could mirror more of the prescriptive pathways that are in the residential codelan review is as well as use mix. so that appendix was given the blessing of course by the Tennessee state fire marshal's office. It was adopted by the Memphis City Council and County Commission in2025. It remains in effect it has been in effect for
over a year now. there have been multiple projects that have taken advantage of this appendix and the good news is there this is creating a little bit more of a conversation not only in Tennessee but in other communities around the country we were fortunate in my company was fortunate to receive some grant support from Pewrust to research the cost comparison as well as structural fire safety structural and fire safety impacts for prototype buildings that are within the
scope of the Memphis appendix we are working with uhistsjane and Elsner engineering companympany among many notable things that they've done they worked with the state of Minnesota very recently on a safety report for uhminnesota's single stair efforts so they come with some experience looking at these issues around attempting to address building code challenges from a structural and fire safety
parity perspective we expect to have some results from their work within the next month and hope to be publishing findings of our research by the end of the year we theational code Council has also established what they call the G13ittee on high density residential that is a committee of the building code and fire code action committees where international code council themselves are looking at what
proposals potentially could be brought before the building code and fire code action committees for amendment either into the residential code or the building code to better enable middle scale housing they have certainly I think heeded the call of many to address this matter so which is exciting to see them do I am a member of that committee so I've I've had the chance to not only participate in those meetings and and share the work that
we've done in Memphis with them but also understand how their deliberations take place I'm happy to to say that one of the first things that that we addressed as a committee was in thinking about the scope of of the committee looking at up to 24 units so there could be some some really good parody between some of the examples here from Memphis that I'm sharing with you and the work that we've done and what ultimately may go into their committee's report so with that
I'm available for any questions and just want to thank you again for inviting me to be a part of this today I look forward to seeing what progress you make here in the state. thank
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
1:17:20
you very much members does anybody have any questions uhpresentative Brown
Representative Matt Brown
Unverified
1:17:32
this is well this is a question but I mentioned affordable housing to
a mayor recently and they said oh no no we don't want any more we don't want to hear that word because they they equate it with low income housing so
Speaker 138
1:17:59
there are a variety of different categories when just objectively speaking when you talk about the goals for housing production
I you know you may hear affordable housing you may hear attainable housing you may hear workforce housing obviously market rate housing let me just kind of give you a little bit more of sort of the sober perspective of Memphis. Memphis has a housing challenge it is largely an affordable quality affordable housing challenge and by that I do specifically mean that the largest gap that Memphis has is providing quality housing for households that
earn60% or below the area median income so it is a challenge to provide affordable housing to many many many Memphiians and going back to some of the questions and comments that that were raised a moment ago about how costs are escalating not just here in Arkansas but across the country and those costs ultimately are passed along to the end user they're they've got to be some strategies that we think about
to where we can effectively deliver on not just market rate housing or workforce housing but affordable housing as well because ultimately you know the the ranges of 20 to40%,40 to60%,60 to120% of area median income. those are real and those aren't going to change no matter what we want to call thank you thank youreer Brown and any other
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
1:19:41
members have any more questions? I've got I've just got a couple of questions.
