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Utah lawmakers eye public lands for housing construction

Federal legislation proposed by Sen. Mike Lee could help the state’s affordable housing, proponents say.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) A recreational complex, with parks, trails and a charter school has been proposed on public land by private developers, near Toquerville west of Interstate 15, on Thursday, May 12, 2022.

  | Feb. 2, 2024, 1:00 p.m.

Utah has more than 22 million acres of public land and some lawmakers want to see those open spaces turned into housing developments.

Rep. Ivory, R-West Jordan, sponsored HJR19, a resolution supporting a piece of federal legislation called the Helping Open Underutilized Space to Ensure Shelter (HOUSES) Act. Ivory is a manager for two real estate affiliated companies — Mission Property Management and 9615 Property Management — according to his financial disclosure form.

“We’ve learned that about 150,000 acres of federal lands are within city boundaries,” Ivory told the House Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Committee on Thursday evening. “There’s another about 600,000 acres that are within a mile of city limits.”

The HOUSES Act, sponsored by Utah Sen. Mike Lee last year would open up certain public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management to housing developers. Some critics of the legislation note that it doesn’t require those homes to be affordable, calling it a “McMansion Subsidy Act.”

The proposal would require that 85% of public lands sold be used for residential development and that 4 homes be built per acre. The other 15% could be used for commercial businesses or “other needs of potential communities.”

“We talk a lot about housing affordability, and the need to help with the affordability of housing,” Ivory said, and part of that issue, obviously, we know the basics of supply and demand.”

The House Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Committee voted in favor of the bill unanimously.