Wasatch Advocates for Livable Communities

08/27/2026

Our founding Executive Director, Turner C. Bitton, recently wrote an op-ed for Building Salt Lake on the promise and potential of Expanding Housing Options.

In it, Turner explores how creating more housing choices, from smaller homes to duplexes, triplexes, and backyard cottages, can help build stronger, more opportunity-rich communities across Utah.

Read the full op-ed here: https://buildingsaltlake.com/the-promise-and-potential-of-expanding-housing-options-opinion/

08/21/2026

Just a few days left. Our next Lunch & Lead is this Wednesday.

We're sitting down with Mike Hathorne, author of The Great Housing Reversal, to talk about why so many of our neighborhoods were built for a version of life that's already changed, and what it takes to build homes that fit our communities today.

We'd love to hear from you before we dive in: what's one housing option you wish you saw more of where you live? Tell us in the comments, or bring your thoughts to the conversation live.

Grab your lunch and join us. Know someone who'd want to be part of this conversation? Tag them below or share this post.

-Wednesday, August 26, 2026
-12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
-Virtual via Zoom. Register below or scan the QR code in the photo.

Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/XtHKM8S6TUmSHYhal0gHnA

(Photo Credit: Mike Hathorne)

08/19/2026

Public hearing TOMORROW, Thursday, August 20 at 6:15 PM.

Sandy City's Planning Commission is taking up the DADU (detached accessory dwelling unit) text amendments required under Utah's SB 284. City staff are recommending the Commission send a positive recommendation forward to the City Council, making this a meeting worth attending.

Missed our last post? Watch WALC volunteer James testify at the previous Planning Commission meeting on August 6 for a great example of what public comment can look like.

Where: Council Chambers, Sandy City Hall, 10000 Centennial Parkway, Sandy, UT 84070
Join virtually: link in bio

Link in bio for the full rundown on the Sandy page, including the Zoom link and staff report.

More housing choices means more livable neighborhoods. Let's make sure Sandy gets this right.

08/19/2026

WALC volunteer James stepped up to testify at Sandy City's Planning Commission meeting on August 6, speaking in support of updated DADU (detached accessory dwelling unit) policies required under Utah's SB 284.

Public testimony like this is one of the most direct ways neighbors can shape decisions that affect where and how people can live in their own communities. Thank you, James, for showing up and speaking out.

Sandy City's Planning Commission meets again tomorrow, Thursday, August 20 at 6:15 PM to continue this conversation. Stay tuned for details in our next post.

08/18/2026

A proposed rezone in Glendale has neighbors talking, and it’s touching on a bigger question for Salt Lake City: what kind of housing should we be building, and where?

Our Founding Executive Director, Turner C. Bitton, shared his perspective with FOX 13 News. He’s watched families leave Glendale for places like Kearns and Tooele because they can no longer afford to stay in their own neighborhood.

Turner pointed to a gap in what’s currently available. Right now it’s often single-family homes at $600,000 to $700,000, or large apartment complexes, with not much in between.

Duplexes, townhomes, and other “missing middle” housing could fill that gap and help families stay in the communities they already call home. This is part of the conversation happening now around Salt Lake City’s Expanding Housing Options proposal.

Check out the full story here: https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/salt-lake-city/glendale-rezone-fight-opens-broader-debate-over-salt-lake-city-housing-proposal

Thanks to FOX 13 News and Suzanne Stevens. For covering this important topic.

We heard from both those who support and oppose one rezoning proposal in a Salt Lake City neighborhood, and it's opening a broader debate over what could be built across much of the city.

Full story linked below.

08/14/2026

Last Friday, WALC joined NeighborWorks Salt Lake for the 41st Annual Paint Your Heart Out, helping homeowners across Salt Lake County with a fresh coat of paint.

Events like this are a reminder of what’s possible when a community shows up for its neighbors. Thank you to NeighborWorks Salt Lake, the homeowners, volunteers, sponsors, and partners who made the day happen.

08/14/2026

Last Friday looked like brushes in hand, ladders out, and neighbors showing up for neighbors.

WALC was proud to join NeighborWorks Salt Lake’s 41st Annual Paint Your Heart Out, helping homeowners across Salt Lake County with a fresh coat of paint and a reminder that community care is built one brushstroke at a time.

Thank you to NeighborWorks Salt Lake, the homeowners, volunteers, sponsors, and partners who made the day possible. This is what showing up for each other looks like.

08/13/2026

Salt Lake City is deciding on Expanding Housing Options (EHO) right now.

The Planning Commission is currently reviewing a zoning proposal that would let smaller, more attainable homes get built again: starter homes on modest lots, plus re-legalizing small multifamily homes, up to four units, in every neighborhood. These small but mighty homes already exist in some of our most beloved neighborhoods.

Here's what it actually does: Starter homes become legal again. Most of Salt Lake City only allows one home per lot, with minimum lot sizes that make small homes impossible to build. EHO creates a new "small lot dwelling," so a modest home on a modest lot, a more affordable option, is allowed again. This also allows for small multifamily, built to fit in. Small multifamily homes, up to four units, at neighborhood scale - in every neighborhood. Nobody has to build. This gives property owners more choices to contribute to the growth of their neighborhood.

Your outreach is making a difference, and it only takes two minutes:

Email the Salt Lake City Planning Commission and your City Councilmember in support of Expanding Housing Options.
Share this action alert with your network and ask them to do the same.

Learn more and take action: https://www.wasatchalc.org/eho

08/12/2026

Meet your neighbors. Meet WALC.
We're kicking off a new series called WALC and Talk: casual evenings where we introduce ourselves to communities across the Wasatch Front, one conversation at a time.

First up, we're teaming up with Strong Towns Lehi for an evening at the park.
Come grab a seat, ask us anything, and hear how we're working to bring more housing choices to communities across Utah. No presentations, no pressure. Just neighbors talking about the places we live.

Grab a friend and join us:

Margaret Wines Park, SW Pavilion (100 E 600 N St, Lehi)
Thursday, August 20
6:00 to 8:00 PM

RSVP here: https://www.wasatchalc.org/walc_and_talk_stl

Tag a Lehi neighbor who should come!

08/07/2026

Some homes are bigger than the households in them need. Others can't find anything that fits at all.

It's not a coincidence. It's a mismatch. At our next Lunch & Lead, we're sitting down with Mike Hathorne, author of The Great Housing Reversal, to talk about why so many of our neighborhoods were built for a version of life that's already changed, and what it would take to build homes that work for neighbors at every stage, from first apartments to forever homes.

Grab your lunch and join us for an easy, honest conversation about where Utah's housing opportunities really are.

Wednesday, August 26, 2026
12:00 – 1:00 PM
Virtual via Zoom. Register below or scan the QR code in the photo.

Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/XtHKM8S6TUmSHYhal0gHnA

(Photo Credit: Mike Hathorne)