Commission discusses Weber Basin landscape ordinance; seeks clarifications on scope and new-development trigger

Centerville planning commissioners revisited a proposed landscaping and screening ordinance Oct. 22 after a brief staff presentation and a 20-minute discussion with a representative from Weber Basin Water Conservancy District. The commission asked staff to clarify that ordinance requirements should apply to new development and to specified redevelopment triggers (primarily commercial, multifamily and institutional projects), and not automatically to minor residential work.

John Perry, assistant general manager for Weber Basin, described the district's Landscape Lawn Exchange program (currently structured as $2.50 per square foot, funded roughly $1.25 from the district and $1.25 from state funds) and said the district's expectation is to align city ordinances with program eligibility. Perry said the program has minimum standards (for example, the program expects vegetative cover rather than blanket rockscapes) and that most communities limit mandatory ordinance application to new development and commercial redevelopment rather than to small residential improvements. Perry noted that state law (HB 274) requires secondary-water metering and billing by usage beginning in 2030, a separate but related policy shift that increases the importance of conservation incentives.

Commissioners asked staff to make the ordinance's triggering events explicit, to define landscape minimums (the draft includes a 35% vegetative minimum for single-family front/side yard irrigated area and a 15% irrigated-area maximum for commercial/multifamily with exceptions for recreation), and to clarify language about narrow planting strips (portions under 8 feet). Staff and the district agreed to refine the draft and return to the commission; staff suggested the refined code could be scheduled for a public hearing on Dec. 10 or included with the Nov. 12 work on the general plan if timing allows.