At the Georgia Capitol, a battle is underway over how localities regulate housing in their communities. And it’s tied up with the state’s affordable housing crisis.
Driving the news: The sponsor of the “Georgia Homeowner Opportunity Act,” Rep. Dale Washburn (R-Macon), argues it would protect homeowners’ “freedom” and by preventing certain design restrictions, ultimately expand the affordable housing supply.
Why it matters: City and county officials have teamed up to fight what they call a threat to local governance. It would not, they argue, improve housing affordability.
- “No one knows what will work better than the people who live in a community,” testified College Park Mayor Bianca Motley Broom.
What’s happening: Washburn, a veteran of the real estate industry, said he brought the bill because governments are “overly restrictive on housing production.” The bill’s heavy-hitting supporters include the state Home Builders Association, Chamber of Commerce and Habitat for Humanity and Kia Georgia.
- The bill says localities would no longer be able to regulate design standards like roof material, house color, foundation structure, lot size and lot width minimums.
- “The intention is to take away the ability to make choices for a homeowner in the interest of: ‘Well, we don’t like vinyl siding in this county so we’re not going to allow vinyl siding,'” Washburn testified in committee Tuesday.
- Kia Georgia president and CEO Stuart Countess said in a statement a shortage of affordable housing has impacted recruiting. They support the legislation, he said, because “more must been done to streamline the administrative processes” while “reducing mandates that inflate the costs.”
Zoom in: NW Metro Atlanta Habitat director Jessica Gill testified about a 12-house project she had to cancel after Cobb County added expensive stipulations, including second stories and a minimum square footage.
- “Where they’re trying to keep out bad actors, they’re keeping out good actors like us,” Habitat…
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