Why Salt Lake City is exploring a change to its housing definition of 'family'

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Salt Lake City considers redefining "family" in zoning ordinances to address rising housing costs.

Current code limits unrelated people living together complicating shared housing arrangements.

City Council is leaning toward allowing any number of people per household unit.

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's capital city currently allows any number of related people to live in a household, but city planners say other elements of its household size requirements may factor in the rising cost of housing that residents are facing.

That's why city leaders are leaning toward rewriting the code by essentially reverting to the way it was written nearly a century ago. Members of the Salt Lake City Council called on the city's planning and civil enforcement