Malone Park Commons was that was that privately held and it's still
held by the original developer or is he making some of these available for purchase afterwards he
Speaker 138
1:19:55
holds the entire the all the properties on the site still yes so the net output was
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
1:20:00
he was able to keep market rates and keep his rates below market to be able to make them affordable for that's correct local people as you were being as you were working I'm not gonna say against the Tennessee fire marshal's office but just had a an opportunity to
disagree were they mainly steering inside the the fire code section or the building code as well. I would say
Speaker 138
1:20:25
both and and thank you for making that clarification because we did spent a lot of time trying to work with them to get to a compromise and ultimately they were willing to give us a compromises but nothing that we got back really helped to solve the cost issue but it was both
building code and fire code concerns that they raised but as I mentioned once we got to the point of advancing to thinking about the appendix and working with them, same thing we we worked on both and in fact that appendix even though it's adopted into the IBC it was written with you know sort of corresponding notes for the existing building code as well as the fire code that were also adopted and so all of these things sync
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
1:21:20
together all right thank you very much thank you for being here all right members next we'll go down to item number E to discuss housing policy changes in other states and localities with toho
Kanzal. apologize if I got that wrong. thank you for being here if you would just the mic should be already on if you'll just correct your correct my pronunciation and and who you're
with and you may begin apologies needed
Tashar Consul
Unverified
1:21:55
thank you senator thank you Chair Gonzalez, Senator Bryant and members of the committee for the opportunity to provide testimony. My name is Daharunsul. I'm a senior officer with the housing policylicy initiative at the Pew Charitable
Speaker 157
1:22:09
Trust where a nonpartisan nonprofit organization we do research and policy work in my case about housing and housing policy across the United States. the foremost issue affecting
housing costs is a national shortage of let's see here there we go 4 to7 million homes including a shortfall of more than6,000 in Arkansas due to this shortage housing costs have grown significantly and rents have reached historic highs in the state in recent years. Arkansas's home prices were51% higher in 2025 than they were just back in 2018 and from 2018
to2025, median rents in the state rose33%. Fundamentally Arkansas has too few homes available. The state saw a steady drop off in home construction between 2005 and2011 and is still dealing with the repercussions from that decline today as a result, Arkansas's for sale housing inventory is only77% of what it was in 2018. and today40% of Arkansas renters
are spending more than30% of their income on rent so they're officially cost burdened Furthermore, Arkansas recorded an all time low estimated average household size of 2.39 individuals and64% of households in the state today only have one or two people living in that home. so with smaller households more starter homes and more smaller homes would be needed even if Arkansas hadn't increased its population by4.9%,
almost5% between 2015 and2025 or the past 10 years there's extensive evidence that inflexible land use regulations and lengthy and uncertain permitting processes are major driver of this housing shortage and the high prices we're seeing today. states and localities across the country have recognized this and are taking steps to address these issues building more housing and making housing more affordable. the rest of my testimony will outline the policies Pew's research has shown to be
particularly effective in boosting housing supply and how those policies apply to Arkansas. so I'm going to start with one of the policies lined by groundwork this kind of starter homes for minimum lot size reduction regulatory barriers to building starter homes include minimum lot sizes minimum square footage requirements lot coverage requirements that specify how much land must be left open on a plot of land in other words yard
space and large setback requirements that mandate the distance a home can be built from the edges of the property as the cost of the land beneath the house is typically 25 to30% of the total project costquirements to purchase large plots of land and leave much of the area open makes housing too expensive for many buyers today. these restrictions force aspiring home buyers to purchase more land or more house than they need thereby driving up the
price of homes limiting how many homes can be built on each acre and putting homeownership out of reach for working families. Evidence shows that updating land use rules to allow builders and buyers more choices opens up greater affordability. for example in Houston, Texas they reduced their minimum lot size from5,000 square feet to 1400 square feet citywide this change led to more than 80,000 homes being built that
were previously block blocked by the regulations that had been in place these new town homes on smaller plots of land had a median assessed value of340,000 dollars.200,000 dollars less than the545 100,000 median value of other new single family homes in the city as you can see on the slide that also means that these new townhos were accessible for purchase to people earning just about the median income 105% of the area median income and so that means
you're everyday teachers firefight ers you know, service workers and the like ur r ent ly local jurisdictions in Arkansas can set their own minimum lot sizes which range from you know as little as5,000 square feet but are often much larger than that up to an acre or more y making it easier to build starter homes. Arkansas can bring homeownership within reach for more residents throughout the state while also improving affordability across the board
as others have noted including Duke, other states that have enacted similar reforms include Texas and Kansas each at about3,000 square feet and Idaho which is allowing 12 homes per acre with lots as small as 1500 square feet allowed so 1500 is what Houston did. next policy I'm going to go to is letting churches and nonprofits build homes on their land. This is what Duke referred to as yigbie yes and God's backyard so one solution another solution
that state lawmakers are implementing, including in states like Connecticut, Florida, Oregon and Virginia and there's some more states outlined here on the slide is allowing religious organizations to build housing for low and moderate income residents on land they own. some organizations have long sought to build such housing but had been stopped by zoning restrictions and protracted permitting processes because religious nonprofits can build this housing without buying additional land or needing to make a profit. allowing this approach can
increase the stock of affordable housing with a lower government subsidy than would otherwise be required or even without any subsidies clarifying that churches and religious nonprofits or other nonprofits as state law allows may use their land for affordable housing means that the permitting of regulatory requirements they must comply with are less onerous which reduces costs and speeds up timelines to begin building. that improvement increases the overall supply of housing and improves affordability.
