SB 418 Kansas Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Enacting the by-right housing development act to provide a streamlined permit approval process for by-right housing developments, allowing third-party review of new residential construction development documents and inspection of improvements, requiring political subdivisions to allow certain building provisions for certain single-family residences of a certain size, excluding owner initiated rezoning to a single-family residential district from protest petition provisions and providing for all land within the corporate limits of a city that is zoned for any type of residential use to be considered zoned for single-family residential use.

SB 418 creates a "by-right" housing development process in Kansas, automatically approving qualifying single-family homes, townhouses, and accessory dwelling units (ADUs) that meet existing zoning rules - requiring local governments to approve applications within 15 days unless denied. It allows third-party professionals (like licensed engineers) to review permits or inspect construction if local authorities delay, and mandates that all land within city limits be treated as single-family residential zoning. The bill excludes owner-initiated rezoning to single-family zones from protest petitions and aims to address housing shortages by reducing approval delays for standard developments. This directly affects developers, homeowners seeking to build, and local governments responsible for zoning and permitting.

Issues: ✓ Housing

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

Senate Passage

Feb 2026

House Passage

Mar 2026

Signed into Law

Apr 2026

Introduced Jan 28, 2026 Signed Apr 9, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

As Amended by Senate Committee on Commerce → As Amended by House Committee on Commerce, Labor and Economic Development · 4 edits

MODERATE

The House Committee amendments significantly restrict the eligibility for 'by-right' housing approval by adding specific size, density, and location limits that were not present in the Senate version. While the Senate version allowed any project meeting zoning codes to bypass discretionary review, the House version now limits this to small projects (under 1 acre) with a maximum of 12 units, excluding planned districts and historic areas. Additionally, the timeline for approving applications was extended from 15 days to 30 days (or 60 days for subdivision plats), and the definition of 'development document' was updated to include improvements.

Scope change

The bill's scope was narrowed from a broad mandate allowing all compliant housing projects to bypass review, to a specific subset of small-scale, low-density projects in non-historic and non-planned districts.

ELIGIBILITY

Added strict eligibility criteria requiring projects to be under 1 acre, have a maximum of 12 units, and avoid planned zoning or historic districts to qualify for automatic approval.

TIMELINE

Extended the deadline for regulatory authorities to approve or deny housing applications from 15 days to 30 days, with a 60-day allowance for projects requiring subdivision plats.

DEFINITION

Added a new definition for 'development document' to explicitly include improvements, drainage considerations, and flood hazard compliance.

REQUIREMENT

Added specific infrastructure and environmental requirements, such as limiting public infrastructure extensions and preventing adverse effects on flood hazard areas.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 9, 2026

Signed into law

Approved by Governor on Tuesday, April 7, 2026

upper

Mar 27, 2026

Upper · Passed

Conference Committee Report was adopted; Yea 35, Nay 4, Absent 1

upper

Mar 26, 2026

Lower · Passed

Conference Committee Report was adopted; Yea 117, Nay 5, Absent 3

lower

Mar 26, 2026

Lower · Passed

Conference committee report now available

lower

Mar 23, 2026

Lower · Passed

Motion to accede adopted; Rep. Sean Tarwater, Rep. Jill Ward and Rep. Stephanie Sawyer Clayton appointed as conferees

lower

Mar 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

Nonconcurred with amendments; Conference Committee requested; appointed Sen. Larry Alley, Sen. Stephen Owens and Sen. Oletha Faust Goudeau

upper

Mar 18, 2026

Lower · Passed

Emergency Final Action - Passed as amended; Yea 97, Nay 27, Absent 1

lower

Mar 18, 2026

Lower · Passed

Motion to advance to Emergency Final Action adopted

lower

Mar 18, 2026

Lower · Passed

Committee of the Whole - Be passed as amended

lower

Mar 18, 2026

Lower · Passed

Committee of the Whole - Amendment by Rep. Nick Hoheisel was adopted

lower

Mar 18, 2026

Lower · Passed

Committee of the Whole - Motion to Amend - Offered by Rep. Nick Hoheisel

lower

Mar 18, 2026

Lower · Passed

Committee of the Whole - Committee Report be adopted

lower

Mar 11, 2026

Lower · Passed

Committee Report recommending bill be passed as amended by House Committee on Commerce, Labor and Economic Development

lower

Feb 24, 2026

Committee

Referred to House Committee on Commerce, Labor and Economic Development

lower

Feb 24, 2026

Introduced

Received and Introduced

lower

Feb 18, 2026

Upper · Passed

Final Action - Passed as amended; Yea 35, Nay 5

upper

Feb 17, 2026

Upper · Passed

Committee of the Whole - Be passed as amended

upper

Feb 17, 2026

Upper · Passed

Committee of the Whole - Committee Report be adopted

upper

Feb 16, 2026

Upper · Passed

Committee Report recommending bill be passed as amended by Senate Committee on Commerce

upper

Jan 29, 2026

Committee

Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce

upper

Jan 28, 2026

Introduced

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors