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Council adopts ordinance aligning parking rules with state law; garage size for parking calculations reduced to 20×20
Summary
Santaquin City Council approved Ordinance 0405 on April 15 to amend local parking requirements to align with state legislation (SB 181). The ordinance sets a 20‑by‑20 standard for parking calculations and prompted objections from council members and residents over vehicle sizes and local control.
The Santaquin City Council voted April 15 to adopt Ordinance 0405, updating the city code’s parking requirements to conform with state law (referred to in the meeting as Senate Bill 181). The ordinance adjusts the city’s parking‑calculation standard and associated definitions, including a 20‑by‑20 dimension for a parking space used in local calculations.
Staff and council discussed the ordinance at length. City staff said the change responds to state legislation and that the local code language was amended to match the state definitions. Staff also said the rule is primarily intended to apply to certain housing types identified in the state language and that it does not universally apply to all garages, but clarifications in the transcript indicate some ambiguity about which building types are affected.
Several council members expressed frustration with the change. One councilmember said their Chevrolet pickup would not fit in a 20‑by‑20 garage and said they objected to the state mandate; another councilmember said the planning commission had resisted recommending the change but concluded its hands were tied by state law. Staff emphasized that property owners remain free to build larger garages than the minimum; the 20×20 figure is used for meeting parking calculation requirements, not to prohibit larger construction.
A motion to approve the ordinance was made and seconded. The council recorded the motion as passed.
Why it matters: The ordinance changes how the city calculates parking compliance for certain types of residential development and aligns local code with state legislation. Council members warned the change may be unpopular with residents who own larger vehicles, and planning commissioners who reviewed the item told the council they preferred not to recommend the change but were constrained by state law.
What the ordinance does (as discussed at the meeting): it updates parking stall language and dimensions in the code; staff said the substantive local effect is narrowing the city’s parking calculation standard to 20×20 for applicable unit types. Staff also said this adjustment alone does not prevent property owners from building larger garages.