Pew conducted a nationally representative survey on housing issues and 81% of Americans favored allowing religious nonprofits to build affordable housing on land they own with a simplified permitting process. Low and moderate income housing is in short supply and evidence shows building more of it benefits residents and communities while also reducing homelessness. Senator, I think you had asked a question earlier about how property taxes would work it you know varies somewhat state to
state and varies based on kind of the leasehold rules and the exemptions you know written into state law but generally speaking if it is kind of regular old housing that's built on you knowur land that would be taxed at kind of regular property tax rates if the church kind of remains leasehold then you know that would kind of that's the piece that depends on how state law is written to govern that specific piece of it
by making it easier for religious institutions and other qualified nonprofits to build housing on land they own. Arkansas can allow faith institutions to build housing in alignment with their mission. a third policy area I want to talk about here is allowing apartments and town homes in commercial corridors So Pew's research on the outcomes of state and local policies finds that legalizing housing on all commercially zoned land is the single most
effective reform boosting housing production and reducing rent growth. at a rapid clip if a threestory office building is allowed on a main road then a threestory apartment or condo building should be allowed there too The sorts of small and midrise apartment buildings allowed under these laws consistently rent for less than single family homes housing built near commerce can enable both affordability and walkability reducing traffic and commuting costs
an important part of this reform is removing minimum parking mandates which at substantial costs thereby driving up rents and discouraging construction allowing housing and mixeduse buildings in commercial areas also speeds up permitting and reduces the onerous requirements that are previously stymied apartment construction in many areas. After Tyson's Virginia outside of Washington DC enacted similar reforms. The city saw the highest housing production and slowest rent growth in the state
Minneapolis's version of this reform also sharply slowed rent growth. these policies are also good for economic activity as businesses have more potential customers and employees living nearby. This solution has become even more relevant recently as many areas continue to experience high post pandemic office vacancy rates not you know not not to mention ecommerce in addition to providing these benefits, this approach is also popular. Use housing survey found that75%
of Americans favor allowingar apartments to be built near commerce. in light of these successful outcomes,16 states including Montana, Texas, Washington, or and Florida have passed similar laws on a bipartisan basis to make it easier to build housing your jobs. Arkansas too can allow housing to be built in underused commercial areas and thereby use the land and infrastructure that communities have already invested in while improving housing affordability.
Tashar Consul
Unverified
1:32:08
I think I forgot a slide here but here there are 16 states that have allowed
Speaker 157
1:32:15
housing to be built near jobs from your transit. under preapproved plants so one component that contributes to the costs and delays associated with small housing projects such as accessory dwelling units which Arkansas allowed last year two years ago a single family homes and small multifamily small multifamily buildings is the design and review process. Depending on the size and type
of building a custom set of construction plants can cost tens of thousands of dollars and take months to move through plan review only to then return with correctional requests that send architects back to the drawing board proproof building plan programs address this problem directly municipalities or in this case maybe the state develop or commission a library of code compliant designs that any qualified buyer can use. With plan review reduced to a brief sitespecific confirmation rather
than a full architectural review for small builders this cost savings on design fees can make a project financially viable. South Bend Indiana's preapproved housing plan programme includes 9 residents residential designs a couple of which you can see here on this slide but they include a two bedroom cottage 1,3 and four bedroom single family homes two duplexes and a six unit apartment building. Each design has several exterior
