Land use code rewrite
Comprehensive rewrite of the city's land development code by consultant Cherylyn Egner, cutting it from more than 800 to about 530 pages and moving administrative approvals to the Development Review Committee with the Planning Commission as appeal authority, as required by state law.
- Where it stands
- Approved
- Type
- Code change
- Location
- Citywide
- Applicant
- American Fork City
Every hearing and vote
February 10, 2022 · City Council work session
Capital outlook, critical needs and property tax
Discussed
Finance Director Anna Montoya listed future capital needs: $3.7 million for the infrastructure management plan, $25 million for 200 South, over $50 million for facilities, $12 million for PI metering and $2 million a year for vehicles. Critical timelines: police/courts building (court lease expires in September with a 5-year option), fitness center, public works expansion and a code rewrite (possibly six figures). Pegging the tax rate would add about $22/year per home; Shelton favored a .25% increase then pegging, Taylor .5%. The flyover at the Meadows was called critical.
May 17, 2022 · City Council work session
FY2023 strategic goals
Discussed
Camden Bird listed goals: citywide fiber; 200 South design, bonding, bid and construction starting September 2022; a 30-year facilities master plan including a 30-acre property (28 acres for parks, 2 for a third fire station near Lakeshore); pressurized irrigation metering and rates by spring 2023; a water recycling concept modeled by Horrocks; and a full city code rewrite with the development code outsourced. The mayor said residents saved 245 million gallons from April 15 to May 15 versus the 10-year average.
November 15, 2022 · City Council work session
Development review process workflow
Discussed
O'Brien walked through the concept, submission, review and approval steps, saying a project should take about three months if applicants submit code-compliant plans. Staff said delays usually come from incomplete or non-compliant submissions. Councilmember Shelton proposed a committee to review the process alongside a code rewrite; the mayor agreed to form one.
February 6, 2024 · City Council work session
Land use and development code rewrite: land use authorities and appeals
Discussed
Legal counsel Cherylyn Egner proposed that the Planning Commission approve site plans and conditional uses with appeals to the council, the Development Services Director approve subdivisions, building appeals go to the Board of Appeals, and the Board of Adjustment handle only variances. The council agreed.
March 5, 2024 · City Council work session
Accessory structures code (Section 17.5.105)
Discussed
Egner compared Sandy, Lehi, Provo, Pleasant Grove and Lindon and proposed: permit and site plan above 500 sq ft, engineered plans and SWPPP above 750 sq ft, max height 25 ft residential / 35 ft agricultural, rear yard only and no more than 25% coverage, no building in setbacks or easements. Resident Rob Shelton questioned why applicants must go to the Planning Commission; the council agreed to staff-level review with Board of Adjustment exceptions for side yards.
May 21, 2024 · City Council work session
Code rewrite: parking (Title 10) and signs (Chapter 17.20)
Discussed
Egner proposed deleting outdated traffic code sections, reducing parking penalties from Class B misdemeanors to infractions, letting the city engineer decide on red curbs, and setting snow-parking triggers. On signs, she proposed banning animated, scrolling and flashing signs, limiting illumination to 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., cutting freestanding sign height from 35 to 20 feet and requiring brightness recertification every three years, all of which sign companies opposed. Members floated raising message-center limits from 50% to 75% of a sign. On murals, Bunker suggested starting with none; Taylor said more discussion was needed.
- Freestanding sign height: 35 ft to 20 ft (proposed)
- Parking violations: Class B misdemeanor to infraction
August 6, 2024 · City Council
Large-scale overlay zone administrative approval amendment
No action
Pulled.
August 20, 2024 · City Council work session
Subdivision approval procedures and Development Review Committee
Discussed
Legal counsel Cherylyn Egner said state law bars planning commission and council approval of plats and imposes a 20-day review clock, leaving Development Services Director Patrick O'Brien as sole approver. The council agreed to a five-member DRC (development services, engineering, fire marshal, public works and a planner), with O'Brien as chair. Fire Marshal Matt Sacco worried about workload. Egner proposed site plans stop at the Planning Commission so the council can hear appeals in-house, and eliminating the large-scale development overlay. Planning Commission Chair Christine Anderson attended.
September 24, 2024 · City Council
Code amendment: Chapter 17.1 General Provisions (land use and appeal authority)
Approved · 4-0
Ordinance 2024-09-43.
September 24, 2024 · City Council
Code amendment: Chapter 17.2 Municipal Planning Organization
Approved · 4-0
Ordinance 2024-09-44 updating planning procedures.
