A bipartisan group wants to solve Arizona's housing shortage

Arizona is short 270,000 housing units and a bipartisan group of lawmakers, developers and housing experts plan to spend the next six months figuring out what to do about it.

Driving the news: The Housing Supply Study Committee met for the first time Tuesday. It was created this session by the state legislature.

• Republican Rep. Steve Kaiser and Democratic Rep. Cesar Chavez co-chair the committee.
• Tempe Mayor Corey Woods, Arizona Housing Coalition's Joan Serviss and representatives from the Arizona Multihousing Association and the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona are among the members.

Of note: The co-chairs said the group will meet at least twice a month through December to compile a "findings report" that state lawmakers can use to draft legislation next year.

• The group will also hire an out-of-state auditor to conduct a professional assessment of Arizona's housing supply.

Details: Committee members said they wanted to look into speeding up city permitting processes, addressing the not-in-my-backyard mentality surrounding some multifamily development and promoting affordability in future projects.

What they're saying: "We can't just build, build, build. We need to make sure that housing is affordable for all Arizonans," Serviss said.

Flashback: Chavez and Kaiser introduced a bill early this year that would have overridden city zoning codes to allow residential housing almost anywhere.

• Cities pushed back and this study committee was created instead.