Utah § 17-79-102 - Definitions.

Effective 5/6/2026
17-79-102.  Definitions.
     As used in this chapter:

(1)	"Accessory dwelling unit" means a habitable living unit added to, created within, or detached from a primary single-family dwelling and contained on one lot.

(2)

"Adversely affected party" means a person other than a land use applicant who: (a) owns real property adjoining the property that is the subject of a land use application or land use decision; or (b) will suffer a damage different in kind than, or an injury distinct from, that of the general community as a result of the land use decision.

(3)

"Affected entity" means a county, municipality, special district, special service district under Title 17D, Chapter 1, Special Service District Act, school district, interlocal cooperation entity established under Title 11, Chapter 13, Interlocal Cooperation Act, specified property owner, property owner's association, public utility, or the Department of Transportation, if: (a) the entity's services or facilities are likely to require expansion or significant modification because of an intended use of land; (b) the entity has filed with the county a copy of the entity's general or long-range plan; or (c) the entity has filed with the county a request for notice during the same calendar year and before the county provides notice to an affected entity in compliance with a requirement imposed under this chapter.

(4)	"Affected owner" means the owner of real property that is: (a) a single project; and (b) the subject of a land use approval that: (i) sponsors of a referendum timely challenged in accordance with Subsection 20A-7-601(6); and (ii) is determined to be legally referable under Section 20A-7-602.8.

(5)	"Appeal authority" means the person, board, commission, agency, or other body designated by ordinance to decide an appeal of a decision of a land use application or a variance.

(6)	"Billboard" means a freestanding ground sign located on industrial, commercial, or residential property if the sign is designed or intended to direct attention to a business, product, or service that is not sold, offered, or existing on the property where the sign is located.

(7)

(a) "Boundary adjustment" means an agreement between adjoining property owners to relocate a common boundary that results in a conveyance of property between the adjoining lots, adjoining parcels, or adjoining lots and parcels. (b) "Boundary adjustment" does not mean a modification of a lot or parcel boundary that: (i) creates an additional lot or parcel; or (ii) is made by the Department of Transportation.

(8)

(a) "Boundary establishment" means an agreement between adjoining property owners to clarify the location of an ambiguous, uncertain, or disputed common boundary. (b) "Boundary establishment" does not mean a modification of a lot or parcel boundary that: (i) creates an additional lot or parcel; or (ii) is made by the Department of Transportation.

(9)

"Building code adoption cycle" means the period of time beginning the day on which a specific edition of a construction code from a nationally recognized code authority is adopted and effective in Title 15A, State Construction and Fire Codes Act, until the day before a new edition of a construction code is adopted and effective in Title 15A, State Construction and Fire Codes Act.

(10)

(a) "Charter school" means: (i) an operating charter school; (ii) a charter school applicant that a charter school authorizer approves in accordance with Title 53G, Chapter 5, Part 3, Charter School Authorization; or (iii) an entity that is working on behalf of a charter school or approved charter applicant to develop or construct a charter school building. (b) "Charter school" does not include a therapeutic school.

(11)	"Chief executive officer" means the person or body that exercises the executive powers of the county.

(12)

"Conditional use" means a land use that, because of the unique characteristics or potential detrimental impact of the land use on the county, surrounding neighbors, or adjacent land uses, may not be compatible in some areas or may be compatible only if certain conditions are required that mitigate or eliminate the detrimental impacts.

(13)	"Constitutional taking" means a governmental action that results in a taking of private property where compensation to the property owner is required by the: (a) Fifth or Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; or (b) Utah Constitution, Article I, Section 22.

(14)	"Conveyance document" means an instrument that: (a) meets the definition of "document" in Section 57-1-1; and (b) meets the requirements of Section 57-1-45.5.

(15)	"Conveyance of property" means the transfer of ownership of any portion of real property from one person to another person.

(16)

"County utility easement" means an easement that: (a) a plat recorded in a county recorder's office described as a county utility easement or otherwise as a utility easement; (b) is not a protected utility easement or a public utility easement as defined in Section 54-3-27; (c) the county or the county's affiliated governmental entity owns or creates; and (d) (i) either: (A) no person uses or occupies; or (B) the county or the county's affiliated governmental entity uses and occupies to provide a utility service, including sanitary sewer, culinary water, electrical, storm water, or communications or data lines; or (ii) a person uses or occupies with or without an authorized franchise or other agreement with the county.

(17)	"Culinary water authority" means the department, agency, or public entity with responsibility to review and approve the feasibility of the culinary water system and sources for the subject property.

