UT Code § 17-27a-403 (2021)
2021 Utah Code|Title 17 - Counties|Chapter 27a - County Land Use, Development, and Management Act|Part 4 - General Plan|Section 403 - Plan preparation.

 Effective 5/28/2021  17-27a-403. Plan preparation.    (1)   (a) The planning commission shall provide notice, as provided in Section 17-27a-203, of its intent to make a recommendation to the county legislative body for a general plan or a comprehensive general plan amendment when the planning commission initiates the process of preparing its recommendation.     (b) The planning commission shall make and recommend to the legislative body a proposed general plan for:   (i) the unincorporated area within the county; or     (ii) if the planning commission is a planning commission for a mountainous planning district, the mountainous planning district.       (c)   (i) The plan may include planning for incorporated areas if, in the planning commission's judgment, they are related to the planning of the unincorporated territory or of the county as a whole.     (ii) Elements of the county plan that address incorporated areas are not an official plan or part of a municipal plan for any municipality, unless the county plan is recommended by the municipal planning commission and adopted by the governing body of the municipality.         (2)   (a) At a minimum, the proposed general plan, with the accompanying maps, charts, and descriptive and explanatory matter, shall include the planning commission's recommendations for the following plan elements:   (i) a land use element that:   (A) designates the long-term goals and the proposed extent, general distribution, and location of land for housing for residents of various income levels, business, industry, agriculture, recreation, education, public buildings and grounds, open space, and other categories of public and private uses of land as appropriate; and     (B) may include a statement of the projections for and standards of population density and building intensity recommended for the various land use categories covered by the plan;       (ii) a transportation and traffic circulation element that:   (A) provides the general location and extent of existing and proposed freeways, arterial and collector streets, public transit, active transportation facilities, and other modes of transportation that the planning commission considers appropriate;     (B) addresses the county's plan for residential and commercial development around major transit investment corridors to maintain and improve the connections between housing, employment, education, recreation, and commerce; and     (C) correlates with the population projections, the employment projections, and the proposed land use element of the general plan;       (iii) a plan for the development of additional moderate income housing within the unincorporated area of the county or the mountainous planning district, and a plan to provide a realistic opportunity to meet the need for additional moderate income housing; and     (iv) before May 1, 2017, a resource management plan detailing the findings, objectives, and policies required by Subsection 17-27a-401(3).       (b) In drafting the moderate income housing element, the planning commission:   (i) shall consider the Legislature's determination that counties should facilitate a reasonable opportunity for a variety of housing, including moderate income housing:   (A) to meet the needs of people of various income levels living, working, or desiring to live or work in the community; and     (B) to allow people with various incomes to benefit from and fully participate in all aspects of neighborhood and community life; and       (ii) shall include an analysis of how the county will provide a realistic opportunity for the development of moderate income housing within the planning horizon, which may include a recommendation to implement three or more of the following strategies:   (A) rezone for densities necessary to assure the production of moderate income housing;     (B) facilitate the rehabilitation or expansion of infrastructure that will encourage the construction of moderate income housing;     (C) facilitate the rehabilitation of existing uninhabitable housing stock into moderate income housing;     (D) consider county general fund subsidies or other sources of revenue to waive construction related fees that are otherwise generally imposed by the county;     (E) create or allow for, and reduce regulations related to, accessory dwelling units in residential zones;     (F) allow for higher density or moderate income residential development in commercial and mixed-use zones, commercial centers, or employment centers;     (G) encourage higher density or moderate income residential development near major transit investment corridors;     (H) eliminate or reduce parking requirements for residential development where a resident is less likely to rely on the resident's own vehicle, such as residential development near major transit investment corridors or senior living facilities;     (I) allow for single room occupancy developments;     (J) implement zoning incentives for low to moderate income units in new developments;     (K) utilize strategies that preserve subsidized low to moderate income units on a long-term basis;     (L) preserve existing moderate income housing;     (M) reduce impact fees, as defined in Section 11-36a-102, related to low and moderate income housing;     (N) participate in a community land trust program for low or moderate income housing;     (O) implement a mortgage assistance program for employees of the county or of an employer that provides contracted services for the county;     (P) apply for or partner with an entity that applies for state or federal funds or tax incentives to promote the construction of moderate income housing;     (Q) apply for or partner with an entity that applies for programs offered by the Utah Housing Corporation within that agency's funding capacity;     (R) apply for or partner with an entity that applies for affordable housing programs administered by the Department of Workforce Services;     (S) apply for or partner with an entity that applies for services provided by a public housing authority to preserve and create moderate income housing;     (T) apply for or partner with an entity that applies for programs administered by a metropolitan planning organization or other transportation agency that provides technical planning assistance;     (U) utilize a moderate income housing set aside from a community reinvestment agency, redevelopment agency, or community development and renewal agency; and     (V) consider any other program or strategy implemented by the county to address the housing needs of residents of the county who earn less than 80% of the area median income.         (c) In drafting the land use element, the planning commission shall:   (i) identify and consider each agriculture protection area within the unincorporated area of the county or mountainous planning district; and     (ii) avoid proposing a use of land within an agriculture protection area that is inconsistent with or detrimental to the use of the land for agriculture.       (d) In drafting the transportation and traffic circulation element, the planning commission shall:   (i) consider the regional transportation plan developed by its region's metropolitan planning organization, if the relevant areas of the county are within the boundaries of a metropolitan planning organization; or     (ii) consider the long-range transportation plan developed by the Department of Transportation, if the relevant areas of the county are not within the boundaries of a metropolitan planning organization.         (3) The proposed general plan may include:   (a) an environmental element that addresses:   (i) to the extent not covered by the county's resource management plan, the protection, conservation, development, and use of natural resources, including the quality of air, forests, soils, rivers and other waters, harbors, fisheries, wildlife, minerals, and other natural resources; and     (ii) the reclamation of land, flood control, prevention and control of the pollution of streams and other waters, regulation of the use of land on hillsides, stream channels and other environmentally sensitive areas, the prevention, control, and correction of the erosion of soils, protection of watersheds and wetlands, and the mapping of known geologic hazards;       (b) a public services and facilities element showing general plans for sewage, water, waste disposal, drainage, public utilities, rights-of-way, easements, and facilities for them, police and fire protection, and other public services;     (c) a rehabilitation, redevelopment, and conservation element consisting of plans and programs for:   (i) historic preservation;     (ii) the diminution or elimination of a development impediment as defined in Section 17C-1-102; and     (iii) redevelopment of land, including housing sites, business and industrial sites, and public building sites;       (d) an economic element composed of appropriate studies and forecasts, as well as an economic development plan, which may include review of existing and projected county revenue and expenditures, revenue sources, identification of basic and secondary industry, primary and secondary market areas, employment, and retail sales activity;     (e) recommendations for implementing all or any portion of the general plan, including the use of land use ordinances, capital improvement plans, community development and promotion, and any other appropriate action;     (f) provisions addressing any of the matters listed in Subsection 17-27a-401(2) or (3)(a)(i); and     (g) any other element the county considers appropriate.      Amended by Chapter 3, 2021 Special Session 1