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Planning director outlines code cleanups, RMF zone merge and state bills affecting single‑family lot sizes
Summary
City planning staff briefed the commission on multiple initiated text amendments — including merging RMF zones, clarifying adaptive reuse incentives and fence/utility language — and warned of pending state legislation that could lower minimum single‑family lot sizes to 4,000 square feet, prompting urban wildland interface concerns.
Salt Lake City planning staff updated the Planning Commission on several zoning code text‑amendments initiated by the mayor and City Council and on early bills filed in the Utah Legislature that could affect local land‑use regulations.
The planning director said the city has initiated roughly six to seven text amendments since November, the largest being a proposed consolidation of several RMF residential districts (RMF‑35, RMF‑40, RMF‑5) into a new RMF‑45 zone. Staff told commissioners the consolidation is intended to simplify standards and will be briefed to the commission at a future meeting before holding a public hearing.
Staff also described a council‑initiated amendment addressing fence heights and asked whether the commission wanted to expand a prior M‑1 zone fence‑height proposal to cover M‑1 and M‑2 zones. The existing M‑1 front‑yard fence standard restricts fences at the front setback to 4 feet unless behind the building face; a previously recommended change would allow a 6‑foot fence at the front setback line.
Other text amendments include consolidating downtown parking garage regulations that are currently scattered across the code; a correction to an adaptive reuse ordinance adopted in July to broaden the narrow design‑review incentive so adaptive reuse projects receive staff‑level design review similar to affordable housing incentives; and clarifications that public utility infrastructure is exempt from zoning but may need taller, federally funded or Department of Homeland Security‑required fences for secure sites such as wells. Staff said the gas station regulations the commission reviewed last year were adopted by the City Council and will take effect after the ordinance is published.
On pending state legislation, staff reported the Legislature had introduced several land‑use related bills in the opening days of session. The most consequential, if enacted, would allow single‑family dwellings on lots with a minimum size of 4,000 square feet — a change that could alter locally applicable R‑1 minimum lot sizes that range from 5,000 to 12,000 square feet in some zones, including foothill and wildland interface areas. The director said the city is concerned about applying smaller minimum lot sizes in the urban wildland interface because of evacuation route limits and will pursue exceptions for those areas. Staff also noted proposals to permit detached accessory dwelling units statewide and to allow residential uses in commercial zones — changes Salt Lake City already permits in many areas.
Commissioners agreed staff should place the fence‑height item on a future meeting agenda for formal consideration.
The update was informational; no action was taken.
