Midway staff outline state Wildland‑Urban Interface rules, high‑risk map and local boundary options
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Summary
City building official and fire marshal detailed state WUI rules, two required maps (state high‑risk and a city WUI boundary), potential annual assessment fees on high‑risk parcels and a phased process for local code and scoring; staff urged public engagement before final adoption.
Midway staff briefed the City Council on the state’s Wildland‑Urban Interface (WUI) program and walked through potential local implications, including a state high‑risk map that could carry an annual assessment and a separate, broader local boundary where WUI building standards would apply.
Tex, Midway’s city building official and fire marshal, said the state’s Forest Fire and State Lands (FFSL) program created a high‑risk map that identifies parcels scoring 7 or higher; those parcels may be charged a base fee during the program’s early years and ultimately assessed per‑square‑foot fees tied to structure size. He said the state is phasing in the program, that certified assessors will perform property scores, and that Wasatch County will collect any fees on the property‑tax bill.
Tex and other staff emphasized several unknowns: how the state will score individual properties, the exact certification requirements for assessors, the per‑square‑foot fee rate that will apply after the pilot period, and which mitigation actions will lower a property’s score. Staff proposed a Midway city WUI boundary built from identifiable natural or man‑made features (roads, creeks), explained that the local boundary can be adjusted over time, and said cities must adopt the state high‑risk map but may define their own WUI line for code application.
Councilmembers asked whether existing homes would be grandfathered, how the assessments would be disclosed to potential buyers, and whether insurance companies could legally use the maps in premium decisions. Staff said there is no grandfathering for assessments and that maps should be posted publicly so potential buyers can see where a parcel falls. Staff also said the state intends the map‑based approach to standardize assessments and that the city will host educational meetings before any fee assessments begin.
No final map or code text was adopted at this meeting; staff said the council would review the city’s proposed WUI map and code text at a future meeting after more details from FFSL are available.