Hooper City Council approves three planning commission appointments, asks legal to draft ordinance expanding panel to seven

HOOPER, Utah — The Hooper City Council on Jan. 2 approved three appointments to the city Planning Commission and instructed legal staff to draft an ordinance expanding the panel from five members to seven and creating staggered terms.

Mayor (unnamed) nominated Jason McCormick, Gene Larson and Steve Wall; the council approved the appointments on a 3-2 vote after more than an hour of debate about experience, continuity and how to stagger seats. Council member Hill moved the appointments and asked the city attorney to prepare a resolution and ordinance to change the code to a seven-member commission; a council member identified in the meeting transcript as Brett seconded the motion. The council recorded three votes in favor and two opposed; the motion carried.

The measure leaves the length and staggering of terms to a later ordinance and a subsequent meeting. Council member Hill said the “terms of the Planning Commission [are] yet to be determined” and emphasized the council would set staggered terms after appointing members.

Why it matters: Planning Commission appointments and the way seats are staggered determine which members hear and decide subdivision and site applications. Several council members and planning commissioners told the council they were concerned about losing institutional knowledge if multiple seats turned over at once.

Council debate and next steps

Council members and staff described the timing as driven by state changes in subdivision review and by planning-commission terms that expired Dec. 31, 2024. Opponents of immediate full replacement urged a staggered-terms solution so a majority of newly appointed members would not lack experience at a time the commission’s responsibilities are expanding.

Amanda (planning commission chair) and Malcolm (city planner) were among staff and commission members who told the council the commission has substantial new responsibilities tied to state-mandated Title 10 changes and that preserving some experienced commissioners would aid continuity. Malcolm briefed the council elsewhere in the meeting on proposed code changes and offered to prepare a focused presentation of the largest edits at a future meeting.

Nominees’ statements

Jason McCormick, a planning commission nominee, said, “There’s a lot of change coming to Hooper. I think there can be responsible, reasonable growth, and we can help the city grow in a way that will put less tax burden on the individual residents.”

Gene Larson said he wanted to move from complaining to contributing and described the general plan as a living document that can be changed if the community requests it.

Steve Wall said he has construction and architecture experience and described ordinances as specifications to be followed and, when appropriate, updated.

Formal action

The council’s motion approved the three appointments and included a separate directive that the city attorney prepare an ordinance to increase Planning Commission membership from five to seven and to propose a staggering plan for terms. The motion left the commission seats’ precise term lengths to be determined in the forthcoming ordinance and scheduled the council to appoint two additional commissioners at a future meeting once the ordinance is prepared.

What the vote and timeline mean

Because three seats had expired at year-end, the council said it could either leave the commission without a quorum until later appointments or reappoint sufficient members now and adjust the code and terms next meeting. The council chose the latter path: appoint the three nominees, task legal staff with drafting a seven-member ordinance and return to the council for additional appointments and term assignments.

Context and background

Council members noted prior decisions reduced the commission from seven to five; some said restoring a larger panel would reduce tie votes and spread workload. Several council members proposed staggered terms (for example: appointing a 3-year, a 4-year and a 2-year seat now) so no more than two seats come up in a single year. Staff and commissioners indicated they would prepare suggested staggering options for council consideration.

Looking ahead

The council said it will consider the draft ordinance at its next regular meeting and expects to appoint the two additional members after the ordinance change takes effect. The council also directed staff to prepare onboarding material for the newly appointed commissioners.