After months of discussions, debates and neighborhood infighting, the Salt Lake City Council has begun moving toward a long-awaited update to its single-family zoning code after years of growing unaffordability and families fleeing the city for the suburbs.
The Expanding Housing Options (EHO) initiative would allow for small-lot dwellings of up to 1,700 square feet to be built on lots as small as 2,000 square feet.
The thought process behind the initiative is simple — land costs are high and smaller lots cost less. Allowing these types of dwellings by-right would allow the structures to be built more quickly without needing approvals from levels of city bureaucracy. Other cities around the country, like Durham, North Carolina, have seen success with adopting this approach…