Entity Staff Report - 11/15/2021COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
CITY COUNCIL of SALT LAKE CITY
TO:City Council Members
FROM: Nick Tarbet, Policy Analyst
DATE: November 16, 2021
RE:Text Amendment: Significant Water
Consuming Land Uses
PLNPCM2021-00638
PROJECT TIMELINE:
Briefing: November 16, 2021
Set Date: November 16, 2021
Public Hearing: Dec 7, 2021
Potential Action: Dec 7 or 14
2021
ISSUE AT-A-GLANCE
The Council will receive a briefing about a proposal that would limit the amount of City culinary water that
commercial and industrial land uses can utilize. The zoning amendment would implement a 300,000-
gallon a day limit for commercial and industrial land uses. The limit affects multiple zones and multiple
land uses citywide. The ordinance also amends and clarifies the definitions of related land use terms.
This petition was initiated by the Mayor on June 6, 2021. On July 8, the City imposed temporary zoning
regulations that prohibited new or expanding land uses that use more than 300,000 gallons per day. This
was done through the “pending ordinance” rule, established by Utah Code (10-9a-509), which allows
prohibiting certain uses for 180 days. The pending ordinance expires on January 4, 2022.
The Planning Commission held a public hearing for the proposal on September 22, 2021 and voted to
forward a unanimous positive recommendation to the City Council.
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POLICY QUESTIONS
The Council may wish to request the administration discuss in depth how they determined the
300,00 gallons per day limit was appropriate and if a lower the maximum allowable usage per day
was considered.
The staff report notes that most of the properties in the northwest quadrant, north of I-80 would be
exempt from this change because the development agreement between the property owners and the
City vests them in 2018 zoning ordinance. See Attachment A -Planning Commission Staff Report
Map
o The Council may wish to further discuss this with the administration, specifically to clarify
which properties are exempt from these proposed changes.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The water use limit is intended to preserve City water resources in the long term, while at the same time
allowing for the City’s continued economic development. Agricultural, institutional, and residential uses
are exempted from the ordinance, as they generally would not reach the water use threshold and in the very
limited cases where such uses may potentially exceed the threshold, they provide other public good or
health benefits that warrant exemption, such as public recreational space.
The Transmittal letter note there are currently two uses in the City that exceed the threshold, the
University of Utah and a refinery. Both uses have full or partial exemptions from compliance with City
zoning regulations due to other State or Federal regulations. All other commercial and industrial uses in
the City currently use less than the proposed 300,000-gallon per day limit.
There are only two existing businesses that currently exceed 200,000-gallons per day. The City is aware of
at least one bottling plant use currently in the process of obtaining City permits that may exceed the
300,000-gallon limit. (Transmittal Letter, Page 2). That business already applied for a building permit
prior to the Mayor’s petition so it would not be affected by the proposed changes as it is vested.
KEY CHANGES (Planning Commission Staff Report, Page 2)
Implements a water use limit on commercial and industrial land uses 300,000-gallons/day
Clarifies definition of bottling plant to cover bottling of beverages in any form, including bottles,
cans, or any other container.
Defines the terms water use report and potable water (used in the proposed regulation).
Adds a footnote to bottling plant land use referencing the existing Inland Port overlay prohibition
on bottling plants
Pages 3-8 of the Planning Commission staff reports includes a discussion about the key issues identified by
the Planning Staff. A short summary of those is provided below. See the planning commission staff report
to view the full analysis.
1.Land Uses and Businesses Impacted by the Proposal
The proposed ordinance is directed at large, intensive commercial and industrial land
uses that have the potential to consume significant amounts of water.
Impacted zoning districts include: Light Manufacturing (M-1) and General Commercial
(CG), Heavy Manufacturing, Downtown, Transit Station Area, Business Park, Research
Park, Form Based Zones, and other Commercial zones.
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The City’s Zoning ordinance currently prohibits “bottling plant” uses from anywhere
within the Inland Port overlay. The prohibition was adopted in 2018 as part of the
Inland Port Overlay.
o However, the properties north of I-80 which are part of the development
agreement are vested in the City’s 2018 zoning code. These changes would not
apply to those properties.
o See Map, Attachment A -Planning Commission Staff Report
Other properties exempt from this change include large state-owned properties such as
the State Prison, State and Institutional Trust Land Administration (SITLA) land,
University of Utah, University Medical, and Research Park.
The 300,000 gallons per day limit is based on an analysis of existing uses on the City’s
water system and is intended to balance water resources with continued business
development.
o The 300,000-gallon limit also takes into consideration the City’s deliberate long
term water supply and demand planning, including future development of
additional water resources and climate change risks associated with drought
intensification.
o The City’s long-term planning assumes a variety of future residential,
commercial, industrial, and institutional land uses that generally align with the
current mix of water use intensity, but with a growing population and increased
development.
o This is a proactive approach as there appears to be growing interest in siting
industries within the City that are proposing to use more than 300,000 gallons
of water per day, and in some cases more than 1 million gallons of water per
day.
2. Original Ordinance Proposal and Subsequent Changes
The first version of the ordinance included a blanket limit of 300,000 gallons per day
for all uses and a prohibition on bottling plants citywide, with an exemption for alcohol
related uses.
o Based on additional research and input, the draft ordinance was revised to
directly target commercial and industrial users.
o The ordinance was also revised to remove the proposed blanket citywide
bottling plant ban along with the associated alcohol manufacturer exemption.
The proposal would have treated water, milk, or soda bottling plants
differently than other uses that may have similar water impacts, such as
breweries, and could appear to unfairly target such uses.
3. Public Notice and City Department/Public Input
July 2021, the City posted an “Open House” webpage
Planning sent information to Recognized Community Organizations
Planning staff attended Business Advisory Board meeting
The City’s Sustainability and Economic Development Departments reviewed and
provided comments
State Department of Agriculture provided comments