(18)	"Department of Transportation" means the entity created in Section 72-1-201.

(19)

"Development activity" means: (a) any construction or expansion of a building, structure, or use that creates additional demand and need for public facilities; (b) any change in use of a building or structure that creates additional demand and need for public facilities; or (c) any change in the use of land that creates additional demand and need for public facilities.

(20)	(a) "Development agreement" means a written agreement or amendment to a written agreement between a county and one or more parties that regulates or controls the use or development of a specific area of land. (b) "Development agreement" does not include an improvement completion assurance.

(21)

(a) "Disability" means a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of a person's major life activities, including a person having a record of such an impairment or being regarded as having such an impairment. (b) "Disability" does not include current illegal use of, or addiction to, any federally controlled substance, as defined in Section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. Sec. 802.

(22)	"Document" means the same as that term is defined in Section 57-1-1.

(23)

"Educational facility": (a) means: (i) a school district's building at which pupils assemble to receive instruction in a program for any combination of grades from preschool through grade 12, including kindergarten and a program for children with disabilities; (ii) a structure or facility: (A) located on the same property as a building described in Subsection (23)(a)(i); and (B) used in support of the use of that building; and (iii) a building to provide office and related space to a school district's administrative personnel; and (b) does not include: (i) land or a structure, including land or a structure for inventory storage, equipment storage, food processing or preparing, vehicle storage or maintenance, or similar use that is: (A) not located on the same property as a building described in Subsection (23)(a)(i); and (B) used in support of the purposes of a building described in Subsection (23)(a)(i); or (ii) a therapeutic school.

(24)	"Establishment document" means an instrument that: (a) meets the definition of "document" in Section 57-1-1; and (b) meets the requirements of Section 57-1-45.

(25)	"Fire authority" means the department, agency, or public entity with responsibility to review and approve the feasibility of fire protection and suppression services for the subject property.

(26)

"Flood plain" means land that: (a) is within the 100-year flood plain designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency; or (b) has not been studied or designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency but presents a likelihood of experiencing chronic flooding or a catastrophic flood event because the land has characteristics that are similar to those of a 100-year flood plain designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

(27)	"Full boundary adjustment" means a boundary adjustment that is not a simple boundary adjustment.

(28)	"Gas corporation" has the same meaning as defined in Section 54-2-1.

(29)	"General plan" means a document that a county adopts that sets forth general guidelines for proposed future development of: (a) the unincorporated land within the county; or (b) for a mountainous planning district, the land within the mountainous planning district.

(30)

"Geologic hazard" means: (a) a surface fault rupture; (b) shallow groundwater; (c) liquefaction; (d) a landslide; (e) a debris flow; (f) unstable soil; (g) a rock fall; or (h) any other geologic condition that presents a risk: (i) to life; (ii) of substantial loss of real property; or (iii) of substantial damage to real property.

(31)	"Home-based microschool" means the same as that term is defined in Section 53G-6-201.

(32)	"Hookup fee" means a fee for the installation and inspection of any pipe, line, meter, or appurtenance to connect to a county water, sewer, storm water, power, or other utility system.

(33)

(a) "Identical plans" means floor plans submitted to a county that: (i) are submitted within the same building code adoption cycle as floor plans that were previously approved by the county; (ii) have no structural differences from floor plans that were previously approved by the county; and (iii) describe a building that: (A) is located on land zoned the same as the land on which the building described in the previously approved plans is located; (B) has a substantially identical floor plan to a floor plan previously approved by the county; and (C) does not require any engineering or analysis beyond a review to confirm the submitted floor plans are substantially identical to a floor plan previously approved by the county or a review of the site plan and associated geotechnical reports for the site. (b) "Identical plans" include floor plans that are oriented differently as the floor plan that was previously approved by the county.

(34)	"Impact fee" means a payment of money imposed under Title 11, Chapter 36a, Impact Fees Act.

(35)

"Improvement completion assurance" means a surety bond, letter of credit, financial institution bond, cash, assignment of rights, lien, or other equivalent security required by a county to guaranty the proper completion of landscaping or an infrastructure improvement required as a condition precedent to: (a) recording a subdivision plat; or (b) development of a commercial, industrial, mixed use, or multifamily project.

(36)

"Improvement warranty" means an applicant's unconditional warranty that the applicant's installed and accepted landscaping or infrastructure improvement: (a) complies with the county's written standards for design, materials, and workmanship; and (b) will not fail in any material respect, as a result of poor workmanship or materials, within the improvement warranty period.

