The state of Wyoming may take a more active role in promoting building more affordable housing in communities around the Cowboy State.
The Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee unanimously advanced legislation when it met this week that clarifies state-owned land can be used for residential purposes.
The bill also says that if state lands were to be sold or traded, it would in some areas prioritize affordable housing to promote economic welfare, stimulate employment and augment tax revenue. When leasing state land for residential purposes, the Wyoming Board of Land Commissioners must prioritize affordable housing projects on state lands that are directly adjacent to or that directly border municipal boundaries.
The legislation is a result of increased pressure in areas around the state with serious affordable housing shortages, like Jackson and Laramie. However, critics say those are local issues and that the state shouldn’t set itself up to be in the residential landlord business.
Mostly Clarifying It’s Legal
Most aspects of the bill provide a clarification to current laws rather than create anything brand new, a point Sen. Brian Boner, R-Douglas, questioned.
Jason Crowder, deputy director of the Office of State Lands and Investments (OSLI), agreed and said the board can already lease state land for residential purposes, mentioning how there are farmsteads allowed across the state under the purview of grazing leases, as well as long-term cabin leases.
“If, just looking at those two examples, that tells us we can do something in the much longer term and don’t really need any changes to statute to allow us to do that right now,” he said.
Crowder also said OSLI has flexibility to acquire or set aside land for a local municipality and hold it as a land bank until a local developer is ready to lease or buy the land.
But he also clarified that the concept of building or managing a residential housing development on state lands is new and the land commissioners may want to develop a set of new rules for these types of projects.
“Does the state, and particularly the state land office, want to be the owner of that land for the next 20 or 30 years?” he questioned. “That’s something we need some more flexibility on and maybe some more thought process around.”
Under the Wyoming Constitution, the Board of Land Commissioners is required to manage state lands in a way that generates the most “proceeds” possible for the state.
The draft bill attempts to address the “proceeds” clause, clarifying that the development of affordable housing fits this constitutional requirement as it is in the public interest of the people of Wyoming.
Rep. Mike Yin, D-Jackson, said the driving purpose behind the bill was to create a stronger constitutional basis for the leasing or selling of state-owned land to the clause of the Constitution providing aid to the poor.
The committee removed language from the bill clarifying that land commissioners can acquire land from the federal government for the purpose of leasing it for residential homes, and that any land received in an exchange from the federal government does not have to be in the same area as the land given to the federal government.
Boner said he doesn’t want to send a message to land commissioners that exchanges for housing would be given a priority over mineral development.
“I think we need to bear in mind all of the potential situations where we need to exchange land with the federal government,” he said.
Another new change the bill creates is to bump the maximum lease time for state lands to 99 years to help encourage banks to approve more mortgages for affordable housing projects.
Should The State Be A Landlord?
Chad Auer, senior policy advisor for Gov. Mark Gordon, said the governor supports the legislation, as does the Wyoming Association of Municipalities.
Former interim Secretary of State Karl Allred offered a different opinion, arguing that affordable housing and the government shouldn’t mix. He mentioned a current arrangement in Evanston where the city manages an affordable housing complex.
“Every landlord in town is pissed off about that because they’re competing with their own tax dollars,” he said. “When the government gets involved, now you’re competing using the people’s tax dollars with people who are in the business of being a landlord.”
Cheyenne Democratic state Senate candidate Marguerite Herman recommended that the preference language be removed from the bill, mentioning how the original purpose of state land was to generate income to support Wyoming’s public schools. She wants the state to continue to seek as much revenue as it can without giving any preferences for affordable or low-income housing.
“This section is at best premature,” she said. “Designating a residential setup and picking winners and losers is premature at this time.”
Sen. Bill Landen, R-Casper, supports the bill and said Wyoming might be a little bit behind on the trend of using public lands for affordable and low-income housing, something that’s happening in Utah, New Mexico, Washington and Colorado. He said some other states are also actively petitioning the federal government for land to serve this purpose and suggested Wyoming might want to take a similar approach.
Crowder warned that this example isn’t always an apples-to-apples comparison as some neighboring states like Colorado and Utah have a much greater need for affordable housing than Wyoming.