September 24, 2024 · City Council
Code amendment: Chapter 17.7 Large Scale Development Overlay Zones approval procedure
Approved · 4-0
Ordinance 2024-09-45.
September 24, 2024 · City Council
Code amendment: Chapter 17.8 Subdivisions approval procedure
Approved · 4-0
Ordinance 2024-09-46.
October 15, 2024 · City Council work session
Code rewrite, Titles 15 and 17
Discussed
Legal counsel Cherylyn Egner and Development Services Director Patrick O'Brien sought direction on consolidating zones. Council kept RA-1 and RA-5 (three areas on the south side), discussed merging single-family zones with average lot sizes and replacing PR zones with planned unit developments, possibly a downtown zone, frontage-improvement thresholds for remodels, and agreed to drop surety bonds as a performance-guarantee option. Brittany Snow of the Historic Preservation Commission said the city has no historical society, lost its Certified Local Government status in 2023 (cannot recertify until 2026), and suggested an archive (Archiva database, $6,000 a year) and a municipal historian (Lehi pays $65,000 a year). The mayor said funding would go through the budget process and the committee should be reorganized under its bylaws.
July 8, 2025 · City Council
Administrative site plan approvals code amendment (Section 17.6.101)
Approved with conditions · 4-0
Streamlines minor site plan approvals after developer complaints and requires plats before site plans over lot lines. Changed proposed nine-month expiration to 12 months with a six-month extension (Option B). Ordinance 2025-07-23. Spencer Stevens of the Harrington Center for the Arts objected to the plat-first rule and short approval window.
August 19, 2025 · City Council work session
Accessory buildings
Discussed
Prompted by residents opposing an accessory structure at 100 East; staff showed examples of massing, design and uses (habitation, business) to guide code changes.
September 2, 2025 · City Council work session
Municipal code rewrite (Titles 15 and 17)
Discussed
Egner said much of the code dates to the 1980s with duplicated sections; the rewrite uses permitted-use tables and a separate standards and specifications manual. Discussed: common variance requests to cut side setbacks to 5 feet; eliminating the R1-9000 zone (Taylor called it reasonable); making PR-3.0 an overlay applied only when criteria are met, after PR-3.0 lots near Harbor Road reached 4-5 units per acre; whether a Planned Community zone is still needed; ADUs; downtown maximum setbacks of 10 feet and active frontages. Auto Mall owner Brian Fruit and Mark Minson of M&M Property Holding attended.
- Consultant: Cherylyn Egner
November 18, 2025 · City Council
Development code overhaul
Discussed
Consultant Cherylyn Egner said the draft reorganizes development rules into Titles 14, 15 and 16, with engineering design standards adopted separately; a full redline was expected after content is finished at month's end.
February 3, 2026 · Planning Commission work session
Proposed municipal code amendments
Discussed
Consultant Cherylyn Egner and Development Services Director Patrick O'Brien said the RA-5 agricultural zone had been restored and explained that eliminating R1-9000 would make existing lots non-conforming unless rezoned to R1-7500. Hunter, Taylor and Carroll each said they did not want added density, noting infrastructure was sized to current zoning. Detached ADU rules were held until after the legislative session, and members asked for clearer maps showing exact zone boundaries.
- RA-5 zone restored
- R1-9000 could be kept
- ADU rules deferred until after 2026 legislative session
February 3, 2026 · City Council work session
Municipal code rewrite and zoning
Discussed
Consultant Cherylyn Egner and Development Services Director Patrick O'Brien said the RA-5 agricultural protection zone was restored to the draft. Staff had proposed eliminating the R1-9000 zone and rezoning those lots to R1-7500 to avoid making them nonconforming; Councilmember Hunter said residents saw it as increasing density, and members discussed keeping R1-9000. ADU rules were deferred until after the legislative session. Members asked for zoning maps showing exact boundaries. Hunter, Taylor and Carroll each said they do not want density beyond what is already approved, noting infrastructure was sized to existing zoning. Setbacks were a major resident concern. A Planning Commission public hearing was set for the next night.
- RA-5 zone restored
- R1-9000 zone retention discussed
February 4, 2026 · Planning Commission
Recodification of Titles 15 and 17 (development code rewrite)
Pending
Public hearing on the 18-month rewrite of the city's land use and development code, which consolidates and reorganizes zoning, building and engineering rules and updates them to state law. Chair Christine Anderson said every property owner was notified and comments would be compiled for staff, the commission and the City Council. No recommendation vote was taken.