(37)

"Improvement warranty period" means a period: (a) no later than one year after a county's acceptance of required public landscaping; or (b) no later than one year after a county's acceptance of required infrastructure, unless the county: (i) determines, based on accepted industry standards and for good cause, that a one-year period would be inadequate to protect the public health, safety, and welfare; and (ii) has substantial evidence, on record: (A) of prior poor performance by the applicant; or (B) that the area upon which the infrastructure will be constructed contains suspect soil and the county has not otherwise required the applicant to mitigate the suspect soil.

(38)

"Infrastructure improvement" means permanent infrastructure that is essential for the public health and safety or that: (a) is required for human consumption; and (b) an applicant shall install: (i) in accordance with published installation and inspection specifications for public improvements; and (ii) as a condition of: (A) recording a subdivision plat; (B) obtaining a building permit; or (C) developing a commercial, industrial, mixed use, condominium, or multifamily project.

(39)

"Internal lot restriction" means a platted note, platted demarcation, or platted designation that: (a) runs with the land; and (b) (i) creates a restriction that is enclosed within the perimeter of a lot described on the plat; or (ii) designates a development condition that is enclosed within the perimeter of a lot described on the plat.

(40)	"Interstate pipeline company" means a person or entity engaged in natural gas transportation subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under the Natural Gas Act, 15 U.S.C. Sec. 717 et seq.

(41)	"Intrastate pipeline company" means a person or entity engaged in natural gas transportation that is not subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under the Natural Gas Act, 15 U.S.C. Sec. 717 et seq.

(42)	"Land use applicant" means a property owner, or the property owner's designee, who submits a land use application regarding the property owner's land.

(43)	"Land use application": (a) means an application that is: (i) required by a county; and (ii) submitted by a land use applicant to obtain a land use decision; and (b) does not mean an application to enact, amend, or repeal a land use regulation.

(44)

"Land use authority" means: (a) a person, board, commission, agency, or body, including the local legislative body, designated by the local legislative body to act upon a land use application; or (b) if the local legislative body has not designated a person, board, commission, agency, or body, the local legislative body.

(45)	"Land use decision" means an administrative decision of a land use authority or appeal authority regarding: (a) a land use permit; (b) a land use application; or (c) the enforcement of a land use regulation, land use permit, or development agreement.

(46)	"Land use permit" means a permit issued by a land use authority.

(47)

"Land use regulation": (a) means a legislative decision enacted by ordinance, law, code, map, resolution, engineering or development standard, specification for public improvement, fee, or rule that governs the use or development of land; (b) includes the adoption or amendment of a zoning map or the text of the zoning code; and (c) does not include: (i) a land use decision of the legislative body acting as the land use authority, even if the decision is expressed in a resolution or ordinance; or (ii) a temporary revision to an engineering specification that does not materially: (A) increase a land use applicant's cost of development compared to the existing specification; or (B) impact a land use applicant's use of land.

(48)	"Legislative body" means the county legislative body, or for a county that has adopted an alternative form of government, the body exercising legislative powers.

(49)	"Lot" means a tract of land, regardless of any label, that is created by and shown on a subdivision plat that has been recorded in the office of the county recorder.

(50)

"Major transit investment corridor" means public transit service that uses or occupies: (a) public transit rail right-of-way; (b) dedicated road right-of-way for the use of public transit, such as bus rapid transit; or (c) fixed-route bus corridors subject to an interlocal agreement or contract between a municipality or county and: (i) a public transit district as defined in Section 17B-2a-802; or (ii) an eligible political subdivision as defined in Section 59-12-2202.

(51)	"Micro-education entity" means the same as that term is defined in Section 53G-6-201.

(52)	"Moderate income housing" means housing occupied or reserved for occupancy by households with a gross household income equal to or less than 80% of the median gross income for households of the same size in the county in which the housing is located.

(53)	"Mountainous planning district" means an area designated by a county legislative body in accordance with Section 17-79-408.

(54)

"Nominal fee" means a fee that reasonably reimburses a county only for time spent and expenses incurred in: (a) verifying that building plans are identical plans; and (b) reviewing and approving those minor aspects of identical plans that differ from the previously reviewed and approved building plans.

(55)

"Noncomplying structure" means a structure that: (a) legally existed before the structure's current land use designation; and (b) because of one or more subsequent land use ordinance changes, does not conform to the setback, height restrictions, or other regulations, excluding those regulations that govern the use of land.

(56)

"Nonconforming use" means a use of land that: (a) legally existed before the land's current land use designation; (b) has been maintained continuously since the time the land use ordinance regulation governing the land changed; and (c) because of one or more subsequent land use ordinance changes, does not conform to the regulations that now govern the use of the land.

