Last month POTUS would and did not sign the major housing reform bill, hailed as ‘the biggest housing bill in decades.  Instead, it became law 10 days after it passed through congress and condos around the country are facing some major changes via new lending and insurance requirements. The bill was written in part due to the collapse of the Surfside Condos in Florida in 2021 and authorities shared with Congress committees what’s going on with the dangers of older buildings around the country and lack of housing options.

Example: Did you know that one in seven homes in Florida is for sale, and that they only have eight percent of homes in the U.S.? Most of that inventory is condos and now government regulations have been changed to meet new HOA requirements across the country, not just Florida. A University of Miami-led study found that 35 high-rise condos and hotels along a 12-mile stretch of Miami Beach to Sunny Isles Beach have been sinking or settling between .8 and 3.1 inches over the past seven years including the Trump International Beach Resorts there.

As an example, under the new legislation, if your building is super old and needs all new plumbing and you learn through the HOA meeting/minutes that the bid to replace it is $10mil for 100 units. If the repairs haven’t been paid for by your HOA dues/HOA management, you might not be able to get a loan on the unit or refinance it.  Also, monthly reserve requirements for HOA’s are going up from 10% to 15% and that deductibles will be capped for damage/repairs at $50,000 per unit. Reserves are like a savings account wherein a part of your monthly HOA fees gets deposited in case repairs are needed in a building. Note that insurance costs in some buildings around the country have gone up 60%, which is passed along to condo owners through monthly HOA fees. Insurance companies are averaging an eight percent increase this year in policies overall, but up to 27% in some states. The HOA pays for insurance on your building, but you insure your contents here in Utah.

The good parts of the new bill are that the law streamlines federal environmental reviews for office-to-residential conversions and infill projects that can help shorten permitting timelines for condo developments in mixed-use or infill areas in urban locations. There’s a housing crisis around the country and condos can be a cheaper purchase option than a home. The bill also lifted the Rental Assistance Demonstration program cap by 100,000 units and authorized a new Moving to Work program that might help financing for affordable condo projects and units.

My favorite part of the bill is that it now restricts large institutional investors from buying massive numbers of single-family homes. It doesn’t necessarily target condo purchases but single-family home buys, which could end up influencing condo demand and rental pricing in the long run.

I remember back when I served (8 years!) as a volunteer Planning and Zoning Commissioner for Salt Lake City. It was one of the most interesting and educational experiences I’ve ever had. Besides learning about past, present and future planning laws and trends I learned a great deal about my city.  At one meeting an out-of-state consultant had been brought in as an expert in ‘green spaces’ in cities. He had not ever traveled here, but when asked in our public hearing about adding more green spaces to our city and county he laughed and said, “Why do you need more when it’s a 15-minute drive or 30-minute bike ride to the hills and mountains around here?!”

Ali Vallarta, host of City Cast Salt Lake podcast spent two years documenting every single public park in Salt Lake County and found there were a total of 511 of them. She found in her study that 69% of the parks didn’t have year-round public bathroom access, that only 15 of the parks have full family amenities and that a quarter of county households are not within walking distance to a park. Walking or biking to a park was a major amenity planned for all of Daybreak and that may be one of the reasons the massive development under the eye of the copper mine is so popular as a place to live.  There is a park, path, and playground area within 5 minutes of any home out there and there are plans for much more in their future development plans.

The downtown Farmers Market at our historic Pioneer Park started this past weekend and folks were surprised to see the north end of the park closed and all the streets around it (except 300 West) were closed to cars and only good for pedestrians during the market hours.  Pioneer Park is seeing massive improvements to the tune of almost $20 million paid for by Salt Lake City. There will eventually be a fountain and main pavilion, pickleball and basketball courts, a better dog park and playground.

Liberty Park, our second largest public green space, is also undergoing significant improvements in the next 20 years. There are massive plans to preserve and repair some of the historic buildings, take out dying trees and planting better ones for our climate, adding and expanding indoor and outdoor gardens, putting in a new greenhouse, expansion of “Liberty Lake” with a boardwalk and trail. Currently the Rotary Play Park, an all-age, all-abilities playground, is being rebuilt with new swings, climbing towers, shaded seating and picnic areas. They are also working on the Seven Canyons water feature that may become a dry art installation that will use light, sound and sculpture to engage visitors…but no water will run through it.

Summer is here and for a list of the parks to discover and enjoy that Vallarta found, go to:

saltlake.citycast.fm/parks/visiting-every-park-in-salt-lake-county

Making Summer plans yet? Many folks will travel out of town this season, but due to high gas prices and airline tickets, others will staycations instead. There is a lot to see and do this year in the capitol city and I’m excited about visiting some of the new attractions.

‘Bug World’ is an immersive, larger-than-life world where insects reign supreme at the Natural History Museum of Utah just south of the U of U campus in Research Park.  This new exhibit has bugs the size of cars that helps show the real-life abilities of bugs. The traveling show was created by the Museum of New Zealand and was built by special effect masters who helped create The Lord of the Rings and Avatar. These replicas help show the superhero-like abilities of insects, from the lighting speed of dragonflies to the defense tactics of Japanese honeybees. There are actual bug specimens to explore and the whole show is a visual delight for adults and kids alike. Book tickets for museum the nhmu.utah.

