Hooper staff recommend raising size threshold for accessory structures, propose ordinance draft to cut hearing load

Amanda, a city planning staff member, told the Hooper City Council that the city has seen dozens of oversized accessory-structure applications in recent years and presented options to reduce the number of conditional-use hearings those projects require.

The proposal grew from city data, Amanda said: in 2023 there were 14 oversized accessory-structure approvals averaging about 3,021 square feet and five oversized structures that included accessory dwelling units (ADUs) averaging about 3,200 square feet; in 2024 there were 12 oversized structures (about 2,500 square feet average) and four oversized-plus-ADU projects averaging about 2,124 square feet; through early 2025 the city had received three oversized-structure applications averaging closer to 3,000 square feet. Amanda said those figures suggested Hooper’s current 2,000-square-foot threshold (for R-1) is below what residents are building and is producing more applications than staff regard as necessary.

“I'm not taking a side here,” Amanda said while presenting the data, describing the numbers and policies used by nearby jurisdictions. She told the commission that three of the four peer cities she contacted use a 25 percent rear-yard limit on accessory structures; in those places the rule either blocks projects over that…