(57)

"Official map" means a map drawn by county authorities and recorded in the county recorder's office that: (a) shows actual and proposed rights-of-way, centerline alignments, and setbacks for highways and other transportation facilities; (b) provides a basis for restricting development in designated rights-of-way or between designated setbacks to allow the government authorities time to purchase or otherwise reserve the land; and (c) has been adopted as an element of the county's general plan.

(58)	"Parcel" means any real property that is not a lot.

(59)	"Person" means an individual, corporation, partnership, organization, association, trust, governmental agency, or any other legal entity.

(60)

"Plan for moderate income housing" means a written document adopted by a county legislative body that includes: (a) an estimate of the existing supply of moderate income housing located within the county; (b) an estimate of the need for moderate income housing in the county for the next five years; (c) a survey of total residential land use; (d) an evaluation of how existing land uses and zones affect opportunities for moderate income housing; and (e) a description of the county's program to encourage an adequate supply of moderate income housing.

(61)

"Planning advisory area" means a contiguous, geographically defined portion of the unincorporated area of a county established under this part with planning and zoning functions as exercised through the planning advisory area planning commission, as provided in this chapter, but with no legal or political identity separate from the county and no taxing authority.

(62)	"Plat" means an instrument subdividing property into lots as depicted on a map or other graphical representation of lands that a licensed professional land surveyor makes and prepares in accordance with Section 17-79-703 or 57-8-13.

(63)

"Potential geologic hazard area" means an area that: (a) is designated by a Utah Geological Survey map, county geologist map, or other relevant map or report as needing further study to determine the area's potential for geologic hazard; or (b) has not been studied by the Utah Geological Survey or a county geologist but presents the potential of geologic hazard because the area has characteristics similar to those of a designated geologic hazard area.

(64)	"Property owner" means a person that holds legal title in real property.

(65)	"Public agency" means: (a) the federal government; (b) the state; (c) a county, municipality, school district, special district, special service district, or other political subdivision of the state; or (d) a charter school.

(66)	"Public hearing" means a hearing at which members of the public are provided a reasonable opportunity to comment on the subject of the hearing.

(67)	"Public meeting" means a meeting that is required to be open to the public under Title 52, Chapter 4, Open and Public Meetings Act.

(68)	"Public street" means a public right-of-way, including a public highway, public avenue, public boulevard, public parkway, public road, public lane, public alley, public viaduct, public subway, public tunnel, public bridge, public byway, other public transportation easement, or other public way.

(69)	"Receiving zone" means an unincorporated area that a county designates, by ordinance, as an area in which an owner of land may receive a transferable development right.

(70)	"Record of survey map" means a map of a survey of land prepared in accordance with Section 17-73-504.

(71)

"Residential facility for persons with a disability" means a residence: (a) in which more than one person with a disability resides; and (b) which is licensed or certified by the Department of Health and Human Services under: (i) Title 26B, Chapter 2, Part 1, Human Services Programs and Facilities; or (ii) Title 26B, Chapter 2, Part 2, Health Care Facility Licensing and Inspection.

(72)

"Residential roadway" means a public local residential road that: (a) will serve primarily to provide access to adjacent primarily residential areas and property; (b) is designed to accommodate minimal traffic volumes or vehicular traffic; (c) is not identified as a supplementary to a collector or other higher system classified street in an approved municipal street or transportation master plan; (d) has a posted speed limit of 25 miles per hour or less; (e) does not have higher traffic volumes resulting from connecting previously separated areas of the municipal road network; (f) cannot have a primary access, but can have a secondary access, and does not abut lots intended for high volume traffic or community centers, including schools, recreation centers, sports complexes, or libraries; and (g) primarily serves traffic within a neighborhood or limited residential area and is not necessarily continuous through several residential areas.

(73)	"Rules of order and procedure" means a set of rules that govern and prescribe in a public meeting: (a) parliamentary order and procedure; (b) ethical behavior; and (c) civil discourse.

(74)	"Sanitary sewer authority" means the department, agency, or public entity with responsibility to review and approve the feasibility of sanitary sewer services or onsite wastewater systems.

(75)	"Sending zone" means an unincorporated area that a county designates, by ordinance, as an area from which an owner of land may transfer a transferable development right.

(76)

"Simple boundary adjustment" means a boundary adjustment that does not: (a) affect a public right-of-way, county utility easement, or other public property; (b) affect an existing easement, onsite wastewater system, or an internal lot restriction; or (c) result in a lot or parcel out of conformity with land use regulations.

