Welcome to the Future!
Reasonable minds say that more affordable housing is needed. However, changing zoning laws isn’t easy when your voting constituents favor NOT IN MY BACKYARD (NIMBY). The answer? Some think it’s going to be state preemption of local zoning regulations that require affordable housing to be built. Potential winners? Affordable Housing developers.
Route Fifty | Will States Force Localities to Build Affordable Housing?
Chattanooga Tennessee spent 1 year studying short term rental rules, and adopted rules this week. The new rules will limit new short term rentals to commercial areas that allow hotels. Supporters say the new rule will help enforcement with illegal short term rentals and will help prevent vacation rentals from overrunning local communities.
Colorado law enforcement have been using reverse keyword search warrants that allow law enforcement officers to see what people have been searching on google. An attorney with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers says “The keyword warrant here made Google search everybody who searched for anything over the course of more than two weeks.” Attorneys say it’s a new issue for courts. Hello 2025, Texas legislature. All other states, act accordingly.
Governing | Colorado Hears Challenge to Police Use of Google Search
States are looking to curb youth homelessness by collecting better data, providing training for educators to identify homeless students, and establishing formal positions to support students and their families.
Route Fifty | States Take Up Bills to Confront Youth Homelessness
Once upon a time eminent domain was an issue to preserve the Oakland Raiders. Today people are talking about Oakland using eminent domain to seize the As stadium. Think of it like divorcing parents fighting over custody, in this case it is custody of the stadium.
South Carolina saw a statewide wide regulation of short term rentals come to a full stop. So, what was the winning argument that halted the bill? That the bill was “usurping cities’ self-governing rights.”
Kansas City< Missouri on Thursday approved new short term regulations that prohibit non-property owner occupied short term rentals in areas zoned residential.
Fox 4 | Kansas City approves new regulations on short-term rentals
A court in Iowa ruled this week that surveyors for carbon pipelines cannot enter land before condemnation. The district court found that a surveyor entering land without consent of the land owner is a “government taking without providing just compensation.” 20 similar suits are pending in Iowa & South Dakota.
An Austin startup is proposing home sales by cash and crypto. Meet MyEListing that allows commercial and residential properties to be listed on their site. The hook: deals can close in 1 day. The company looks to expand outside of Texas in June to 2-3 states.
Governing | Austin Startup Allows House Sales in Cash or Crypto
Displacement Prevention Navigator , a pilot program in two Austin Texas neighborhoods– Colony Park and Dove Springs—is working to keep people in their homes with outreach programs that can provide assistance.
Route Fifty | City’s ‘Displacement Prevention Navigators’ Aim to Help Neighbors Remain in Homes