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State Preemption
The Virginia General Assembly has passed a bill that would allow localities to set speed limits as low as 15 miles per hour.
The Virginia Mercury
Feature
A proposed package of reforms working through the Connecticut Legislature would loosen zoning codes in a state traditionally committed to single-family zoning.
It's pandemic déjà vu in the Lone Star State, with local governments wanting to protect their constituents from an increase in viral transmission, a power preempted by Gov. Abbott's executive order. Attorney General Ken Paxton lost the first round.
Austin American-Statesman
A pied-à-terre tax proposed by New York State legislators faced the scrutiny of the Independent Budget Office.
The Real Deal
After the Twin Cities lowered speed limits in the urban core of the region in 2020, a trio of suburban cities are planning to follow. Two of the cities are planning to set some speed limits as low as 20 mph.
Star Tribune
The Washington State legislature will consider a number of bills this session that would alter planning and development in a state grappling with population growth and rising housing costs.
The Urbanist
Advocates have been calling for the New York State Legislature to legalize accessory dwelling units for years. A new law would take the first step.
New York ADU Legislation
A combination of factors including a lengthy appeals process and the cost of construction have led to huge disparities in the number of units allocated to each community.
Cal Matters
The city of Pasadena, known for innovative planning approaches to parking and transit-oriented development, is in a pitched battle with regional authorities over how much housing to build in the coming decade.
Pasadena News
Effective planning processes offer immense financial savings, and there's never been a more pressing need for both. The state of Washington is setting out to prove the planning dividend.
The Urbanist
The state of Oregon made planning history in 2019 by adopting House Bill 2001, paving the way for the state to preempt local exclusionary zoning laws. Now, over a year later, the state land use board has decided how to implement that goal.
Sightline Institute
California voters, with a reputation for liberal politics, have repeatedly refused to approve statewide rent control laws at the ballot box.
Los Angeles Times
New Jersey is now home to one of the "most stringent" environmental justice laws in the country.
Next City
Gregg Lintern, chief planner and executive director of the City Planning Division for Toronto, went before a city committee this week to press for a new inclusionary zoning scheme to ensure the construction of affordable housing.
The Star
Feature
President Trump has opinions about the sanctity of local control that don't agree with his other opinions about local control. This is a cautionary tale.
Another year, another defeat for sweeping changes to the status quo of single-family zoning in the state of California. SB 1120 would have allowed duplexes in areas previously zoned for detached single family zoning.
Los Angeles Times
Shortly after a private White House report blasted Georgia's pandemic response, Gov. Brian Kemp issued an executive order allowing cities and counties to impose requirements on mask-wearing. The report was leaked to The Atlanta-Journal Constitution.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
L.A. City Councilmembers Herb Wesson and Paul Koretz register opposition to SB 1120, calling the bill an attack on the residential integrity throughout the state of California.
The Planning Report
The Vermont State Senate voted unanimously to approve legislation that would reduce barriers to more compact residential development. The Vermont House of Representatives is up next.
CNU Public Square
The first shelter-at-home order issued in the pandemic's resurgence in the U.S. took effect Wednesday morning in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas, an overwhelmingly Latino region that has been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus.
The Monitor
