Lindon planning commission backs amendment to let adjoining flag lots share a driveway

The Lindon City Planning Commission voted unanimously on April 15 to recommend that the City Council approve an amendment to ordinance 17.32.290 to allow two adjoining flag lots to share one driveway, with recorded easements and updated fire-code requirements.

Michael Florence, the presenting staff member, said the change "would allow 2 adjoining flag lots to share 1 shared driveway" and described required plat notes and recorded right-of-way and public-utility easements for the shared flagpole portion.

The amendment keeps the existing minimum lot size for flag lots at 20,000 square feet and retains the ordinance's requirement that each qualifying lot maintain at least 25 feet of frontage for the flagpole drive. The commission discussed how the shared lane would be platted: the lane would belong to a single lot on the recorded plat (for example, Lot 3) and later lots would be granted recorded easements to access utilities and the lane.

Commissioners and staff debated layout permutations the ordinance should allow. Commissioners asked whether the amendment should permit a flagpole to extend past the first rear lot ("stacking") or require lots to be side-by-side. Florence said the draft did not intend stacked flag poles and recommended language clarifying that the lane should not extend past the front setback of the first rear lot; commissioners agreed to add that limit.

The commission also reviewed public-safety and engineering requirements recommended by the city's engineering staff and the deputy fire marshal. Key technical changes in the draft include increasing the minimum hard-surface fire access from 16 feet to 20 feet, with the fire code requiring 26 feet where a home exceeds 30 feet in height. Florence said a fire-hydrant "bulb out" measurement in the code was changed from 31 feet to 26 feet to align with the fire code.

On utilities, Assistant City Engineer Trent advised that culinary water and sewer laterals must maintain at least 10 feet of separation; Florence said the city would likely require separate water and sewer laterals running along different sides of a driveway or in the same trench but as separate lines.

Residents who spoke during the discussion described specific property situations. Applicant and Commissioner Rob Callas explained that the amendment would let several landlocked or deep lots be developed without extending a public cul-de-sac, citing his own property as an example. Resident Judy Taylor confirmed she and her husband had considered a shared pole arrangement with Callas to provide legal access to a landlocked parcel.

After a public hearing with no public testimony, the commission voted to recommend approval. The motion approved the amendment as drafted with one explicit change added by the commission: the shared lane must terminate at the front setback of the first rear lot (i.e., it cannot extend past that setback). The vote was unanimous and the recommendation will go to the Lindon City Council for final action.

The commission also noted practical issues the ordinance will not directly resolve, including long-term maintenance of shared lanes (likely handled by private agreements or covenants) and mortgage/ownership complications if a driveway is split between owners.

Implementation and next steps: the commission's recommendation will be transmitted to the City Council; any future subdivision or site plan using the shared-driveway provision will require recorded easements, utility plans meeting the 10-foot separation rule, and engineering and fire-marshal review prior to building permits.