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Commission recommends raising residential plate height limit from 20 to 24 feet
Summary
After hearing builders and staff describe construction practices that make the existing 20‑foot second‑story plate height hard to meet, the commission recommended an ordinance amendment to increase the measured plate height to 24 feet and asked staff to coordinate with the fire department on implementation details.
The Cedar City Planning Commission voted to recommend an amendment to the city’s building‑height rules that would raise the maximum plate height for affected residential zones from 20 feet to 24 feet.
Robert DeMille, owner of Custom Trust and representing a group that frequently designs houses in Cedar City, told the commission the 20‑foot maximum plate height “came from older codes” and is increasingly difficult to meet with current design preferences such as 9‑foot main floors, 9‑foot second floors and thicker floor or roof trusses. DeMille said the restriction forces designers into costlier or suboptimal structural choices and that he and others have seen homes built in town that exceed the current measured plate height but submit plans showing different figures.
Planning staff explained how the city currently measures building height: from the highest grade at the front of the building to the top plate. Staff noted the 20‑foot number is primarily an aesthetic standard and that the fire department still believed it could operate under a modest change in plate height; staff suggested 24 feet would accommodate most current designs. Fire department needs were discussed in public but staff told the commission they had spoken with the fire department and it did not oppose a modest increase provided fire access and ladder considerations were reviewed.
Commissioners discussed whether to raise the limit further (to 25 or 26 feet) but generally favored a narrower change so the ordinance would not have to be revisited soon. The commission also discussed whether the amendment should apply only to single‑family zones or be extended to R2/R3; staff advised the change would affect how residential neighborhood and similar zones reference the primary R1 measurement.
After public hearing and discussion, a commissioner moved that the commission recommend changing the measurement from 20 to 24 feet measured to the top plate; another commissioner seconded the motion. The commission voted in favor, and staff will forward the recommendation to the city council and follow up with the fire department on any implementation details needed before final council action.
No specific appeals, variances or numeric tallies of votes were recorded in the meeting transcript; the commission’s action was recorded on the agenda as a positive recommendation to council.
