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South Jordan discusses Oct. 1 state ADU law; council asks staff to draft setback-focused ordinance
Summary
Planning staff told the council that state ADU changes taking effect Oct. 1 will require detached accessory dwelling units (ADUs) to be allowed on qualifying single‑family lots (11,000 sq ft threshold); councilors asked staff to return with visuals and a draft ordinance emphasizing setbacks and objective design limits.
Planning staff briefed the South Jordan City Council on July 21 about widespread changes to state ADU rules that take effect Oct. 1 and asked the council for direction on how the city should rewrite local code.
"Starting on October 1, that's when the state's legislation kicks in," the planner told council, outlining the baseline in the new statute: detached ADUs must be allowed on blocks where single‑family use is permitted on lots of at least 11,000 square feet. Staff said the city may still regulate setbacks, massing and overall size but the statute prohibits local limits on some interior and aesthetic standards such as number of bedrooms, specific materials and roof pitch.
Council members and planning staff discussed several tradeoffs including parking, building mass and the role of conditional use permits. Planning staff summarized the state's parking thresholds and said the city currently requires one off‑street parking space per ADU; the state introduces more detailed thresholds tied to ADU size (for example, different treatment if an ADU exceeds about 650 square feet).
Council member Shelton proposed a simpler, neighbor-focused approach: "What if we just said, hey. Here are the minimum setbacks from all property lines, and other than that, we don't care what the lot size is that you're building on," he asked, arguing setbacks focus on impacts to adjacent properties rather than lot area alone.
Staff also reported the city currently permits roughly 25 ADUs a year and that many detached ADU complications arise when a garage and living unit are combined. Staff recommended converting commonly applied conditional‑use conditions (for height, screening and proximity to property lines) into clear code standards so applicants and neighbors know the rules in advance.
Council directed staff to draft ordinance language and return with visuals showing how ADUs would fit on typical 11,000‑square‑foot lots, examples of setback options (for facades with and without windows), and proposed caps or sizing alternatives that would capture the majority of previously approved CUP cases. Staff said they will model several approaches (retain current thresholds, modestly raise the cap, or set minimum allowances) and present recommended standards at a future meeting.
