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Willard council clarifies ‘developable acre’ definition in zoning code; ordinance approved
Summary
Council adopted an amendment to section 24.01.06 of the Willard zoning code to define "developable acre," removing an ambiguous reference to "infrastructure" and specifying excluded unbuildable areas; the ordinance passed following council discussion and a roll-call vote.
Willard City Council voted on April 23 to approve a change to section 24.01.06 of the city zoning code that defines "developable acre" and clarifies what land may be counted as developable for density and open-space purposes.
Mayor Pro Tem Mike Brager read proposed language to the council and flagged a drafting issue: the earlier version included the phrase "or infrastructure" in a way that both implied infrastructure was usable and then immediately excluded it. Brager proposed deleting the problematic wording and adding "and other infrastructure" after stormwater facilities to the exclusion list. "We need to pull the 'or infrastructure' out of there," he said during the discussion.
Council member Jordan Hulsey pressed for clarity on how the new wording would affect density calculations. "An acre is 43,560 square feet," Hulsey said, adding that he did not want the change to be used to allow developers to count swampy or unusable land as open space while squeezing additional lots into remaining buildable area. Other council members and the planning commission representative said the amendment is intended to prevent developers from counting wetlands, steep slopes, roads and similar unusable areas as usable open space.
Chandler, the planning commission representative, said the Planning Commission had used a similar standard to reject schemes that treated swamp or otherwise unusable ground as open space. Council members discussed examples including builder's-half calculations and how streets and infrastructure affect lot measurements.
After discussion, Brager moved to approve the ordinance amending section 24.01.06 with the deletion of the phrase "or infrastructure" and the addition of "and other infrastructure" after stormwater facilities; Jake Bodley seconded. The council took a roll call and recorded recorded votes of "Yes" from Jake, Rod, Mike, Rex and Jordan; the motion carried and the ordinance was advanced as read.
Council members noted that if the drafting language requires further legal review they would revisit the ordinance at a future meeting, but the council said the present change is primarily a clarification to align the ordinary zoning code with the Municipal Planning Commission practice on defining developable acreage.
The council also noted this amendment will be applied when evaluating open-space dedication and density on future subdivision applications; staff and legal counsel will continue to advise on precise drafting and any subsequent clarifying amendments.