96 South Main Street, Nephi, Utah 84648 - Voice: 435 623-0525 - FAX: 435 623-4735 News for November 6, 2024 |
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Mona City Council reviews new changes to subdivision application process |
By Myrna Trauntvein The state Legislature has mandated changes to the way cities handle subdivision requests. Mike and Jacob Hansen, Rural Community Consultants, presented the preliminary subdivision application process, the final subdivision application process and the subdivision application process overview to Mona City Council. In the 2023 Legislative Session, Senate Bill 174 was adopted. It enacted a new process for subdivision review and approval and set an effective date for enacted codes for December 31, 2024, said M. Hansen. “If you don’t have an adopted plan by the first of January, they will no longer pay us to help you after that date,” he said. J. Hansen was the best code guy, said M. Hansen, so he turned the time over to him to present the draft plan that the consulting firm had designed that would meet state requirements. The preliminary subdivision application process requires a pre-application meeting with the planning commission which can be optional. The city staff has 15 business days to schedule after the request is received. The city staff notifies the owners of water conveyance facilities within 15 calendar days. The applicant submits the completed preliminary applications. The planning commission checks the confirmation with ordinances, the planning commission responds to the applicant citing missing requirements, and the city has 30 business days to review and respond. The preliminary application review consists of a maximum of four cycles. The planning commission may hold a public hearing if the applicant replies and makes the required modifications they move on. If an applicant takes more than 40 business days to respond, the city gets 20 more days to review and respond. The planning commission approves the revised preliminaries application if it is compliant. The planning commission has 20 business days to approve or deny the application after the last review cycle. “An applicant must first obtain preliminary approval for a final subdivision application,” said J. Hansen. “They have 180 calendar days to submit the final application after the preliminary approval.” If the applicant submits a complete final application, the Development Reiew Committee (DRC) checks the conformity with city ordinance, DRC can respond citing missing requirements, the applicant then replies and makes modifications. He said that the DRC committee would be made up of the planning commission chairman, the city attorney, and some city staff members. “We want to include the fire chief, the water, gas and roads departments,” said Dennis Gardner, planning commission chair. If the applicant responds, the DRC approves the revised final application if compliant. Post approval actions require city officials to sign the plat, the applicant then completes the improvements required or posts guarantees and records the plat. The city staff then notifies the Utah Geospatial Resource Center. The overview, he said, was that there was a pre-application meeting with the planning commission. The applicant contacts city staff to request a meeting and the meeting is held at the next regularly scheduled planning commission meeting. The planning commission reviews the preliminary application. The applicant submits a complete preliminary application and the city staff notifies all affected entities. The applicant makes technical revisions as required, the DRC approves the application if it is compliant with the city ordinances. Post approval actions require that the applicant completes or guarantees improvements and records the plat with the county recorder. When that is done, the city staff notifies the Utah Geospatial Resource Center. M. Hansen said that the city needs to maintain a map and include their agricultural protection areas. Gardner said that the preliminary information should include the need for engineering to determine if the proposed subdivision can handle the ground water. “The fee schedule has changed,” said Lori Henrie, planning commission secretary. “The impact fees are higher.” Gardner said that the water provision should also be part of the planning. Mona requires water be attached to every building lot. There is a study that contractors need to follow. “In the pre-application process,” said J. Hansen, “there is an application form. In addition, to a notice of water conveyance, they need to make sure that there or no ditches or canals on the property.” “If the development does not meet the criteria with all elements completed, then they are not approved,” said J. Hansen. Gardner said that one applicant for a subdivision had tried for two years to find water and could not so they gave up the project. “It needs to be wet water before even a preliminary application is submitted,” said M. Hansen. Public hearings are no longer a requirement and that might be caused by the public clamor coming because the general public was often opposed to subdivisions and didn’t want them in residential neighborhoods. “You cut out our minor subdivision requirements,” said Henrie. State law requires minor subdivisions follow the same requirements as regular subdivisions, said J. Hansen. “Rural Community Consultants’ mission is to provide implementable solutions to the difficult issues that are unique to local governments in the West,” said M. Hansen, company principal. “We specialize in strategy, capital investment, resiliency, infrastructure, engineering, public interaction, and land use issues.”
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