Bill to Create “Housing Approval Board” with Authority to Overturn Local Land Use Decisions Fails

By a vote of 15 to 0, the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee passed by indefinitely HB 2641 (Helmer). The legislation would have established a three-member Housing Approval Board with authority to overturn local land use decisions and to automatically approve such applications that will have the effect of increasing the supply of housing in a locality, if a locality has not made a “good faith effort” to meet required housing targets of at least 7.5 percent over the five-year period beginning January 1, 2027.

The legislation also would have required every locality to develop a housing growth plan to include at least three of the following nine actions to be “deemed” at making a “good faith effort” to meet housing targets:

1. Eliminate minimum lot size requirements or reduce such requirements by at least 25 percent.
2. Increase building height limits for dwelling units by at least 25 percent.
3. Simplify the permitting procedures for multifamily housing and shorten the average time to receive final approval for multifamily housing projects by at least 25 percent.
4. Modify zoning ordinances to allow for high-density housing, including multifamily units such as apartments and condominiums, on land previously zoned for single-family use.
5. Allow multifamily housing as a permitted use on all lots where office, retail, or commercial is the primary permitted use.
6. Rezone land for higher-density housing near transit stations, places of employment, higher education facilities, and other appropriate population centers.
7. Implement a plan to repurpose underutilized office parks and strip malls for multifamily housing.
8. Eliminate requirements for off-street parking minimums per dwelling unit or reduce such requirements by at least 25 percent.
9. Eliminate aesthetic, material, shape, bulk, size, floor area, and other massing requirements for multifamily developments.

VACo opposed the legislation as a preemption of local land use authority that creates an unnecessary bureaucracy at the state level with policies and targets for affordable housing that are more appropriate for localities and regions to establish.

VACo Contact: Joe Lerch, AICP