The Blog at MSPC

The two-stairway requirement acts as a binding constraint on supply, especially for small and mid-size apartment buildings. It doesn’t just make construction more expensive—it makes many projects impossible to build at all. Entire categories of housing that would otherwise be viable simply never get proposed.

In Teton County’s twisted logic, forcing residents to pay higher building fees to support “workforce housing” is the solution to its chronic housing shortage for lower-income residents. The fees apply even if those building include plans for rental units that would ease the problem.

Idaho’s housing policy is getting a much-needed renovation, and some of the first demo days occurred during the session. With the approval of Senate Bill 1164 requiring a 10-day notice of completed applications, the Idaho legislature made it clear it is focused on removing unwanted obstacles to increasing the housing supply. The legislature is also working on a building plan to increase the housing supply with the Senate’s Concurrent Resolution 103, which formed a committee f