Respect My (Land Use) Authority!

More than 500 bills introduced in 40 states last year contained clauses pre-empting county land-use authority, according to an analysis by the National Association of Counties, reports Smart Cities Dive. A large minority (38%) explicitly aimed to curtail local control in order to streamline permitting, allow accessory dwelling units (which comprised nearly 40% of all new housing in California last year) or ease parking requirements.

In the paper, we identified fragmented local, state, and federal regulation as a significant obstacle to the built environment sector’s achieving the economies of scale seen in software or manufacturing. While county officials might be alarmed at state legislatures’ efforts at pre-emption — although less than a third of those 500 bills passed — more harmonized regulations are a welcome development.

“Often, the problem is a failure to modernize and keep up with the changing times we live in,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said while proposing a statewide zoning measure earlier this year. “It all adds up to bureaucratic red tape that unnecessarily increases costs, delays construction and frequently kills projects altogether.” *GL-8/27/26