Ivins officials weigh zoning changes for PGA/LPGA grandstands as residents press limits on height, duration and noise

Ivins’ mayor opened a Feb. 6 work meeting to discuss Ordinance 2025-01, a proposed amendment to Title 16, Chapter 14 that would affect Class 1 use permits and the allowed duration of temporary structures used for large events.

John Kulbaugh, who identified himself as the Black Desert director for the LPGA and PGA events, told the council that contractors estimate an overall build/occupy/tear-down window of roughly 142 days for the PGA and under 100 days for the LPGA. “The IBC in 2024 ... changed the definition of a temporary structure to having a lifetime of an entire year,” Kulbaugh said, and asked the city to allow more flexible, block-based timing rather than strict separate windows for construction, occupancy and deconstruction.

Black Desert’s managing counsel and staff described the physical constraints at the resort, the need for special foundations and inspections, and the practical limitations of building in desert terrain. They urged the council not to require permanent-structure code standards for temporary viewing platforms because doing so would make the temporary grandstands impractical.

City staff and counsel clarified how building-code time limits interact with land-use rules: the city currently applies the 2021 International Building Code (IBC) for structural time frames, under which staff said temporary structures may be erected for up to 180 days, while the city’s Class 1 use (short-term use permit) historically constrained the permitted active use to 45 days. City counsel confirmed the city may adopt shorter time limits than the IBC for community-impact reasons.

Multiple residents of Mesa Vista Drive and nearby neighborhoods described being surprised by the scale of a recent grandstand placed near homes, alleged that parts of the early work were not permitted, and said construction noise and privacy impacts were substantial. One resident recounted watching crews remove an added third story quickly after complaints and described repeated metal-on-metal pounding from morning until evening during assembly. “It just kept going bigger and bigger,” a resident said. Residents asked the council to require lower profiles (one or two stories), shorter overall duration for temporary structures—one suggested less than six months—and operational sequencing to reduce neighborhood impacts.

Black Desert representatives offered a set of mitigation possibilities: lower-profile stands for the LPGA (one ground floor with a tent instead of multi-level steel decks), consolidating or moving larger grandstands to less-sensitive locations (for example, near the 18th hole when feasible), and operational sequencing such as making the most visually intrusive stand the last to be erected and the first to be dismantled. The company also proposed working with the city and its contractor to tighten logistics and reduce assembly time.

Council members and staff discussed two regulatory approaches: (1) rewrite or confine Class 1 language to be specific to PGA/LPGA grandstands, or (2) create a standalone exception (discussed in the meeting as an “exception allowing grandstands for limited events”) that would specify zones, height limits, timing, and conditions tailored to major tournaments. Staff recommended returning draft language to the planning commission so planners and stakeholders can craft code text and explore a memorandum of understanding to lock in sequencing and operational commitments where appropriate.

Black Desert said it expects to start receiving event equipment March 15 and that an application for the LPGA use permit will arrive soon after; staff noted the ordinance that applies when the application is filed will affect review timelines. The council did not take formal legislative action at the work session. Council members said they want mitigation proposals and contractor sequencing options before final ordinance action and suggested watching the upcoming LPGA event as a test for how reduced-scale platforms perform.

The meeting ended with a motion to adjourn that passed by voice vote. The council directed staff to coordinate with Black Desert and the planning commission and to bring refined options to a future meeting.