2023 Utah Code › Title 10 - Utah Municipal Code › Chapter 2 - Classification, Boundaries, Consolidation, and Dissolution of Municipalities › Part 4 - Annexation › Section 401 - Definitions -- Property owner provisions.

Effective 5/3/2023
10-2-401.
Definitions -- Property owner provisions.
(1) As used in this part:
(a) "Affected entity" means:
(i) a county of the first or second class in whose unincorporated area the area proposed for annexation is located;
(ii) a county of the third, fourth, fifth, or sixth class in whose unincorporated area the area proposed for annexation is located, if the area includes residents or commercial or industrial development;
(iii) a special district under Title 17B, Limited Purpose Local Government Entities - Special Districts, or special service district under Title 17D, Chapter 1, Special Service District Act, whose boundary includes any part of an area proposed for annexation;
(iv) a school district whose boundary includes any part of an area proposed for annexation, if the boundary is proposed to be adjusted as a result of the annexation; and
(v) a municipality whose boundaries are within 1/2 mile of an area proposed for annexation.
(b) "Annexation petition" means a petition under Section 10-2-403 proposing the annexation to a municipality of a contiguous, unincorporated area that is contiguous to the municipality.
(c) "Commission" means a boundary commission established under Section 10-2-409 for the county in which the property that is proposed for annexation is located.
(d) "Expansion area" means the unincorporated area that is identified in an annexation policy plan under Section 10-2-401.5 as the area that the municipality anticipates annexing in the future.
(e) "Feasibility consultant" means a person or firm with expertise in the processes and economics of local government.
(f) "Mining protection area" means the same as that term is defined in Section 17-41-101.
(g) "Municipal selection committee" means a committee in each county composed of the mayor of each municipality within that county.
(h) "Planning advisory area" means the same as that term is defined in Section 17-27a-306.
(i) "Private," with respect to real property, means not owned by the United States or any agency of the federal government, the state, a county, a municipality, a school district, a special district under Title 17B, Limited Purpose Local Government Entities - Special Districts, a special service district under Title 17D, Chapter 1, Special Service District Act, or any other political subdivision or governmental entity of the state.
(j)
(i) "Rural real property" means a group of contiguous tax parcels, or a single tax parcel, that:
(A) are under common ownership;
(B) consist of no less than 1,000 total acres;
(C) are zoned for manufacturing or agricultural purposes; and
(D) do not have a residential unit density greater than one unit per acre.
(ii) "Rural real property" includes any portion of private real property, if the private real property:
(A) qualifies as rural real property under Subsection (1)(j)(i); and
(B) consists of more than 1,500 total acres.
(k) "Specified county" means a county of the second, third, fourth, fifth, or sixth class.
(l) "Unincorporated peninsula" means an unincorporated area:
(i) that is part of a larger unincorporated area;
(ii) that extends from the rest of the unincorporated area of which it is a part;
(iii) that is surrounded by land that is within a municipality, except where the area connects to and extends from the rest of the unincorporated area of which it is a part; and
(iv) whose width, at any point where a straight line may be drawn from a place where it borders a municipality to another place where it borders a municipality, is no more than 25% of the boundary of the area where it borders a municipality.
(m) "Urban development" means:
(i) a housing development with more than 15 residential units and an average density greater than one residential unit per acre; or
(ii) a commercial or industrial development for which cost projections exceed $750,000 for all phases.
(2) For purposes of this part:
(a) the owner of real property shall be:
(i) except as provided in Subsection (2)(a)(ii), the record title owner according to the records of the county recorder on the date of the filing of the petition or protest; or
(ii) the lessee of military land, as defined in Section 63H-1-102, if the area proposed for annexation includes military land that is within a project area described in a project area plan adopted by the military installation development authority under Title 63H, Chapter 1, Military Installation Development Authority Act; and
(b) the value of private real property shall be determined according to the last assessment roll for county taxes before the filing of the petition or protest.
(3) For purposes of each provision of this part that requires the owners of private real property covering a percentage or majority of the total private land area within an area to sign a petition or protest:
(a) a parcel of real property may not be included in the calculation of the required percentage or majority unless the petition or protest is signed by:
(i) except as provided in Subsection (3)(a)(ii), owners representing a majority ownership interest in that parcel; or
(ii) if the parcel is owned by joint tenants or tenants by the entirety, 50% of the number of owners of that parcel;
(b) the signature of a person signing a petition or protest in a representative capacity on behalf of an owner is invalid unless:
(i) the person's representative capacity and the name of the owner the person represents are indicated on the petition or protest with the person's signature; and
(ii) the person provides documentation accompanying the petition or protest that substantiates the person's representative capacity; and
(c) subject to Subsection (3)(b), a duly appointed personal representative may sign a petition or protest on behalf of a deceased owner.
Amended by Chapter 16, 2023 General Session
Amended by Chapter 478, 2023 General Session