HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Provided Information - 3/24/2026CITY COUNCIL OF SALT LAKE CITY
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COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
CITY COUNCIL of SALT LAKE CITY
TO:City Council Members
FROM:Brian Fullmer
Policy Analyst
DATE:March 24, 2026
RE: Expiration of Land Use Approvals Text Amendment
PLNPCM2025-00554
BRIEFING UPDATE
During a March 3, 2026 briefing Council Members asked if the proposed changes only affect administrative
actions or if any include City Council decisions. Planning staff said the only items that would involve the
Council are final plats with subdivision amendments that involve streets. A question was asked about how
often extensions are requested. They are frequently requested but generally for circumstances outside the
applicants’ control, such as delays with financing.
The following information was provided for the March 3, 2026 briefing. It is included
again for background purposes.
The Council will be briefed about a text amendment initiated by the Administration that clarifies actions
applicants may take to prevent approved land use applications from expiring. Final plat applications that
subdivide land, street dedication plats, conditional uses, planned developments, and design review
approvals would all be affected by the proposed changes. The Planning Commission is the decision-making
body for these applications, and they do not come to the City Council.
Utah State Code allows approved land use applications to remain valid if there is “reasonable diligence” to
implement the approval but doesn’t define what that is. City code generally requires a building permit to be
submitted within a given timeframe for conditional uses, planned developments, and design reviews, so an
application doesn’t expire. Some uses do not require a building permit and proposed changes add other
actions discussed below that could be considered “reasonable diligence” and prevent applications from
expiring.
Item Schedule:
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Under the proposal these land use approvals would expire if a development agreement, building permit,
business license, or final plat application tied to the land use application also expires or becomes void.
The Planning Commission reviewed the proposal at its August 27, 2025 meeting and held a public hearing
at which one person spoke suggesting that extensions not be granted if the property has any current code
violations. Planning staff responded, saying this would likely be in violation of State code. The
Commission forwarded a unanimous positive recommendation to the Council on the
proposed amendment.
Goal of the briefing: Review the proposed text amendment and determine if the Council supports
moving forward with the proposal.
POLICY QUESTION
1. The proposal recommends allowing an applicant to request one 12-month extension if the request
is submitted before an original approval expires. The Council may wish to discuss whether this is
sufficient or if they would like to allow for the potential for an additional time extension.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Final plats and street dedication plats do not currently have an expiration date and can be left for an
indefinite period before they are recorded with the County. The proposal would require final plats to be
recorded within 18 months of application submittal and street dedication plats to be recorded within 180
days of approval by the City.
Conditional uses, planned developments, and design reviews all expire in 12 months unless a building
permit application is submitted. However, not all land use applications require a building permit. Planning
staff provided examples that are included in the Key Consideration section.
The proposed amendment includes additional actions besides a building permit that would demonstrate
the applicant is working with reasonable diligence to implement an approval:
Submitting a subdivision application as part of the approval
Obtaining a business license (conditional uses)
Finalizing a development agreement between the City and property owner (when authorized by
State code or City ordinance)
It is worth noting that under the proposal one 12-month extension could be requested on the above land
use approvals if the request is made prior to the original approval expiring.
KEY CONSIDERATION
Planning staff identified one key consideration related to the proposal, found on page 3 of the Planning
Commission staff report, and briefly summarized below. For the complete analysis, please see the Planning
Commission staff report.
Consideration 1 – Why Impose These Changes?
The various land use approvals create certain property rights and allow applicants to begin working on
other required approvals. Most land use approvals expire if a building permit application is not submitted
within 12 months. Some uses have requirements that must be met before a building permit is issued. And,
as noted above, not all land use applications require a building permit.
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Planning staff provided examples of land use applications that do not require a building permit. The
following are two of several in the Planning Commission staff report. A proposed bar in the space used by a
former restaurant may not need building modifications that require a building permit. In this case a
business license may be all that is required, especially if the restaurant already had a liquor license.
Another example is a planned development that includes a subdivision. The final plat needs to be recorded
before a building permit is issued. It is Planning staff’s opinion that recording a subdivision creates a
degree of “vesting” with similar weight to submitting a building permit.
CITY DEPARTMENT REVIEW
This proposal was only reviewed by the City Attorney’s Office. Other departments and divisions are not
involved in determining when land use applications expire and rely on the Planning Division.
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