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Bill to prevent local rules from blocking defensible-space wildfire measures gets committee review

Utah House committee (House meeting) · January 21, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

A House bill that would bar local ordinances from preventing homeowners from creating Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) defensible space was presented and drew questions on HOA authority, outdated WUI maps and city concerns; the sponsor agreed to work with cities and the League before a committee vote.

Representative Sam Peterson introduced House Bill 215, saying the bill would prevent cities or counties from enforcing ordinances that forbid residents from clearing vegetation required by the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) code to create defensible space around structures. "The intent is that we will allow people to comply with the WUI code," Peterson said, adding he plans to work with affected municipalities to refine language.

The committee asked detailed questions. Representative Ward asked…

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