“Our populations are a little bit different, but that’s not to say there isn’t opportunities where the federal government does own land where we could move into those affordable housing-type development scenarios and allow a community to grow and create a more affordable scenario,” Crowder said.
What About Wildlife And Public Access?
Although it supports affordable housing efforts, the Wyoming Outdoor Council suggested some changes to the bill, which were approved.
Meghan Riley, wildlife program manager for the Outdoor Council, encouraged the committee to consider an amendment that preserves existing access through the new residential properties to other public land parcels.
“I think a lot of people in my community would be upset and shocked if they lost that access,” she said. “Clearly, providing affordable housing is in the public interest, so too are remaining access to public land and supporting the health of our wildlife populations.”
Riley also said the committee should not lease state land in areas of sensitive wildlife habitat as designated by Wyoming Game and Fish. Riley said similar accommodations already occur for state lands leasing.
Boner argued that these areas are already protected by state executive orders, which Crowder confirmed.
Building Restrictions
The committee also advanced by a 6-5 vote a bill to regulate what restrictions towns and counties can put on building permits in Wyoming.
The bill was prompted by state Sen. Charles Scott, R-Casper, who said there’s been too many restrictions made on building by local governments, which he believes inhibits the development of affordable housing.
“Frankly, I think this bill is a step in the right direction and I would hope we would carry it forward,” he said. “I think the way out of our problem is in good part reducing some of the regulations that have made affordable housing impractical need to be dealt with.”
Teton County, the Wyoming Association of Municipalities and Wyoming County Commissioners Association did not agree and opposed the bill for a several reasons.
Bob McLaurin, legislative manager for the Association of Municipalities, said although his group believes the bill is well-intended, it doesn’t believe it will help the affordable housing crunch and said many Wyoming cities are following the intent of the bill.
“We believe local decisions are made best by local officials,” McLaurin said. “We respectfully ask that local decisions be made by local elected officials.”
The bill states that no city or town can prohibit who applies for a building permit.
Jerimiah Rieman, executive director of the County Commissioners Association, found fault with this stipulation, mentioning the recent mayoral campaign of an artificially intelligent bot in Cheyenne and how a local government might not be able to similarly prevent an AI source from applying for a building permit.
The bill also prohibits the charging fees that exceed the “reasonably anticipated administrative costs” to issue a building permit.
Yin said he supports some of the restrictions in the bill but still couldn’t accept it as written.
Rep. Cody Wylie, R-Rock Springs, agreed.
“I think we’re possibly getting into the realm of using a broad brush,” he said.
Laramie resident Brett Glass supports the bill and sees it as a solution for affordable housing problems. He mentioned a restriction in the city of Laramie on who can be granted a building permit that he believes has hindered development there.
Under the bill, local governments would also be prohibited from requiring single-family residences be built with a garage.
“Really it’s for the people, it’s not for the cities and it’s not for the counties,” Allred said. “This restricts a couple of possible items that the cities could use negatively towards the people.”
Determining the height and size of buildings, the percentage of a lot that may be occupied, density of population, location and use of buildings, structures, land for trade, industry, and use of properties would still be up to local discretion.
The Southeast Wyoming Builders Association has identified density as the crux of the problem with building affordable housing, arguing that most requirements make it unprofitable to pursue. Scott seemed to agree, saying the bill doesn’t go far enough in this regard.
“Let the market take care of where it’s appropriate to have higher lot sizes,” he said.
Rental Regulations
The committee also discussed a bill that would require residential rental units in Wyoming be defined as housing with the same tenant at least six months of the year and forbid local governments from regulating them. Laramie City Manager Janine Jordan warned that the bill would make housing more, not less restrictive in Laramie.
She said 611 new housing units were built in Laramie over the last six to seven years as a result of the town’s efforts to reduce regulation.
“Laramie is open to business and we have been dealing with reducing regulation for nearly a decade now,” she said.
Jordan said one in five renters in Laramie are considered “income distressed,” making 30%-50% of the area’s median income.
The County Commissioners Association also opposed the legislation.
Yin, Wylie and Landen opposed the bill, arguing it increases state government regulation over local interests.
“I trust our local officials to address the issues that are unique to their cities and towns,” Landen said.
The bill was rejected for sponsorship by the committee on a 6-5 vote.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
