(The Center Square) – A bill making its way through the Arizona Legislature could make land available faster for housing and reduce costs for developers, according to a zoning expert.
The Arizona House passed House Bill 2100 last month, which makes it easier for rural parts of Arizona to develop housing lots. The bill is now in the Senate, but it has not been assigned to a committee.
HB 2100, which was introduced by Rep. Gail Griffin, R-Tucson, creates a new category for small land subdivision, which is property divided between six and 10 lots. The new category would apply to sites that are two or more acres.
Under the bill, the state would no longer treat developments with six to 10 lots as full subdivisions.
The bill gives counties the option to implement it if it becomes law.
Jason Morris, a founding partner of the Phoenix law firm Withey Morris Baugh PLC, said HB 2100 allows small subdivision plots to come to market a year earlier at a much lower cost because they don’t have to go through the normal subdivision process.
If someone is able to create a small subdivision that doesn’t have to go through the normal subdivision regulations, then it will create less expensive home sites, the zoning lawyer told The Center Square.
“It’s actually an innovative solution,” he noted.
In Arizona, without this legislation, people who are interested in doing lot splits on a 15-acre or 20-acre parcel, depending on the regulations where their property is located, may immediately run into regulations, making them create a “full-blown subdivision,” Morris noted.
When this occurs, people will have to build roads and provide for sewers and water, he said.
Provided they have access to groundwater, rural areas in northern and southern parts of Arizona could take advantage of the new legislation, Morris said.
He added that “county islands,” which are unincorporated areas within incorporated cities, could take advantage of HB 2100 to create extra housing. He noted this could mean more homes around Phoenix.
The lawyer said the bill is something a small landowner will look to take advantage of, rather than a national home builder.
If this bill becomes law, Morris said it would return land development in Arizona to how it used to be. He said Arizona got away from this type of land development because it ran into issues ensuring roadways were platted and maintained.
Arizona began changing how it handled lot splits in the 1990s, he noted.
Morris said he thinks HB 2100 is a “good middle ground between where things were historically and where things are today to create a common sense alternative.”
The legislation comes with a set of requirements.
The bill says before developer sells land in these new small land subdivisions, they must file a disclosure report. The report would include information about the property, including road maintenance status, environmental risks, zoning, water supply, utilities and infrastructure such as a septic system or a well.
If Arizona approves the disclosure report, a developer can start selling the land, HB 2100 states.
The bill says if developers sells their lots without filing proper paperwork, they may face up to a $5,000 fine per violation.
If developers lie or omit certain details in a disclosure report, HB 2100 allows buyers to take legal action against them.
