Petition: Support Sustainable Alternative Housing Options in Utah
Petition: Support Sustainable Alternative Housing Options in Utah
The Issue
Petition: Support Sustainable Alternative Housing Options in Utah
To: The Utah State Legislature — House & Senate Political Subdivisions Committees, and Members of the Utah House of Representatives and Utah Senate
RE: Statewide support and legal clarity for RV, tiny home, converted-bus ("skoolie"), and other mobile/alternative housing on privately owned land
WHEREAS
Utah is facing a severe housing affordability crisis. The median Utah home price has more than doubled since 2016, when it stood at roughly $249,900, passing $500,000 by 2024, far outpacing wage growth for most residents.
Utah's Governor and Legislature have publicly named housing affordability and access to homeownership as top statewide priorities, and have set goals for tens of thousands of new housing units by 2028.
Many Utah residents already own land outright, free and clear of any HOA, but current zoning and building codes prevent them from legally living sustainably on that land in an RV, converted bus, tiny home on wheels, or similar mobile dwelling.
Utah's zoning and building codes were written around conventional stick-built housing and largely predate today's tiny-home, off-grid, and mobile-living movements.
Utah Code § 10-9a-501 et seq. grants land-use authority to individual cities and counties, resulting in a confusing patchwork of inconsistent rules that can vary from one side of a county line to the other, forcing landowners to individually track down and interpret rules county by county.
Some Utah municipalities, including the Town of Bluff, which amended its zoning code in late 2025 to add clear provisions for RV parks, tiny houses, and mobile/modular homes, have already shown that clear, workable local rules for mobile living are achievable.
Alternative and mobile housing options offer a lower-cost, lower-impact, and more sustainable path to housing stability, particularly for Utahns priced out of conventional homeownership.
THEREFORE, WE THE UNDERSIGNED RESIDENTS OF UTAH RESPECTFULLY PETITION THE UTAH STATE LEGISLATURE TO:
Establish clear statewide minimum standards allowing a property owner (on land with no HOA restriction) to legally reside in an RV, converted bus, tiny home on wheels, or similar mobile dwelling on their own land, subject to reasonable, clearly defined health and safety requirements (safe wastewater disposal, fire access, etc.), without requiring a permanent foundation or full International Residential Code compliance.
Direct the appropriate state office (e.g., the Governor's housing affordability initiative or a legislative interim committee) to draft model ordinance language, similar to the Town of Bluff's 2025 update, that any Utah county or city could voluntarily adopt to legalize and regulate mobile and tiny-home living.
Add alternative/mobile housing as an explicit category in Utah's ongoing housing-affordability reform efforts, alongside existing tools like SB34's menu-based zoning reform options for municipalities.
Publish clear, plain-language statewide guidance for landowners on what is legally possible on their own property, so residents don't have to individually petition every county planning office to get a straight answer.
Establish a minimum-acreage threshold for rural/agricultural parcels above which dispersed or informal mobile-dwelling living is presumptively allowed, so a landowner isn't forced to rezone an entire property as a commercial campground just to legally live in one RV or bus.
Sources & Citations
Companion reference page for the "Support Sustainable Alternative Housing Options in Utah" petition. Each entry lists the claim it supports and where the data comes from.
Claim: Utah's median home price has more than doubled since 2016 (~$249,900) to over $500,000 by 2024.
Propmodo, "Median Home Price Surge Locks Out Nine in Ten Utah Renters" (Sept. 2026), citing University of Utah Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute data. https://propmodo.com/median-home-price-surge-locks-out-nine-in-ten-utah-renters/
KSL, "Utah's median home price rises to $500K, despite high mortgage rates" (2024), citing Utah Association of Realtors data. https://www.ksl.com/article/51043637/utahs-median-home-price-rises-to-500k-despite-high-mortgage-rates
Claim: Utah's Governor and Legislature have set goals for tens of thousands of new housing units by 2028.
Office of Utah Governor Spencer Cox, "Gov. Cox and Lt. Gov. Henderson Announce $150 Million 'Utah First Homes' Starter Home Program in Budget Announcement." https://governor.utah.gov/press/gov-cox-and-lt-gov-henderson-announce-150-million-utah-first-homes-starter-home-program-in-budget-announcement/
Claim: Utah Code § 10-9a-501 et seq. grants land-use and zoning authority to individual cities and counties.
