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Committee adopts amendment to HB 410 setting strict-scrutiny standard for "extraordinary restrictions" and advances bill unanimously
Summary
The Special Committee on Housing approved an amended version of House Bill 410 that defines when a municipality may impose an "extraordinary restriction" on housing, sets a strict-scrutiny legal standard tied to public health or safety, specifies a list of allowable restrictions, and advanced the bill 17-0.
The Special Committee on Housing voted 17-0 to advance House Bill 410 as amended after the committee adopted amendment 0979h describing the statute’s standard and a set of permissible local restrictions.
Representative Reid introduced the amendment and spoke to work by the subcommittee. The amendment narrows the legal standard for municipal “extraordinary restrictions” on housing to a strict-scrutiny test drawn from case law: restrictions must be narrowly tailored to serve a compelling government interest in public health or safety. The amendment leaves room for municipalities to supply evidence (scientific, quantitative, empirical) but states that such evidence is not dispositive; the strict-scrutiny formulation is the controlling standard.
The amendment also enumerates a list of allowed or conditionally allowed restrictions, according to the transcript: minimum per-unit square footage (which the amendment’s sponsors said would allow tiny homes unless municipalities prove otherwise), lot-size minimums of five gross acres per primary dwelling unit, road frontage requirements, prohibitions on using areas zoned for commercial purposes for residential use, restrictions on in-home businesses provided they do not violate noise/garbage/light ordinances, rules clarifying whether dwellings are constructed on- or off-site (permitting manufactured or modular homes), and a limit on local amendments to the state building code for structures of four units or fewer.
The amendment also addresses enforcement and timing: existing local ordinances that would conflict with the amendment would not be enforceable unless revised to meet the new standard, and the committee extended an adjustment period to 180 days to allow municipalities time to revise current ordinances; the amendment’s effective date section referenced a January effective date in the draft.
Representative Reid moved amendment 0979h; Representative Bolio seconded. The committee adopted the amendment on a voice/show-of-hands vote and then approved the final “ought to pass as amended” motion by roll call 17-0. The committee placed the bill on consent and assigned a committee member to draft the report.
Votes at a glance - HB 410 (as amended by 0979h): Ought to pass as amended. Motion carried 17 yes, 0 no, 0 abstentions.
Context and forward steps Committee members described substantial subcommittee work involving outside counsel and stakeholders; sponsors said the language seeks to balance municipal control with protections for housing access and flexibility for alternative housing forms (manufactured homes, tiny homes, 3D-printed homes). The transcript records a number of line-item choices that sponsors said were intended to reduce litigation risk while preserving local zoning tools for public safety.
