Morgan County Planning Commission recommends county code changes to allow private cemeteries

The Morgan County Planning Commission on Thursday recommended that the County Commission adopt changes to county land-use code to create a single definition for “cemetery” and to add application and plat standards for private and public cemeteries.

The change matters because it would explicitly allow privately owned cemeteries in Morgan County and add requirements such as recorded plat notations for flood-prone areas, minimum access widths, and the ability to count existing vegetation toward landscaping requirements. The commission voted to send the amendment to the county commission with the clarifying edits presented at the meeting.

Zoning Administrator Josh told the commission he drafted the amendment with help from the county attorney after reviewing other jurisdictions and concluded the existing code had only a couple of definitions and was insufficient. "Private cemeteries in the state of Utah are allowed," Josh said, adding that the proposal would merge the private and public definitions into a single definition and remove a prohibition on private cemeteries from the land-use tables.

Josh described specific clarifications he added: require a single application submitted to the county that includes preliminary and final plats, a site plan and a landscape plan; require plats to note areas covered by the floodplain with corresponding base flood elevations so plots do not lie within those areas; and clarify that a 12-foot access width is for one-way traffic and that two-way access should be 24 feet. He also said the draft would allow existing vegetation to count toward the required trees and shrubs on a site.

Member Telford asked whether a county-owned cemetery would need to file the same application. Josh responded that government entities are not strictly required to follow their adopted rules but that it is generally advisable; he said the draft also includes provisions requiring cemetery operators to post funds to ensure perpetual maintenance.

Member Watt made the motion "we recommend approval to the county commission of the cemetery code text amendment based on the findings listed in the memorandum dated 06/12/2025 with the following additional conditions" described in the meeting; Member King seconded. The motion carried unanimously.

The planning commission record and the presenters note that the county attorney has reviewed the draft and that the changes are intended to meet state statute requirements. The amendment, if adopted by the County Commission, would be a county code text change subject to the county's c-3 approval process and any other state requirements.

The commission did not set an effective date; the file will move to the Morgan County Commission for formal consideration and any further public notice or hearings required there.