The brand-new Museum of Utah will have its grand opening June 27. It’s located at 450 N. State Street behind the state capitol building, is free to the public and will be open seven days a week. Wait until you see the interior stained-glass dome with a history of Utah in 12 panels. In one of the new galleries, from Summer 2026 to Spring 2027 will be “The Past is Personal”, an exhibit that urges visitors to consider their role in our nation’s history as we mark 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  Drawing upon the Utah Historical Society’s semi quincentennial project, the Peoples of Utah Revisited, this exhibit broadens the lens on Utah’s history and shares the stories of the past through the present. We, the people of Utah, own a lot of historical stuff, and this first state history museum is an extension of the Utah Historical Society who has helped collect our stuff and stories and there will be four floors of rotating displays in this new North Capitol Building. It was just announced that the Mormon Meteor III, a racing car legend on the Salt Flats will have a permanent home now at the museum. The 14,000-piece new stained glass dome of Utah landscapes will blow your mind with the beauty of glass.  Museumofutah.com

I recently discovered the Land Cruiser Heritage Museum under the 600 North viaduct (467 W. 600 N.).  Although it’s expensive, at $20 a person it’s a fun experience that celebrates the legacy of the Land Cruiser in both design and function with over 100 vehicles in a tight but user-friendly display. There are models from the 1950’s to the present, including the first car of its kind ever sold in the U.S., the first four-wheeled vehicle to traverse all seven continents, and right-hand drive diesel imports. If you’re a gear head, you will love this place! Landcruiserhm.com

SLC has three residential zoning areas, ranging from very low-density single-family areas to high density areas for multi-family dwellings. There are actually 12 residential zones as part of the City’s total of 30 zoning classifications that also include commercial, industrial and special purpose areas. Each zone allows for different activities and supposedly helps prevent conflicts between different uses. You don’t want a noisy, stinky factory next door to your home or as was seen in the ‘80’s and 90’s in Draper, a pig farm next door to your new housing subdivision.

The capitol city has been looking at updating zoning rules as of late and especially those that pertain to single family living regulations. Right now, there are three main zones for homes, with rules that state a new home must be built on 5,000-12,000 square foot lots. Unless you’re a major gardener, have need for a massive garage or workshop, many people don’t use much of their rear yards and the trend now is to build accessory dwelling units on that unused land.  Up until a few years ago there were very few laws that would allow for such density but facing a massive housing crunch now and in our future, citizens and city leaders are now putting together proposed new rules that would make adding housing inventory easier than ever before with loosening and regulating adding mini-homes/ADUs in the city.

St. George/Washington County where I often work has had a long-standing OK for ADU’s (aka ‘casitas’) as long as the structure abides by rules covering the size, height, parking, lot requirements and rental use for such in-law/guest house units. Since the area is known for retirees, it makes sense to have extra living space for family members and caretakers for seniors to live, and live affordably. Most of the homes with casitas that I’ve shown and sold have these mini homes in the rear yard and they often look (architecturally) like them main home. They often have around 800-1000 sq. ft, 1-2 bedrooms, 1-2 bathrooms and an open kitchen and great room, but no basement. Parking is sometimes in a third space to the primary home or on the street. Unless you walked into the rear yard you might not even know the second dwelling is there!

If you want to add such a dwelling, call SLC Planning and Zoning at 801-535-7700 or go online at zoning@slc.gov to read the current rules and regulations. Although the city doesn’t know how many ADU’s there currently are, they do put out an annual report about applications and the process updates. If you’re really really interested, you can attend Planning and Zoning public meetings held monthly at the city or watch them on slc.gov television with their live streams on slctv on their YouTube channel.  You can also subscribe to the live meetings of the City Council, CRA Board and Historic Landmarks Commission meetings as well.

I recently filmed some social media (@thebabsdelay) about purging your spurge. Most folks I’ve talked to had no idea that this plant known as Myrtle Spurge (aka: Donkey Tail or Burro Tail)  grows low to the ground and thrives in crappy soils, looks like a pleasing silvery succulent and has lovely little yellow flowers this time of year is a wonderful …and deadly…landscaping addition to their properties. It is proliffic in the foothills and in arid areas of the state, but it’s an invasive species found within our borders not native but found in southeastern Europe, parts of Asia Minor and the Mediterranean region. It came to Utah back in the last century and was valued by landscapers and home gardeners for it’s attractive foliage, low water needs and ability to grow in bad soil. Utah nursuries promoted it as a ‘waterwise’ ornamental perennial, a unique new plant that ticked off all the good things it could offer homeowners. It even won the UK’s Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit which gave it credibility that helped sales here in the U.S. Sadly, the spurge spread out from homes to open areas which is logical, as seeds from the plant blast out up to 15 feet once the pods open.  Of course birds eat the seeds and poop them out all over residential and open lands areas of the state which feeds the vicious growth cycle of the spurge.

So what’s bad about myrtle spurge? Simply put, it crowds out native plants by forming dense patches of it, destablizes the soil underneath, and reduces biodiversity. Worse, it’s abundant milky white sap is toxic to both humans and animals. It’s easy to dig up as the roots aren’t deep, but you must use some kind of gloves and protect your mouth and eyes. And utahweed.org says that herbicides can be effective to purge this plant from your yard. It has become a Class 4 Noxious Weed, which bans the sale or propagation of the plant.

There are plenty of other invasive plant species in our state, including cheatgrass, tumbleweeds, giant canes (sucking up water like crazy), bromes, some types of thistles, tamarisk (found along the Green, and Colorado River banks as well as around Utah Lake and Farmington Bay). Besides plants, there are also invasive animal species like Rock pigeons, American bullfrogs and the Fox Squirrels who not only compete with native species but can introduce diseases to other animals.

.Tip: If you see an invasive plant or animal in Salt Lake City, photograph it, note the location, and report it to the Salt Lake County Noxious Weed Program or Utah DAF’s UIS dashboard. This helps coordinate control efforts and protects native ecosystems.