Brigham City Council adopts updated general plan after public hearings

Brigham City Council voted unanimously March 6 to adopt an updated Brigham City General Plan following two planning-commission public hearings and months of community engagement.

The General Plan update provides a revised future land-use map, a citizen’s guide to plan chapters, and implementation strategies including transportation and active‑transportation elements. Council members moved to adopt the draft presented at the meeting; Council Member Smith made the motion and Council Member Jensen seconded it. The council recorded the adoption as unanimous.

Why it matters: The General Plan sets the city’s long-range policy framework for land use, transportation, housing and public facilities. Council members and staff emphasized that the plan guides future decisions but does not itself rezone property or change existing entitlements.

Valerie Cloughton, the public‑engagement specialist on the project, told the council the plan reflects extensive outreach: surveys, stakeholder meetings, open houses, presentations at community events and two planning‑commission hearings. “It does not change zoning,” she said, repeating a point staff said many residents had asked about during the process.

Planning staff said the planning commission held two public hearings before forwarding a recommendation to the council. The commission recommended four main updates to the draft provided to council, including: separating agricultural and rural residential designations where appropriate, removing a small‑area plan shown for 1200 West because its zoning did not align with the map, updating the land‑use designation table, and incorporating an updated bicycle, bikeways and trails plan into the transportation element. Staff also noted the active transportation plan for southeastern Box Elder County will be included as an appendix, and moderate‑income housing material will be appended as Appendix 8.

One member of the public, Juliana Larson of Beddington City, raised whether residents in the Harper Ward areas had ample opportunity to weigh in and have their concerns reflected. “What did the people in Harper Ward … come to some kind of an understanding about this so that when they see this as being passed and stamped that they had enough input?” Larson asked. Staff responded that the map’s green acreage reflects requests for rural residential designations and that multiple meetings—both city and county—had been held with those property owners.

The plan identifies “character districts” across Brigham City, including the river corridor, South Gateway, foothills, a historic core, a north industrial district and a sales/commercial district. The update also highlights sidewalks and the city’s sidewalk master plan as a continuing implementation task and shows where the city’s bikeways and trails network connects to recreational assets such as the Eagle Rise Trail near Manaway Reservoir.

Council members thanked staff and volunteers for the public‑engagement efforts and noted the plan will serve as guidance for future rezonings, development proposals and capital projects. The council’s motion to adopt the plan was made on the floor and passed by roll call as unanimous; the meeting transcript records the adoption as unanimous but does not list a full, named roll‑call tally in sequence.

The council closed the general‑plan public hearing before taking other business. The plan will be posted on the city website as the official adopted General Plan and becomes the city’s guiding policy document for long‑range planning and public investments.