Salt Lake City Could Allow Backyard Homes on up to 3/4 of Residential Lots

Salt Lake City could expand the housing types residents can build on residential lots, reports Tony Semerad in The Salt Lake Tribune.

According to Semerad, “The proposal would permit owners of single-family homes on larger lots to add smaller homes, duplexes, triplexes, four-plexes, town homes and other dwellings to their properties by right and without application at City Hall.” 

The change would affect over 40,000 lots citywide, excluding parts of the downtown core, and allow backyard homes on lots as small as 2,000 square feet. It would require property owners to build one parking spot per unit and provide alley access, where available. “The packages of zoning and design changes would also make easier to understand the city’s rules on setbacks, and how much of an existing home lot these new homes can occupy — all with the aim of enticing more construction.”

The plan is a shift in the city’s housing strategy, which has been targeting higher- and middle-density neighborhoods for increased housing production. Roughly 86 percent of Salt Lake City renting households would be unable to buy a home. “One big caveat: A top city planner says about two-thirds of the city’s 40,235 properties that could be affected these zoning rules will face other constraints that will likely make them ineligible for new home construction of this kind.”