Emigration Canyon planning commission recommends city adopt statewide engineering standards with narrow exceptions

The Emigration Canyon Planning Commission voted unanimously Thursday to recommend that the City Council adopt an ordinance (OAM2025-001372) formally adopting engineering standard drawings and specifications that reference the latest AASHTO geometric design guidance, the Utah Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices and the APWA manuals of standard plans and specifications.

The recommendation follows the adoption deadline in House Bill 368, which took effect the day before the commission meeting; staff said the city must formally adopt standards to comply. Planning staff presenter Cameron (last name not specified) told the commission the ordinance would allow Emigration Canyon to automatically adopt future revisions of those standards by reference, so staff would not need to return to the commission every time one of the national or statewide manuals is updated.

Commissioners and staff said the standards are intended for public infrastructure and development projects and are mostly consistent with other jurisdictions, but staff recommended one local handling for APWAexcavation/mill-and-overlay rules. Cameron said APWA requires a "T-patch" and a mill-and-overlay extending 48 inches beyond the patched trench; Emigration Canyon code (Title 14) currently requires a wider repair for newer roads — up to the center line or 15 feet from the cut, depending on road age — and staff proposed language that calls back to the local code rather than replacing it.

"This means that I don't have to come back and go through this process every time there's an update from any one of these entities," Cameron said during the presentation.

Staff outlined three specific local clarifications to the APWA milling rule that were discussed with the commission: if a city resurfacing project is scheduled within two years, a contractorrequired mill-and-overlay would not be required; for roads older than three years, a mill-and-overlay would be required only when the cut is longer than 300 feet; and for roads older than seven years the city would not require a mill-and-overlay because those roads are due for full resurfacing.

Commissioners also raised implementation questions unrelated to the ordinance text: several members said they have seen poor post-excavation compaction and settling and asked whether the city should require larger contractors or the county to perform mill-and-overlay work rather than relying on private contractors for small repairs. Commissioner Andy Wallace noted experience in other jurisdictions in which a municipality charges a higher excavation fee and then performs the repaving itself to ensure quality.

Curtis Woodward, senior planner with the Municipal Services District (MSD), said Emigration Canyon currently relies on Salt Lake County public works operations for large paving work and that MSD staff are exploring whether the county could perform repaving work on the city's behalf and how fees might be structured to support that approach.

After discussion, Commissioner Jim Carcotte moved and Commissioner Jody Giroux seconded a motion that the commission recommend Council adoption of the engineering standards as drafted. The motion passed unanimously.

The commission recorded no changes to the draft ordinance text other than clarifying that the planning commission's role is to recommend adoption to the Council; staff said the ordinance will return to the Council for formal adoption at the end of the month and could be delayed a month if Council or staff requests further changes.