County planner outlines Tier 2 rezoning near Parowan after 2023 septic study

Reed Erickson, the county planner, told the Parowan Planning and Zoning Commission on Jan. 15 that Iron County is proposing to shrink the Tier 2 urban-expansion boundary around Parowan and to change county zoning in the area in response to a 2023 septic-tank density study by the Utah Geological Survey.

The change matters because the county’s 1995 tiering policy and the 1980s zoning that followed have left large swaths of land zoned for half-acre lots even where groundwater and septic capacity make higher densities inappropriate, Erickson said. "We recently in the county did a septic tank density analysis, which was a study done by the Utah Geological Survey in 2023," he said. "So regardless of what the zoning was, the minimum lot size was 5 acres around Parowan and Paragonah. And that's been the case for about a year."

Erickson told commissioners the county’s goals are to coordinate land-use rules with municipalities so development that…