Meeting Public Comments

Names and comments are public records. Remaining information is considered a confidential record.

Comments Submitted:

02-24-2025

Phoebe Neseth [Community Associations Institute (CAI) ]

On behalf of Community Associations Institute (CAI) and approximately 295,000 Iowans living in 121,700 homes in nearly 3,000 community associations across the Hawkeye State, thank you for the opportunity to share comments related to HSB 162 A bill for an act relating to county and city regulation of accessory dwelling units.Please see the attached letter expressing support for this legislation. Thank you.

Attachment

02-26-2025

Linda Schemmel [SELF]

Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) can be a valuable tool for expanding housing options while preserving the character of singlefamily neighborhoods. When kept truly "accessory" in nature and function, ADUs provide a balanced approach to increasing density without fundamentally altering neighborhood character.However, House Study Bill 162 undermines this balance by allowing ADUs to be indistinguishable in size and function from primary dwellings. This effectively erodes the distinction between singlefamily and multifamily development, raising concerns about overintensification, infrastructure strain, and changes in neighborhood character. Additionally, treating ADUs as fullscale dwellings risks inflating property valuations to reflect incomegenerating multifamily properties rather than singlefamily home, contrary to the goal of increasing housing affordability.The bill is based on the most restrictive version of AARPs ADU Model State Act, requiring communities to modify their code to allow ADUs and imposes sweeping preemptive regulations on local jurisdictions. Addressing housing affordability requires empowering local governments to tailor solutions to their unique needs, rather than imposing a onesizefitsall state mandate. Local communities play a crucial role in implementing housing reforms, and this legislation limits their ability to adopt innovative, contextsensitive solutions.Key questions remain: What are the bills specific goals? How will success be measured? The AARP Model Act includes monitoring provisions, yet none are included in this bill. A more effective approach would be to adopt a minimal version of the model act and establish a pilot program with diverse communities testing different regulatory approaches. This datadriven strategy would allow Iowa to identify the most effective policies for increasing housing supply and choice.I urge legislators to reconsider this bills approach and prioritize solutions that respect both housing needs and local decisionmaking.

02-26-2025

Jessica Drake [City of Van Meter]

Legislation that requires a City to pass an ordinance allowing a minimum of one accessory dwelling unit is problematic and unfair to local governments for a variety of reasons. In communities in which single family zoning is the primary residential zoning, the ordinance would be in direct conflict with the current zoning language prohibiting more than one single family dwelling on a specific lot size and is impactful to the setbacks and other building codes tied to single family zoning districts as more structures placed on a lot impact setbacks and placement of structures, potentially resulting in a greater expense incurred by cities during a building permit review process. From a utility billing stand point, this creates additional burden on city administrative and public works staff as each utility service should be billed as a separate account and should be subject to the same rules and regulations as any other single family residence. Many cities have code that requires independent services for water and sewer, requiring that each individual structure be supplied from an independent tap from the main so that each structure has the ability to be shut off independently of each other. Legislation requiring a city to allow ADUs would be in direct conflict with certain water and sewer codes & will cause significant infrastructure strain. No where in the proposed bill is property valuation addressed. There should be a valuation assigned to ADUs, regardless of whether a city is a required to allow them or not. By creating essentially an additional single family residence and not creating a mechanism for property taxation on that structure, this bill would essentially stipulate that all AUDs automatically receive tax abatement without input or consideration from any local authority, which is impactful not only to the city but to the county, schools, community colleges and other taxing entities. This also reshapes the landscape of single family housing and the intent set out by city's in their comprehensive plan. A city or county's decision to allow or disallow ADUs should be a local decision, set by local policymakers.