Council continues codification review after staff find ordinance inconsistencies and missing fee records

City staff reported to the Castle Dale City Council on Feb. 13 that a city codification project has uncovered inconsistent or duplicate ordinance language and missing fee schedules that require council review before the codifiers finalize the municipal code.

Carrie, the city recorder, told the council she found ordinance passages that conflicted or duplicated each other: for example, a business regulation tied to sexually oriented-business (SOB) distance rules and a short-term rental reference that both use distance restrictions; a floodplain ordinance that is better in the land-use materials than in the codification draft; and the garbage contract document that alternately lists five- and six-year terms. Staff also told the council that the codification process removed monetary amounts from ordinance text and replaced them with the phrase "amount on file in the city recorder's office," so the city needs to create a separate fee schedule file to be maintained for fines and rates.

Council members were asked to review the portions of the codification draft assigned to them and return corrections. The presiding officer and staff discussed meeting with two council members individually to cross-check code extracts, with repeated emphasis that any such meetings would not constitute a quorum or decision-making session. The mayor and council members agreed the codification should continue rather than halt because the city had already spent funds on the project.

The council also discussed related land-use items that will require planning and zoning review, such as the floodplain language, door-to-door salesperson rules and proposed changes to pet limits in the municipal code. Council members asked staff to compare existing beautification and land-use provisions so duplicates are removed. The Planning and Zoning Commission and land-use committee will review items that fall under their statutory scope before final adoption.

Council directed staff and council members to compile corrections and create an external fee/fine schedule file to accompany the codified ordinances before the codifier publishes a final version.