option packages. When a builder selects a pattern book design, the South BendBuil department requires only a site plan and land survey. The department commits to responding within just two business days. in the first three years of the programme's existence in South Bend, South Bend reported issuing permits for 223 new housing units approximately7% of all new residential homes permitted citywide. the city estimated that builders saved5,00 dollars and $10,000
per home on the design review process and as you can see here it also speeds up your project timeline. Claimore, Oklahoma near Tulsa also has a preapproved plants programme. After4 years in operation, Clairemore's preproved plan pattern book includes 29 designs ranging from single family homes to an eight unit apartment building. the city reports even stronger results in South Bend in terms of the share of permits using
preproof plants.25 new homes have been built using preproof plants roughly 12% of all new homes for which for which permits were issued during that five year period. The time savings were preapproved ADO and duplex designs were particularly striking. The city estimate 80% reduction in approval time for these plants with permits issuable within 24 to48 hours of a qualifying application Clairemore also offers setback flexibility as an additional incentive for builders using
pattern book designs thereby reducing sitespecific complications on smaller lots. at the state level Arizona and California have passed legislation requiring municipalities to create preapproved plan programs but oregon has taken the more efficient approach of creating a suite of permit readyad building plans at the state level. Arkansas too can help bring down the cost of new housing and speed up permitting by creating a statele proproof plan program. and I'm gonna I'm gonna touch on
building codes here I know that the you know there has been already some really really admirable agreements with the Arkansas code Review Committee. I do want to emphasize kind of how important these are often there's so much focus on zoning building codes is is something that can make a big difference in terms of the cost of building. So current building codes often prevent or make more expensive the building of smaller of smaller multifamily housing
making small revisions to building codes that encourage this type of development while retaining essential safety requirements can help to bring down costs and add much needed new supply particularly near jobs and in desirable locations as JohnXena described the residential code adopted by states and localities is based on the international residential code while the code for multifamily housing is based on the international building code. I'm gonna skip through some of this given his detailed
description and spare you but I do want to share that Puis found that new buildings both single family and small and multifamily are much safer than older ones when it comes to fire death rate s The fire death rate for apartments built since 2010 which includes duplexes built under the residential code is about 18 times lower than the fire death rate for single family homes or apartments built before 1970 and modern single family homes which are built under the residential code are far safer than older homes.
so allowing smaller multifamily buildings to be built under the less costly residential code can make them financially feasible to build and provide more options and lower costs and safer homes for potential tenants and homeowners. Var states such as North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Utah recently moved3 and4 unit buildings under the residential code. Austin, Texas has done so as well while Dallas moved3 to8 unit buildings under their residential code
with certain additional requirements. Elpaxo, Texas has3 and4 unit buildings under the residential code and
Speaker 162
1:37:55
does not require sprinklers for buildings up to two stories and 16 units
Speaker 157
1:38:02
at present Arkansas currently applies the costlier multifamily code starting at three units as we heard however you know kudos to the code review committee for they're very welcome agreement to implement some reforms to bring
down to kind of right size the building code requirements for small multifamily buildings and make these more financially feasible. Another modernization to the building code is that many states including Iho, Montana and Texas have passed is to enable the construction of smaller apartment buildings with just one staircase Being able to build with one staircase instead of using bulkier two staircase models means small apartment buildings
can fit on small lots and include family sized apartments of three or more bedrooms.urrently many many apartments tend to be just studio one or two bedroom apartments it's really hard to raise a family in one of those. Why deep building layouts that include two staircases and a long corridor prevent most apartments today from having cross ventilation or fitting buildings into existing cities and towns that only have smaller infill lots available.
