Planning commission recommends water use and preservation element for Tooele City general plan
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Summary
The Tooele City Planning Commission voted 7-0 July 23 to forward a recommendation to the city council to adopt a new water use and preservation element to the general plan, a change prompted by state code deadlines and intended to guide development and conserve water.
Tooele City Planning Commission on July 23 voted 7-0 to recommend that the City Council adopt a new water use and preservation element to the Tooele City general plan. The element is intended to document existing water conditions, coordinate with utilities and state agencies, and identify methods to reduce water demand; state code sections cited by staff require adoption by Dec. 31, 2025.
The element responds to state requirements set out in “state code 10-9a-403 and 17-27a-403,” which staff said specify topics the plan must address. Planning staff member Andrew Agard said, "We are proposing a new element to our general plan," and outlined six categories the state expects the element to include: effects of permitted development on water demand and infrastructure; methods to reduce water demand for existing and future development; active consultation with public water systems; operational modifications to reduce wasteful practices; and consultation with state agencies and conservation groups.
The draft element is six pages and incorporates material from the city’s existing water conservation plan, Agard told commissioners. It lists current conservation ordinances (including prior limits on turf in park strips and parking areas), education and training programs, incentive programs such as the Utah Water Savers “Flip Your Strip” rebate, physical system maintenance and upgrades, and the city’s tiered water-pricing structure. Agard said the element also references advanced metering and irrigation-control upgrades the city is pursuing.
Commissioners raised clarifying edits during discussion. Commissioner Sloan praised the draft but asked staff to avoid locking the plan to specific vendors or fee amounts. Sloan asked that references to a specific advanced-metering software and to a vendor-branded irrigation product be removed or generalized so the plan does not require an update if the city later chooses different technology. Sloan also asked that the plan describe the tiered pricing structure without listing current dollar amounts and that the plan point readers to the city website for up-to-date rates.
Commissioners made those edits part of a motion recommending adoption. Commissioner Sloan moved — with a second from Commissioner Anderson — a positive recommendation to City Council that included: inserting a missing article in a sentence in the introduction, removing the paragraph naming the specific advanced-metering software (the motion directed the removal of text beginning "At present, Tooele City utilizes UniPear software" through the end of that paragraph), removing the vendor name “Hunter” from the irrigation-control reference, and excluding specific dollar amounts for water fees while retaining the tier and meter-size structure. The motion also asked staff to note the commissioners’ suggested edits in the recommendation. The commission voted 7-0 to forward the recommendation.
The item was presented as a public hearing; no members of the public spoke on the water-element item. The planning commission’s vote is a recommendation; City Council will consider final adoption. Agard said staff issued public notices and believes the draft satisfies state requirements.
Why it matters: the element sets a local planning framework required by the cited state code and will guide how Tooele City evaluates future development proposals and system upgrades with respect to water supply, conservation and infrastructure.