- Hearing only; no vote
- Consultant/attorney: Cherylyn Egner (per Feb. 3 joint session)
- Draft proposals discussed: fold R1-9000 into R1-7500, 36-ft industrial height limit, new setbacks, sexually oriented business zoning, elimination of inner-block cottage code
February 4, 2026 · Planning Commission
Citywide zoning map update
Pending
Public hearing, with Class A notice, on a new zoning map aligning zone classifications with the proposed general plan land uses and new code. No vote was taken.
- Hearing only; no vote
- Proposals residents cited: RA-1 to PF north of cemetery (~23 acres), Shoreline Protection near Boat Harbor Road, 100 North commercial to R-4, 300 North to professional office, Spring Creek TOD to RA-5
March 31, 2026 · City Council work session
General plan, land use map and code rewrite
Discussed
Development Services Director Patrick O'Brien presented the draft general plan (about 143 pages) with seven focus areas, six of them covered by the polycentric city center plan. The land use map corrects errors left by past consultants and would replace low/medium-density labels with detached vs. attached housing categories. Members questioned commercial designations near the Boat Harbor where a TSSD utility project is planned and along I-15, 500 East and State Street. Councilmember John asked for the full document, citing consultant inaccuracies. O'Brien said MAG treats the funded project as open until adopted, creating urgency; Planning Commission review was set for April 15. Consultant Cherylyn Egner said the city now seems to prefer keeping current setbacks and heights.
- General plan: first major update in about 15 years
- Funded in part by MAG
April 15, 2026 · Planning Commission work session
General plan, zoning map and development code rewrite
Discussed
O'Brien presented the presentation given to the City Council two weeks earlier, with a public open house targeted for May 20. The code rewrite removes outdated sections (34 pages of obsolete building code) and conforms to new state law, including detached ADUs on lots over 11,000 square feet. Proposed residential side setbacks would go from 8/10 feet (18 combined) to 10/12 feet on interior lots and 8/20 feet on corner lots, to give access for trailers, sheds and pools and reduce trailers parked on streets; Commissioner Harold Dudley worried about existing homes, and commissioners asked for 'legal non-conforming' language and suggested 8 and 12 feet. Commercial zones would pull buildings to the street with parking behind (maximum 10-foot setback in CC-1). The PO-1 zone along 300 North would be squared off and unannexed parcels added to it upon annexation; Anderson relayed one owner's objection, and O'Brien said existing homes would be grandfathered. PI-1 would gain box gyms, cheer and indoor sports as possible conditional uses; I-1 stays the same, S-1 may fold into PF (including the Developmental Center, whose managers are exploring redevelopment), and the SP zone near the Boat Harbor would get manicured open space and a boardwalk trail. Land use designations would be simplified, a linear park would follow the Vineyard Connector/Pony Express alignment under the power corridor, and land west of it would be held until the connector alignment with Lehi is settled. Commissioners also raised planning commission term limits, set for council discussion May 5.
- Presenter: Patrick O'Brien, Development Services Director
- Open house targeted for May 20, 2026
- Side setbacks proposed: 10/12 ft interior, 8/20 ft corner (now 8/10 ft)
- Commission suggestion: 8 and 12 ft
- PI-1: gyms/indoor sports as conditional use
- No action taken
May 5, 2026 · City Council work session
Land use code amendments
Discussed
Consultant Cherylyn Egner said the format-only update kept running into inconsistent standards, such as minimum home footprints and missing lot width rules in commercial zones. Councilmember Hunter said residents fear density increases and changes to setbacks for projects in design; Councilmember Taylor said keep zoning classifications but let staff make dimensional standards consistent. Development Services Director Patrick O'Brien cited side-yard access, parking and ADUs as reasons for setback changes.
June 16, 2026 · City Council work session
Land use code rewrite
Discussed
Consultant Cherylyn Egner and Development Services Director Patrick O'Brien reviewed the roughly 530-page draft rewrite (down from more than 800 pages, now incorporating the Sensitive Lands and transit-oriented development rules). Because state law no longer lets the council approve or hear appeals of administrative land use decisions, the draft makes the Development Review Committee the approval body and the Planning Commission the appeal authority; members agreed. Other topics: use-specific standards for auto repair, liquor stores and car washes; a rewritten sign and electronic billboard section based on a version withdrawn about three years ago after sign-industry pushback; defining mixed use as residential plus commercial in the same building; and side-yard setbacks, which members preferred to keep at the current 8 feet one side and 20 feet combined. Planning Commission review was expected in early August.
- Consultant: Cherylyn Egner
- Draft: about 530 pages vs. 800+ existing
- DRC approves site plans, plats and conditional uses; Planning Commission hears appeals