as we know until now Arkansas's only allowed buildings over two s has only has required buildings over two storiesries to have two staircases sorry excuse me and again very much welcome the recent agreement with the codeviewittee to enable smaller apartment buildings to have a single staircase though the requirement for ste two staircases in a long corridor stems from concerns about fire safety from an earlier era with less advanced
building technologyvid evidence now shows that single stair apartment buildings are no less safe than other small apartment buildings sorry another apartment buildings countriesuntries like Austria, France and Japan that allow one staircase generally have lower rates of fire death than we do here in the United States. New York City and Seattle have allowed one staircase for buildings up to6 stories for many decades and yet have no fire deaths in their single stair buildings due to the lack of a second staircase in the 12
years of data that my team at Pew analyzed showing that modern fire safety measures can make small buildings with one staircase safe. I'm going to skip past this. So Pew's research has shown that there are many policies states like Arkansas can adopt that improve housing affordability, provide residents with more housing options and strengthen local communities. thank you so much for the opportunity to testify. I'm happy to take any questions we have any questions from committee members
Chair
Unverified
1:40:56
the ones few that are left in there seeing then thank you for for your presentation you Moving on to our final presentation item f Pacific Legal Foundation Colleen if you will state your name and who you're with for the record you may begin
Speaker 168
1:41:40
right thank you Mr chair members of the committee, for the record, my name is Colleenne Lindgren and I am a senior state policy manager at Pacific Legal Foundation. Where I have the privilege to work with legislators and allies and a lot of folks who who like who are in this room every day around the country who seek principled solutions to everyday problems like access to housing PplF is a nonprofit public interest law firm that has dedicated decades to defending
clients free of charge when their constitutional rights are violated and we have a long record of defending property rights protecting against regulatory abuse and overreach in helping Americans achieve their dreams free of arbitrary interference with over 2500 cases litigated including 18 wins at the US Supreme Court and dozens of policy reforms enacted at the state and federal level we aim to ensure that the everyday concerns of individuals, small business owners, farmers, builders, families and others
have representation in the court of law and in state capitals. Today's natural state housing summit appro appropriately built up to coming before this committee to discuss one of the primary concerns so many in the state of Arkansas have which is access to housing for decades across the country, opportunity has declined and costs have increased and we're all here today because we recognize that the country and the state are in a crisis. there we go but the good news is that state legislators are in
the perfect position to address this problem with principled and practical approaches. The even better news is that the systemic solutions are not new. we do not have to reinvent the wheel we just have to return to our founding principles, the principles of individual liberty that made the American dream possible. property rights are the cornerstone of liberty and the right to own jo and use your land is a is a source of personal security, dignity and prosperity that enables individuals to shape their destiny. America's founders knew
this the fifth ammendment to the US Constitution guarantees that Americans shall not be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor shall private proper ty be taken for public use without just compensation and the ourteenth ammendment reiterates this the protection of life and liberty and property and also adds that no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge these privileges. And Arkansas's founders similarly recognize these
principles and in article two of the state constitution, they affirmed that the right of property is before and higher any constitutional sanction and they also added protections like the fifth amendment does for when land is devalued or outright taken and yet too often these constitutional promises are either tossed aside or outright attacked since a destructive Supreme Court decision around 100 years ago courts have largely ignored rights to land use and governments at every level often en act laws and regulations that devalue property and and trample
individual rights and the result has really been the the erosion of robust building remodeling and charitable housing options like that have been discussed today that really we're able to meet individuals and families where they were at. and the American dream and the Arkansan dream can't and should not be prescribed so this was highlighted by our friends from the US Chamber earlier today when they discussed the need for all types of housing we hear and speak a lot about the missing middle which is a very real problem and me but and many Americans decades into their
careers can't afford to move in to what used to be starter homemes for couples right out of college let alone think about growing a family but then you have many single people or couples who work from home but also need offfit and so also need office space Others might be caring for aging parents or offering friends a space to live and aging Americans are increasingly unable to downsize into smaller because small homes are at a premium and the individuals below them can't move up. they can't buy them out and so a variety of factors go into the decisions around jobs,
housing and life goals and a robust market helps individuals thrive at all phases of life and so with this foundation there's a lot of room for Arkansas to build figuratively and literally. the committee has already heard many topical ways to address realtime and urgent needs when it comes to providing housing options. So in my remaining time I'd like to discuss some additional ideas that I think complement what has already been presented to to get to the root of the problem and then also highlight some ways that Arkansas is already leading and building on reforms like the
8DU legislation that was passed a few years ago. property rights being the foundation of innovation sustainability and opportunity are not merely legal entitlements they're the framework through which people create value steward resources and foster and pass opportunity onto future generations which Secretary justster mentioned earlier today. and I've grouped the following proposals into what I think of as three pillars of constitutional housing reforms.
