Utahns weigh in on land issues

During the last legislative session, the Realtors association was one of many groups advocating for SB170, a bill that would have changed municipal land-use decisions to benefit individual landowners. The bill's sponsor, then-Sen. Al Mansell, R-Sandy, who at the time was head of the National Association of Realtors, said it was meant to send a message to cities to follow land-use laws.

The league and local planners opposed SB170, saying it was too restrictive and punitive and would take planning out of the hands of local governments.

The measure never received a hearing. Two replacement bills were instead passed. One added authority to the office of the Utah property-rights ombudsman to hear cases between municipalities and developers. The second required that local governments provide more information to people asking for a land-use decision.

Lincoln Shurtz, legislative analyst for the league, said his group and the Realtors are now working on legislation to remedy some of the issues raised with SB170 about land use.

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