Salt Lake City staff propose code changes to follow new state law removing public hearings for appeals and variances

Salt Lake City planning staff on Tuesday outlined a proposed ordinance change to remove local public-hearing requirements for appeals of land‑use decisions and variance requests, saying the change is needed to conform city code with House Bill 368 from the 2025 Utah Legislature.

The brief, delivered by a planning staff member identified in the meeting only as “Nick,” explained that the state law—“that law went into effect on May 7, so we're already following it,” Nick said—prohibits cities from holding public hearings for those appeals. City staff recommended amending the municipal code to avoid confusion about the city’s process.

City staff framed the text amendment as primarily code cleanup and alignment with state rules. Because variances and many commission appeals were historically…