So first ensuring that good decisions are protected from frivolous or unfair objections. one of the panelists earlier today discussed the the tension between individual and public needs and the constitution prioritizes individual liberty and justly compensating individuals when it's violated but for decades in practice we've been flipping the script and so it's time to turn it back to focus on individual needs and rights and when faced with concerns about changes, many of these concerns that are at least expressed often focus
solely on preferencebased things like color or style over true public health and safety concerns which are real things that communities need to address and deal with. And as professor Dunkleman noted earlier in his presentation, you cannot be endlessly protected from change so I believe that a presumption of liberty and goodwill is the way forward and so PLF offers two solutions highlighted here and linked there for those who received the presentation via email that are based on this assumption that try to create
predictable that creating predictable processes and ensuring localities who are trying to offer more options are not prevented from doing so so states should prevent legal challenges by unharmed parties from delaying or killing approved projects. They should also ensure that a small number of individuals cannot undo approved zoning changes that promote property rights so in essence when when projects have already gone through the local democratic process and then approved unharmed individuals or entities shouldn't be able to get extra
bites at the apple in court or at city hall to be able to
Speaker 170
1:48:29
impede the second pillar in these in these reforms addresses how states can erect guard rails and transparency measures that can be
Speaker 168
1:48:38
used to work alongside localities so several simple yet significant approaches can be taken. first you can require a demonstration of compelling government health and safety interests which include nuisances for
governments at any level to limit uses of property and we're also in the same broth require quartz to apply the same level of review in land use cases as in other cases dealing with fundamental rights the fifth amendment is no less than the first and should not receive lush scrutiny when in court. Next, states should ensure that property owners are protected from arbitrary limitations on uses of property often referred to as down zoning, which devalues it and limits their freedom to put it to productive use.
if this isn't possible for some reason then just compensation must be offered but that should always be the secondary, idea Next is an area
Speaker 170
1:49:33
where Arkansas's already leading the way here in this area of transparency a few years ago meaningful permitting timelines which
Speaker 168
1:49:39
I think somebody mentioned earlier were already set that ensure reasonable time frames are set to process approvals this has been done in in several I want to say around a dozen states around the country some states supply them in different ways but this is
really impactful as we all know time is money especially in building or remodeling or any other sort of project and one way to continue ensuring the predictability and participation in the market that Arkansas has already set would be by adding buy rate protections which I believe somebody also mentioned and so in that instance if pro project applications followed all objective rules they shouldn't be unfairly delayed by subjective review. This creates uncertainty. It disincentivizes investment and it treats applicants in an inequal manner.
the last reform in this pillar seems almost too silly to be true but sadly it's something we're actually fighting in multiple places around the country the right to have roommates. So for many Americans not only is the companionships of of roommates desirable, safer and just cost effective but it's the way many defray mort mortgage expenses and begin to invest in the housing market. and yet localities around the country are increasingly implementing bans on unrelated individuals living together even in places like Kansas, even in the heartland of America
In Kansas PLf is currently representing a family who opened their home to a friend that needed a place to live for awhi. These individuals were all working adults living in a normal neighborhood, yet they were split up due to an unconstitutional and arbitrary law targeting that had originally targeted lower income and young individuals. and so states like Arkansas can can look at this can address this issue by just proactively ensuring that that doesn't happen in your state and lastly this last pillar is another area where Arkansas
is taking the lead and this is exactions reform which might not sound exciting but it's critical so exactions for those who are not familiar are amounts of money that are demanded and required by government entities on top of the usual permitting and processing fees taxes and other buildingre related costs that we're all familiar with. They usually purport to do two main things to either offset impacts or to create affordable housing. but this is a very loose term and historically there's little accountability to what this
really means and so PLF's first win at the supreme Court almost50 years ago included a ruling that exactions to address impacts or uses must be proportional to the harm or the impact being caused and so for instance if new development is going to increase the costs and needs of the neighborhood's sewer water system proportional fees can apply. However, government can't use this power to grab more than it is out or more than what the impact is. and in 2023, nearly 50 years later, Pilov won another case
representing the gentleman you can see on this slide here named Mr Sheets and he's a grandfather in California who takes care of his grandson and he was charged nearly $25,000 to put in a driveway on a small lot where he had already received approval to put a a manufactured home which was his retirement home and he challenged this and after several years in court the court ruled in his favor relying in part on the previous win and and clarifying that clarifying the process that governments need to go through to show their
