Chair King, Vice Chair Kishman, Ranking Member Sims and members of the House Local Government Committee, thank you for affording me the opportunity to testify on House Bill 361, legislation seeking to make important changes to building reviews, local regulations, and zoning.
My name is Jason Warner. I am the Director of Strategic Engagement at the Greater Ohio Policy Center (GOPC). GOPC is Ohio’s leading advocate for urban revitalization and sustainable growth, working to improve the communities of Ohio through smart growth strategies and research.
Nearly every community in Ohio struggles with an insufficient inventory of quality, affordably priced homes. This creates immense pressure on the entire housing market, driving up prices and keeping the dream of homeownership from thousands of Ohioans.
To help build stronger communities, Ohio needs building and zoning codes that keep up with innovation. A range of states, including Montana, New Hampshire, and Texas, have modernized codes to remove unnecessary mandates, lower development costs, and encourage new builds. Ohio must do the same.
At the same time, outdated zoning adds time and costs to housing projects. In some cases, current zoning prohibits much needed housing that Ohioans want.
GOPC sees the efforts undertaken by Reps. Lorenz and Fisher in HB361 as critical first steps in addressing these long-term challenges, which still ensuring that these decisions remain community-driven, locally developed policies.
We also applaud the efforts of the sponsors to act to speed up and lower the costs associated with building inspections. Given the pressures the housing market is facing, this is an important step that can help to eliminate costly delays and move along the process of developing needed housing around the state.
Speeding along the development and approval process is one of the reasons why GOPC has been working for the past two years with our partners at the Ohio Realtors© to promote preapproved housing development around the state – and we see the same intention behind the provisions of HB361 to help to speed-up the process of development for quality, accessible housing throughout the state.
Finally, we are strongly in support of the recent changes incorporated into the substitute bill the committee accepted last week that includes a legal definition of comprehensive planning in Ohio.
Ohio is one of just ten states that does not require any jurisdiction to engage in comprehensive planning. Over the years, there have been several judicial cases that have determined that the preparation of a zoning map constitutes the preparation of a comprehensive plan, yet the Ohio Revised Code does not currently define what a comprehensive plan is.
The language added to HB361 addresses this important discrepancy in state law and will help to prepare the state for the future. Given the unprecedented challenges related to the economy, housing, and more, all of which share our ability to responsibly grow and prosper, it is critical that localities are armed with state support and guidance to meet these challenges.
A clear definition of a comprehensive plan will help state agencies prioritize funding requests to communities ready for investment and best positioned to capitalize on it, while also promoting fiscal responsibility to ensure state dollars are invested toward a long-term vision rather than near-sighted objectives.
Chair King and members of the Local Government Committee, thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on House Bill 361. We appreciate the opportunity to share our thoughts on the legislation.