Committee OKs bill on land-use restrictions

A bill municipal government officials say would "wipe out" their ability to keep landowners from building in geologically hazardous areas was passed out of a Utah House committee on an 8-2 vote Monday.

HB233 is being sponsored by Rep. Michael Morley, R-Spanish Fork, as a way to help a constituent, Dr. Wendell Gibby, who has been fighting with the city of Mapleton for more than 10 years over a piece of hillside property he owns.

The bill limits a city's ability to restrict land use in an environmentally sensitive area. If a city has restricted land use in an area, a property owner can overturn that restriction by finding an engineer who says the land is safe to build on.

The city has to provide "substantial and compelling" evidence that the land-use restriction is needed, according to the bill.

"This just wipes out all the ordinances that protect people from all the geological hazards," Jodi Hoffman with the League of Cities and Towns said Monday. "All you have to do now is have an engineer tell you that it's safe."

The proposed law does not specify what type of engineer can review the land for geological stability. Hoffman said the current bill would allow any engineer, regardless of training, to review the land.

But Gibby, who attended Monday's hearing, said the bill, as written, would not allow for misuse and shoddy studies of land stability. He said it is simply intended to give landowners more rights.

"If you bring forth evidence that a hazard doesn't exist, then you can go through a process," Gibby said of the bill. "The battle is uphill for property owners, even with this."

A representative of the Utah Association of Realtors attended Monday's meeting but did not speak in favor or against HB233. A representative from the Utah Geological Survey was in attendance. He did not support the measure.

HB233 now moves to the House floor for debate.

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