(77)	"Site plan" means a document or map that may be required by a county during a preliminary review before the issuance of a building permit to demonstrate that an owner's or developer's proposed development activity meets a land use requirement.

(78)	(a) "Special district" means an entity under Title 17B, Limited Purpose Local Government Entities - Special Districts. (b) "Special district" includes a governmental or quasi-governmental entity that is not a county, municipality, school district, or the state.

(79)	"Specific land use law" means a requirement or restriction on the use of a specific parcel in a development agreement that a legislative body approves with the consent of an affected property owner.

(80)	"Specified public agency" means: (a) the state; (b) a school district; or (c) a charter school.

(81)	"Specified public utility" means an electrical corporation, gas corporation, or telephone corporation, as those terms are defined in Section 54-2-1.

(82)	"State" includes any department, division, or agency of the state.

(83)

(a) "Subdivision" means any land that is divided, resubdivided, or proposed to be divided into two or more lots or other division of land for the purpose, whether immediate or future, for offer, sale, lease, or development either on the installment plan or upon any and all other plans, terms, and conditions. (b) "Subdivision" includes: (i) the division or development of land, whether by deed, metes and bounds description, devise and testacy, map, plat, or other recorded instrument, regardless of whether the division includes all or a portion of a parcel or lot; and (ii) except as provided in Subsection (83)(c), divisions of land for residential and nonresidential uses, including land used or to be used for commercial, agricultural, and industrial purposes. (c) "Subdivision" does not include: (i) a bona fide division or partition of agricultural land for agricultural purposes; (ii) a recorded conveyance document: (A) consolidating multiple lots or parcels into one legal description encompassing all lots by reference to a recorded plat and all parcels by metes and bounds description; or (B) joining a lot to a parcel; (iii) a bona fide division or partition of land in a county other than a first class county for the purpose of siting, on one or more of the resulting separate parcels: (A) an electrical transmission line or a substation; (B) a natural gas pipeline or a regulation station; or (C) an unmanned telecommunications, microwave, fiber optic, electrical, or other utility service regeneration, transformation, retransmission, or amplification facility; (iv) a bona fide division of land by deed or other instrument if the deed or other instrument states in writing that the division: (A) is in anticipation of future land use approvals on the parcel or parcels; (B) does not confer any land use approvals; and (C) has not been approved by the land use authority; (v) a boundary adjustment; (vi) a boundary establishment; (vii) a road, street, or highway dedication plat; (viii) a deed or easement for a road, street, or highway purpose; or (ix) any other division of land authorized by law.

(84)

(a) "Subdivision amendment" means an amendment to a recorded subdivision in accordance with Section 17-79-711 that: (i) vacates all or a portion of the subdivision; (ii) increases the number of lots within the subdivision; (iii) alters a public right-of-way, a public easement, or public infrastructure within the subdivision; or (iv) alters a common area or other common amenity within the subdivision. (b) "Subdivision amendment" does not include a simple boundary adjustment.

(85)	"Substantial evidence" means evidence that: (a) is beyond a scintilla; and (b) a reasonable mind would accept as adequate to support a conclusion.

(86)

"Suspect soil" means soil that has: (a) a high susceptibility for volumetric change, typically clay rich, having more than a 3% swell potential; (b) bedrock units with high shrink or swell susceptibility; or (c) gypsiferous silt and clay, gypsum, or bedrock units containing abundant gypsum commonly associated with dissolution and collapse features.

(87)

"Therapeutic school" means a residential group living facility: (a) for four or more individuals who are not related to: (i) the owner of the facility; or (ii) the primary service provider of the facility; (b) that serves students who have a history of failing to function: (i) at home; (ii) in a public school; or (iii) in a nonresidential private school; and (c) that offers: (i) room and board; and (ii) an academic education integrated with: (A) specialized structure and supervision; or (B) services or treatment related to a disability, an emotional development, a behavioral development, a familial development, or a social development.

(88)	"Transferable development right" means a right to develop and use land that originates by an ordinance that authorizes a property owner in a designated sending zone to transfer land use rights from a designated sending zone to a designated receiving zone.

(89)	"Unincorporated" means the area outside of the incorporated area of a municipality.

(90)	"Water interest" means any right to the beneficial use of water, including: (a) each of the rights listed in Section 73-1-11; and (b) an ownership interest in the right to the beneficial use of water represented by: (i) a contract; or (ii) a share in a water company, as defined in Section 73-3-3.5.

(91)	"Zoning map" means a map, adopted as part of a land use ordinance, that depicts land use zones, overlays, or districts.

Amended by Chapter 166, 2026 General Session