Utah Code, Title 10, Chapter 9a (Municipal Land Use, Development, and Management Act), § 10-9a-501, via Justia Law. https://law.justia.com/codes/utah/2011/title10/chapter9a/
This same statute is cited as the legal authority in the Town of Bluff ordinance below, and in numerous other Utah municipal zoning codes (e.g., Toquerville, Harrisville, Grantsville).
Claim: The Town of Bluff, Utah amended its zoning code in late 2025 to add provisions for RV parks, tiny houses, and mobile/modular homes.
Town of Bluff Ordinance No. 2025-09-12, "An Ordinance Amending Title Six of the Municipal Code to Adopt Provisions for Mobile Home and Recreational Vehicle Parks; Provisions for Tiny Houses, Mobile Homes, and Modular Homes," amended Dec. 2, 2025. https://townofbluffutah.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2025-09-12B-Zoning-Code-Ordinance-with-RV-Home-Updates.pdf
Claim: Utah's SB34 "menu" model already exists as a precedent for state-guided, locally-adopted zoning reform.
KSL, "Utah lawmaker pushing bill requiring cities to zone affordable housing if they want state dollars" (2019). https://www.ksl.com/article/news/utah/utah-lawmaker-pushing-bill-requiring-cities-to-zone-affordable-housing-if-they-want-state-dollars/46481896
Utah League of Cities and Towns, "SB 34 Summary" (Affordable Housing Modifications, 2019). https://www.ulct.utah.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/SB-34-Summary-compressed.pdf
Additional context On local-control pushback against similar reform bills:
Utah News Dispatch, "Utah lawmakers say no to 'preemption,' halt 2 housing bills aimed at allowing smaller homes" (Feb. 2025) — HB88 and HB90, sponsored by Rep. Ray Ward, stalled in the House Political Subdivisions Committee. https://utahnewsdispatch.com/2025/02/12/utah-lawmakers-say-no-to-preemption-halt-2-housing-bills/
KSL, "'The status quo is not working': Lawmakers reject plan designed to build more starter homes" (2026) — HB184, also sponsored by Rep. Ray Ward, rejected 3–6 by the House Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee. (Note: this later bill died in a different committee than HB88/HB90 — Economic Development and Workforce Services, not Political Subdivisions.) https://www.ksl.com/article/news/utah/politics/the-status-quo-is-not-working-lawmakers-reject-plan-designed-to-build-more-starter-homes/51590311
14
The Issue
Petition: Support Sustainable Alternative Housing Options in Utah
To: The Utah State Legislature — House & Senate Political Subdivisions Committees, and Members of the Utah House of Representatives and Utah Senate
RE: Statewide support and legal clarity for RV, tiny home, converted-bus ("skoolie"), and other mobile/alternative housing on privately owned land
WHEREAS
Utah is facing a severe housing affordability crisis. The median Utah home price has more than doubled since 2016, when it stood at roughly $249,900, passing $500,000 by 2024, far outpacing wage growth for most residents.
Utah's Governor and Legislature have publicly named housing affordability and access to homeownership as top statewide priorities, and have set goals for tens of thousands of new housing units by 2028.
Many Utah residents already own land outright, free and clear of any HOA, but current zoning and building codes prevent them from legally living sustainably on that land in an RV, converted bus, tiny home on wheels, or similar mobile dwelling.
Utah's zoning and building codes were written around conventional stick-built housing and largely predate today's tiny-home, off-grid, and mobile-living movements.
Utah Code § 10-9a-501 et seq. grants land-use authority to individual cities and counties, resulting in a confusing patchwork of inconsistent rules that can vary from one side of a county line to the other, forcing landowners to individually track down and interpret rules county by county.
Some Utah municipalities, including the Town of Bluff, which amended its zoning code in late 2025 to add clear provisions for RV parks, tiny houses, and mobile/modular homes, have already shown that clear, workable local rules for mobile living are achievable.
Alternative and mobile housing options offer a lower-cost, lower-impact, and more sustainable path to housing stability, particularly for Utahns priced out of conventional homeownership.
THEREFORE, WE THE UNDERSIGNED RESIDENTS OF UTAH RESPECTFULLY PETITION THE UTAH STATE LEGISLATURE TO:
Establish clear statewide minimum standards allowing a property owner (on land with no HOA restriction) to legally reside in an RV, converted bus, tiny home on wheels, or similar mobile dwelling on their own land, subject to reasonable, clearly defined health and safety requirements (safe wastewater disposal, fire access, etc.), without requiring a permanent foundation or full International Residential Code compliance.
