Salt Lake City's Expanding Housing Options

What's in the city's plan?

Allows reduction of single-family lots to 2,000 square feet.
Permits multiple 1,200 square foot housing units next to existing single-family homes.
Includes 77% of SLC’s residentially zoned housing inventory.
Shrinks front setbacks – the distance from the sidewalk to the building – from 35 feet in most single-family neighborhoods to 10 feet.
Maximum building heights would increase to 30 feet.
No planning application or restrictive covenants are required. Can be built "by right" with no neighborhood or neighboring property notice.
Requires only one off-street parking space for each housing unit. Single family homes require two.
Permit duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes anywhere on a residential block.
Would allow two new housing units -- to the front and back of an existing single family home -- to be built on that existing single family lot. One community leader called this "weird."

The policy would allow single family homes to be demolished and carved into 2,000 sq. ft. lots for 1,200 sq. ft. housing units. Duplexes or other dense housing could also be built.
77% of Salt Lake's residential housing would be affected by the code.
Standard 20-35 foot front yard setbacks (from sidewalk to building) would be reduced to 10 feet -- incongruent with existing residential neighborhood patterns.
New housing structures would be allowed that are out of scale with mature single family zones creating loss of neighborhood character. No set design standards, only encouragement.
Since units built under the EHO code are not deed restricted requiring owner occupancy, commercial investors could easily outbid average homeowners, transitioning these neighborhoods into rental properties.
Promoted as family housing, it’s highly unlikely these small units would appeal to growing families with children.
Older, smaller homes will become attractive teardown opportunities leading to more land speculation and a loss of neighborhood cohesion, especially on the westside.
Loss of garage space and liberal parking requirements will lead to more cars parked on neighborhood streets.
There will be loss of mature trees and open spaces to accommodate small lots and dense housing.