work and that individuals do have a right to challenge this and so Arkansas has already taken steps in this direction have with a lot on the books that requires municipalities to show their work when issuing these types of fees and this is a great first step to ensuring that government at all levels are accountable when issuing financial mandates of this kind and another area for growth would be to proactively protect individuals from exactions charged in the name of making housing affordable and we've heard a lot about this term affordability today and we and
it's something that you know, I think on on every side of the argument on housing we hear a lot about this and and somebody earlier mentioned kind of an all of the above approach and that's really the approach that we believe that we take at plo when we leave the constitution takes which is not favoring one thing over another but letting the market and individuals be able to obtain what they need and want and so when we're talking about protecting people from what might be termed affordable housing exactions localities approach these things in different ways but the
principles usually the same and and there's not one type of affordable housing and you can't in effect charge an amount of money or require some sort of set aside penalizing one homeowner in the name of creating an opportunity for another and often what we also see anecdotally is that people don't want deed restricted housing because they recognize that it isn't going to help them gain future equity or value and so it actually is oftentimes not really getting to the people who really need help and so
making building one home more expensive to make another less expensive really defies logic and it limits choices for everybody and the state can again address this very proactively and so in conclusion I would just encourage everyone that a presumption of liberty of the freedom to build to remodel to provide housing through charitable means ensures that Americans can continue to thrive to invest in their families and their communities and to care for each other and so as my friends who've already sat up here today have said please see PLF as a resource
not only as you look at reforms but also for issues that may arise for constituents and you know we would love to be helpful we would love to help address these concerns um, in these communities there are they're very real for you and very real for the citizens you represent and so I want to thank you for your time the QR codes have my contact information and a handout of some of these mo reforms that I've discussed I'm happy to take any questions Sir Bryant you recognize us thank you you mentioned that the keylo decision
Senator Joshua Bryant
Unverified
1:55:43
out of Connecticut Supreme Court. I I think my research
back whenever we were looking at some imminent domain laws a couple of terms sessions ago Arkansas is one of a few states that did not adopt any state action based on that decision to basically prevent that type of decision from happening at a state level Do do you know where Arkansas stands regarding that decision and then is there any subsequent decisions that have passed through the courts that would deter us from even needing
Speaker 168
1:56:17
any type of legislation so I believe you are correct I can definitely double check and fill up with you on that that was not one of the cases that Pf litigated but I think we were amicus in that case and it did set off a wave around the country for anyone who's paying attention of states wanting to reform I am not aware of any other cases that would in in effect kind of undo the need to do this. I think that the private property restoration Act was which was a few slides back and was actually introduced
by the chair in 2024 is something that would really help you get at that issue if you're looking to pursue that but that's not just some definitely something I'm happy to do a little more
Chair
Unverified
1:57:04
digging on and follow up more online offline. right I don't see any other questions oh hang on I said Senator Johnson
Senator Mark Johnson
Unverified
1:57:11
you're recognized thank you Mr Chairman. I'll be quick Miss Lindgren thank you for that and it's a follow up on Senator Bryant's mention of Kelo
I you mentioned our constitutional sanction that sets property rights above all other rights and I like to think that that insulated us somewhat from a similar thing with kilo where you were basically saying that if we can take your property and eminent domain and tear it down and sell it to a developer that'll put in a more a higher assessed value property then that's a public purpose and I I I can't see how in
Arkansas with that constitutional provision that someone could say it could be a higher public purpose since we've we've defined in the constitution what that highest purpose is but I I will help my friend Senator Bryant if he wants to pass one that'll give us a little extra level of insurance on that but at the time that happened I remembered many people saying that that that provision in the Arkansas constitution protected us from that type of thing but
whatever you want to do senator we'll do it thank you Mr chairman thank you
Speaker 168
1:58:25
ma'am thank you and I'll just add to to respond to that quickly Arkansas does have very clear language like you said we have seen other states where similar challenges have arisen in states like Arizona which is one of the first ones to respond toquilo also has very similar provisions in its constitution but the legislature did want to act to clarify that they are paying attention and if that is something that you will want to do we're more than happy to help but you are correct there is very strong language in
the constitution and and so that is is a really good place to
Chair
Unverified
1:59:02
to be starting. thank you for that I just had a couple of questions to myself could you explain down zone and give us some examples of of what down zoning is and and what just
Speaker 168
1:59:15