Direct the appropriate state office (e.g., the Governor's housing affordability initiative or a legislative interim committee) to draft model ordinance language, similar to the Town of Bluff's 2025 update, that any Utah county or city could voluntarily adopt to legalize and regulate mobile and tiny-home living.
Add alternative/mobile housing as an explicit category in Utah's ongoing housing-affordability reform efforts, alongside existing tools like SB34's menu-based zoning reform options for municipalities.
Publish clear, plain-language statewide guidance for landowners on what is legally possible on their own property, so residents don't have to individually petition every county planning office to get a straight answer.
Establish a minimum-acreage threshold for rural/agricultural parcels above which dispersed or informal mobile-dwelling living is presumptively allowed, so a landowner isn't forced to rezone an entire property as a commercial campground just to legally live in one RV or bus.
Sources & Citations
Companion reference page for the "Support Sustainable Alternative Housing Options in Utah" petition. Each entry lists the claim it supports and where the data comes from.
Claim: Utah's median home price has more than doubled since 2016 (~$249,900) to over $500,000 by 2024.
Propmodo, "Median Home Price Surge Locks Out Nine in Ten Utah Renters" (Sept. 2026), citing University of Utah Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute data. https://propmodo.com/median-home-price-surge-locks-out-nine-in-ten-utah-renters/
KSL, "Utah's median home price rises to $500K, despite high mortgage rates" (2024), citing Utah Association of Realtors data. https://www.ksl.com/article/51043637/utahs-median-home-price-rises-to-500k-despite-high-mortgage-rates
Claim: Utah's Governor and Legislature have set goals for tens of thousands of new housing units by 2028.
Office of Utah Governor Spencer Cox, "Gov. Cox and Lt. Gov. Henderson Announce $150 Million 'Utah First Homes' Starter Home Program in Budget Announcement." https://governor.utah.gov/press/gov-cox-and-lt-gov-henderson-announce-150-million-utah-first-homes-starter-home-program-in-budget-announcement/
Claim: Utah Code § 10-9a-501 et seq. grants land-use and zoning authority to individual cities and counties.
Utah Code, Title 10, Chapter 9a (Municipal Land Use, Development, and Management Act), § 10-9a-501, via Justia Law. https://law.justia.com/codes/utah/2011/title10/chapter9a/
This same statute is cited as the legal authority in the Town of Bluff ordinance below, and in numerous other Utah municipal zoning codes (e.g., Toquerville, Harrisville, Grantsville).
Claim: The Town of Bluff, Utah amended its zoning code in late 2025 to add provisions for RV parks, tiny houses, and mobile/modular homes.
Town of Bluff Ordinance No. 2025-09-12, "An Ordinance Amending Title Six of the Municipal Code to Adopt Provisions for Mobile Home and Recreational Vehicle Parks; Provisions for Tiny Houses, Mobile Homes, and Modular Homes," amended Dec. 2, 2025. https://townofbluffutah.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2025-09-12B-Zoning-Code-Ordinance-with-RV-Home-Updates.pdf
Claim: Utah's SB34 "menu" model already exists as a precedent for state-guided, locally-adopted zoning reform.
KSL, "Utah lawmaker pushing bill requiring cities to zone affordable housing if they want state dollars" (2019). https://www.ksl.com/article/news/utah/utah-lawmaker-pushing-bill-requiring-cities-to-zone-affordable-housing-if-they-want-state-dollars/46481896
Utah League of Cities and Towns, "SB 34 Summary" (Affordable Housing Modifications, 2019). https://www.ulct.utah.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/SB-34-Summary-compressed.pdf
Additional context On local-control pushback against similar reform bills:
Utah News Dispatch, "Utah lawmakers say no to 'preemption,' halt 2 housing bills aimed at allowing smaller homes" (Feb. 2025) — HB88 and HB90, sponsored by Rep. Ray Ward, stalled in the House Political Subdivisions Committee. https://utahnewsdispatch.com/2025/02/12/utah-lawmakers-say-no-to-preemption-halt-2-housing-bills/
KSL, "'The status quo is not working': Lawmakers reject plan designed to build more starter homes" (2026) — HB184, also sponsored by Rep. Ray Ward, rejected 3–6 by the House Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee. (Note: this later bill died in a different committee than HB88/HB90 — Economic Development and Workforce Services, not Political Subdivisions.) https://www.ksl.com/article/news/utah/politics/the-status-quo-is-not-working-lawmakers-reject-plan-designed-to-build-more-starter-homes/51590311
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Petition created on September 17, 2026