Kaysville community development director reports steady licensing revenue, slows in permits; cites water-element grant and code-enforcement gains

Melinda Greenwood, Kaysville’s director of community development, told the City Council the department’s four divisions — building, business licensing, planning and zoning, and code enforcement — produced stable revenue and a mix of enforcement and planning work in the past year.

The overview said business-license revenue has been “a very steady income stream,” typically around $75,000–$80,000. Greenwood reported a combined departmental revenue figure in the packet described as $591,002,295 for fiscal year 2025. Greenwood said permit activity has declined since 2020–21 but the city is on track for permitting volumes similar to recent years.

Greenwood said most permits continue to be residential; year-to-date counts included 36 commercial-related permits (including sign permits and tenant improvements) and 51 single-family/town-home permits. She noted larger projects recently started, including Flint Acres north of Smith’s Marketplace and a new LDS stake center, and said the department issued about eight permits for Flint Acres so far.

The department is recruiting for an open inspector position. Greenwood credited permit technicians Becky and April with administrative work this year, including reviewing older expired permits and resolving completion bonds. She described a targeted review of pool permits issued since 2016 that found five permitted pools lacking the zoning-required five-foot safety barrier; staff followed up to require fences.

On business support, Greenwood described a monthly networking and support meeting run by business-licensing staffer Mindy. The business-support group and outreach efforts have helped keep the city’s licensed-business count around 1,100 and increase participation in recent months.

On planning, Greenwood said the department processed about 40 applications this year (up from 32 the prior year) and continues work on a small-area plan for the city center (Main Street/200 North). She said the city expects to slow that small-area plan timeline and now anticipates adoption in February rather than by year-end.

Greenwood said the state legislature required cities to add a water-conservation element to their general plans; Kaysville obtained a state grant of about $15,000 to prepare that element. The city intends to present the water element to the planning commission in November and to the council in December for adoption.

On code enforcement, Greenwood described proactive outreach this year — staff mailed about 65 notices to property owners with prior weed cases and said weed cases dropped by roughly half after that outreach. She summarized common complaints (weeds, unregistered vehicles, junk/debris, rooster complaints) and described the department’s escalating approach: an initial verification and courtesy contact, a two-week cure period, then additional notices and, when necessary, coordination with legal staff for citations and court action.

Greenwood said the department tries to coordinate with other departments when needed (police for illegal parking, public works for sidewalks or illicit discharge, fire for some enforcement items, and county health or animal services when applicable). She said the department handled about seven or eight short-term rental complaints this year and seeks voluntary compliance where possible to avoid displacing tenants.

Greenwood closed by noting additional statistics were included in the meeting packet for those who want more detail.

The council did not take action on the report; Greenwood answered questions from council members about staffing, timelines, and code-enforcement processes.