compensation should or could be for that Sure absolutely so down zoning generally you think of it as it's related to uses and so
anytime your property use the usually the term is related to types of uses that are approved so usually and usually that's done through zoning right so the the concept of down zoning means you were at this level and you had 10 uses say that were already approved when you bought your property and now a new you know municipal code or county code or whatever it may be something at the state level has come in and has said oh now you can only have 8. so we've taken away two and so we see this a
lot of times come up in issues of mixed use where something was allowed for mixed use so you could have residential and commercial together you could you know you know be entrepreneurial with with what you were building and services you were providing and and then you know that changes right those that permission changes and so that is a devaluation of your property right now you've been limited as to what you can do you can maybe now only have a commercial spot you can maybe now only have residential it
could be things like taking away the right to have an ADU. I mean there are all sorts of things so basically every every use you have adds value to your property because it adds opportunity. So anytime that's taken away first of all we would we would love to see states say you can't do that unless there's a compelling government health and safety issue you know to do that but if they do it if they feel they need to move forward with some sort of rezoning or something then we believe that property owners constitutionally are entitled to receive
compensation and and that can be determined through appraisal processes so you would say something like you know at the date that this was this decision was made my my my you know the day before my property was assessed at this value now my property is being assessed at this value I'm owed the defence that that's a very simple way. there are other issues that have come up but that's the that's the most common one thank
Chair
Unverified
2:01:23
you for that one more quick one maybe byight development has been brought up
a few times this afternoon I think mostly in reference to church' building by right on on their property could you explain a little bit about that and and why if
Speaker 22
2:01:38
it's ok for a church it shouldn't be it shouldn't be OKok for any other property owner yeah
Speaker 178
2:01:45
I mean by right is is really as simple as it sounds so it it and it
Speaker 168
2:01:50
and what I want to stress about by ride is that it doesn't remove the ability it it doesn't remove permitting processes it doesn't remove you know, or health and safety regulations. it allows
localities to continue to have those but what it says is that if you have a process you have to apply it fairly so you cannot treat applicants differently who have done all the things you've paid the fees you've completed the application you have you've done all the assessments you've done whatever was required to receive a permit to move forward on whatever the project may be right? You could have something for development to a church wanting to to add some you know tiny homes to somebody is wanting to do are modeling project your family's growing you want to add a
bedroom. all of these types of things can be caught up in in these local processes and so the idea behind buy right approval is that if those processes have been set out and you have met them you and there are no you know, extenuating circumstances with public health and safety issues you can't treat projects differently so what we've what we hear around the country a lot of times in cities are you know 12 identical projects are happening in different parts of town and for whatever reason someone doesn't like something in this part of town this one
doesn't move forward but this one does but they've both done the same things. so this creates uncertainty right it creates a higher costs to create it it disincentivize investment and so the real principle behind it is if you're going to have to if you're going to have these rules you have to apply them fairly and so I think that's why it pairs so well with so many of the things that we've talked about today is you're looking at these issues you're trying to pair back but you're also trying to say where necessary to have these processes and regulations you have to be fair about it.
Chair
Unverified
2:03:33
thank you very much seeing no further questions your dismissed and no further business we are adjourned
Agenda
A. Call to Order
B. Consideration to Approve August 12, 2026, Meeting Minutes [Exhibit B]
C. Overview of Proposed Housing Policy Initiatives [Exhibit C] - Duke McLarty, Executive Director, Groundwork Arkansas
D. Presentation on Memphis Fire Code Changes in the International Code Council and International Residential Code [Exhibit D] - John Zeanah, Principal, Interval
E. Presentation on Housing Policy Changes in Other States and Localities [Exhibit E] - Tushar Kansasl, Senior Officer, Housing Policy, Pew Charitable Trusts
F. Presentation on Deregulation and Housing Policy [Exhibit F1-F2] - Kileen Lindgren, Senior State Policy Manager, Pacific Legal Foundation
G. Other Business
H. Adjournment
Documents
Speakers
Chair
Unverified
Representative R. Scott Richardson
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Speaker 32
Representative Denise Jones Ennett
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Senator Mark Johnson
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Speaker 56
Representative Matt Brown
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Senator Joshua Bryant
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Speaker 91
Representative Johnny Rye
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Speaker 86
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Speaker 133
Speaker 26
Speaker 137
Speaker 138
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Tashar Consul
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Speaker 157
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Speaker 168
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Speaker 22
Speaker 178