Santa Clara adopts Sensitive Lands Overlay Zone and fire-risk map

Building on Santa Clara's steep slopes, rock outcroppings and stream corridors now falls under a Sensitive Lands Overlay Zone, Chapter 17.80 of city code. The City Council adopted it 5-0 on Oct. 14, according to unapproved minutes included in the council's Nov. 4 packet. Planning Director Jim McNulty said the council adopted a moratorium on April 27, a committee formed in May to rewrite an ordinance not updated since 2008, and the Planning Commission recommended approval after an Oct. 8 public hearing. ^[1]

Committee chair Rick Rosenberg said the chapter applies to land on the general plan sensitive lands map, slopes over 15%, cuts or fills over 12 feet, exposed rock outcroppings larger than 10 by 10 feet, mapped geologic hazards and stream corridors draining more than 0.15 square mile, and to platted lots that need a building permit. It replaces the Hillside Review Board with a five-member Sensitive Lands Review Board of three professionals and two residents. Retaining walls and cut slopes are limited to 16 feet total with a 10-foot maximum for any single wall, building envelopes for single-family lots must be at least 5,000 square feet, and a third-party dispute resolution process is paid for by the developer. Rosenberg told Council member Christa Hinton that existing homes are affected only if they seek a building permit for new work. ^[1]

In other action, the council voted 5-0 to adopt a revised Wildland Urban Interface map after areas near Black Desert and parts of the Tuacahn Wash were removed at the council's direction. Fire Chief Dan Cazier said the Santa Clara River buffer was redrawn as a perimeter around burnable fuel plus 330 feet instead of a 0.125-mile centerline buffer, and buildings in the zone would be built to fire-rated assembly standards. ^[1]

The council also approved, 5-0, a permanent golf course maintenance facility for Black Desert on about 3.23 acres, adding a condition that a relocated multipurpose trail be 10 feet wide, and a 3,300-square-foot Utah First Credit Union office on just over 0.75 acre west of the Pioneer Parkway and Red Mountain Drive intersection, with backlit signature elements dimmed on a timer. It approved an interlocal agreement for $135,000 in Washington County funds toward the roughly $227,815 Spence Gunn project and tabled two easement resolutions on Neil Walters property so staff could keep working with the applicant. ^[1]