Altering the general plan to comply with Utah’s moderate income housing code, West Bountiful’s planning commission and city council passed resolution #570-25 on June 3.

The update – which outlines strategies that must be completed in five years – covers three primary actions. According to the city council’s June 3 agenda, the city will:

• Create or allow for, and reduce regulations related to, accessory dwelling units in residential zones.

• Consider general fund subsidies or other sources of revenue to waive construction related fees that are otherwise generally imposed by the City.

• Implement zoning incentives for low to moderate income units in new developments

Drafted with the help of professional planners, discussions about the general plan’s moderate income housing element for 2025 began on Dec. 10, 2024. A planning commission agenda from May 27 says that because of progress made on the strategies established in 2022, a need to adopt new plans arose. 

According to the agenda, various steps will be taken to complete each action. The first element of the strategy, for example, outlines that ordinances for detached accessory dwelling units – which allow residents to live in a separate facility built by a home owner on their property – are scheduled to be reviewed in 2026. A pilot program is expected to be launched the following year. 

“That was just one of the things in the state criteria,” said Alan Malan about Accessory Dwelling Units, chairman of West Bountiful’s planning commission. “We were knowing that we were going to have to look at it because the state’s probably going to force us to do it anyway. That’s the whole idea behind that. We want to try and get ahead of it a little bit.”

In the strategies established during 2022, actions included items such as reducing parking requirements in residential developments, waiving impact fees related to moderate income housing and developing a station area plan. Many of the city’s plans in 2024 addressed the first two elements. Like other communities last year, West Bountiful was also forced to take action before Aug. 1, suffering a daily fee for not implementing resolutions on time if they had not done so.

Resolutions associated with lowering parking spot needs and making accessory dwelling units available are designed to incentivize companies to develop moderate income housing on city lots. According to state code, these properties are defined as an affordable option for residents earning below 80% of the area’s median income – a number that Malan says is “nowhere realistic for moderate income housing.”

On top of implementing standards that comply with the state’s code, West Bountiful also has to overcome challenges related to maintaining their small town aesthetic. According to results from a Utah Wellbeing Project survey from 2024, 52% of the city's residents believe that growth is too fast — ranking as the seventh highest percentage in the category of established/mid-sized cities. 

“We definitely try to keep our rural values in the forethought of our mind when we’re doing any kind of planning,” said Malan. “We don’t want to end up being like Salt Lake, an extension of Salt Lake or anything. That’s the whole reason we became a town – for our own identity.”

With actions required to be made annually, West Bountiful’s planning commission will likely discuss moderate income housing again during winter. The group meets every second and fourth Tuesday of the month at 7:30 p.m. in the city’s chambers.