Guidelines on State and local zoning frameworks

(a) Establishment Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this section, the Assistant Secretary shall publish documents outlining guidelines and best practices to support production of adequate housing to meet the needs of communities and provide housing opportunities for individuals at every income level across communities with respect to— (1) State zoning frameworks; and (2) local zoning frameworks. (b) Consultation; public comment During the 2 year period beginning on the date of enactment of this section, in developing the guidelines and best practices required under the previous subsection, the Assistant Secretary shall— (1) publish draft guidelines in the Federal Register for public comment; and (2) establish a task force for the purpose of providing consultation to draft guidelines published under the previous clause, the members of which shall include— (A) planners and architects; (B) advocates with experience in affordable housing, community development efforts, and fair housing; (C) housing developers, including affordable and market-rate housing developers, manufactured housing developers, and other business interests; (D) community engagement experts and community members impacted by zoning decisions; (E) public housing authorities and transit authorities; (F) members of local zoning and planning boards and local and regional transportation planning organizations; (G) State officials responsible for housing or land use, including members of State zoning boards of appeals; (H) academic researchers; and (I) home builders. (c) Contents The guidelines and best practices required under subsection (a) shall— (1) with respect to State zoning frameworks, outline potential models for updated State enabling legislation or State agency and department procedures; (2) include recommendations regarding— (A) the reduction or elimination of parking minimums; (B) the increase in maximum floor area ratio requirements and maximum building heights and the reduction in minimum lot sizes and set-back requirements; (C) the elimination of restrictions against accessory dwelling units; (D) increasing by-right uses, including duplex, triplex, or quadplex buildings, across cities or metropolitan areas, including mechanisms, such as proximity to transit, to determine the jurisdictional level for rezoning and ensures development that does not disproportionately burden residents of economically distressed areas; (E) review of by-right development proposals to streamline review and reduce uncertainty, including— (i) nondiscretionary, ministerial review; and (ii) entitlement and design review processes; (F) the reduction of obstacles to a range of housing types at all levels of affordability, including manufactured and modular housing; (G) State model zoning regulations for directing local reforms, including mechanisms to encourage adoption; (H) provisions to encourage transit-oriented development, including increased permissible units per structure and reduced minimum lot sizes near existing or planned public transit stations; (I) potential reforms to the public engagement process, including— (i) meaningful access for persons with limited English proficiency and effective communication improvements for persons with disabilities; (ii) leveraging of virtual meeting technologies; and (iii) proactive outreach in communities; (J) reforms to protest petition statutes; (K) the standardization, reduction, or elimination of impact fees; (L) cost effective and appropriate building codes; (M) models for community benefit agreements; (N) mechanisms to preserve affordability, limit disruption of low-income communities, and prevent displacement of existing residents; (O) with respect to State zoning frameworks, a model for a State zoning appeals process, which would— (i) create a process for developers or builders requesting a variance, conditional use, or zoning district change or otherwise petitioning a local zoning or planning board for a project including a State-defined amount of affordable housing to appeal a rejection to a State body or regional body empowered by the State; (ii) establish qualifications for communities to be exempted from the appeals process based on their available stock of affordable housing; and (iii) establish a State zoning appeals board to consider appeals to a variance rejection and objectively evaluate petitions based on the potential for environmental damage and infrastructural capacity; (P) with respect to State zoning frameworks, best practices on the disposition of land owned by State governments for affordable housing development; (Q) with respect to local zoning frameworks— (i) the simplification and standardization of existing zoning codes; (ii) maximum review timelines; (iii) differentiations between best practices for rural, suburban, and urban communities, and communities with different levels of density or population distribution; and (iv) best practices for the disposition of land owned by local governments; and (R) other land use measures that promote access to new housing opportunities identified by the Secretary; and (3) consider— (A) local housing needs, including ways to set and measure housing goals and targets; (B) a range of affordability for rental units, with a prioritization of units attainable to extremely low-income, low-income, and moderate income residents; (C) a range of affordability for homeownership units attainable to low-income and moderate-income residents; (D) with respect to State zoning frameworks, distinctions between States providing constitutional or statutory home rule authority to municipalities and States operating under the Dillon rule, as articulated in Hunter v. Pittsburgh (207 U.S. 161 (1907)); (E) accountability measures; (F) the long-term cost to residents and businesses if more housing is not constructed; (G) barriers to individuals seeking to access affordable housing in growing communities and communities with economic opportunity; (H) consistency with respect to fair housing and civil rights requirements; (I) effects of adopting any recommendations on eligibility for Federal discretionary grants under the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of Agriculture, and tax credits for the purpose of housing or community development; (J) coordination between infrastructure investments and housing planning; (K) with respect to State zoning frameworks, statewide mechanisms to preserve existing affordability over the long term, including support for land banks and community land trusts; (L) with respect to State zoning frameworks, guidance to States on collecting and maintaining proactive data on the current rental housing market and rental registries; (M) public comments described in subsection (b)(1); and (N) other considerations as identified by the Secretary.