UtahS.B. 1042025 General SessionSenate

Boundary Line Amendments

Sponsored By: Calvin R. Musselman (Republican)

Signed by Governor

CountiesLand UseMunicipalitiesPolitical Subdivisions (Local Issues)

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

10 provisions identified: 4 benefits, 3 costs, 3 mixed.

Farm parcel exemptions keep size limits

The law applies specified agricultural plat exemptions to parcels rather than lots. A minor subdivision can create one parcel from at least 100 contiguous agricultural acres in a third- through sixth-class county. The new parcel must cover at least one acre and sit at least 1,000 feet from another minor-subdivision parcel. Agricultural exemptions also require qualifying agricultural use, applicable minimum sizes, and the required recorded notice. Parcels using the agricultural-use exemption cannot be used for nonagricultural purposes.

Owners avoid some subdivision review

Boundary adjustments and agreements establishing shared boundaries are excluded from the definition of a subdivision. Specified recorded transfers combining properties into one legal description, or joining a lot to a parcel, are also excluded. Simple boundary adjustments are excluded from subdivision amendments, even when they do not change a subdivision's outside boundary. These exclusions do not remove separate boundary-document and local-consent requirements.

Owners gain another plat survey option

A licensed surveyor preparing an amended plat can reference the original plat that created the lot boundaries being amended. This adds an alternative to completing a survey or referencing a record-of-survey map with boundary verification. The surveyor must still certify that boundary markers were placed as shown on the amended plat.

Owners get notice before subdivision changes

Officials must notify affected service providers and owners of record in the part of a subdivision proposed for amendment. Owners get at least 10 calendar days after notice is sent to object in writing. A timely owner objection triggers a public hearing within 45 days after the petition is filed. Local ordinances can also require a hearing when not all affected owners sign the amended plat. Approval must wait until the day after objections are due and until any required hearing is held.

Lot changes lose a hearing shortcut

Adjoining lot-line changes lose their listed route for subdivision-amendment review at a public meeting without the usual hearing requirement. This applies to changes between adjoining lots or between a lot and a neighboring parcel, even when adjoining owners join the petition. It does not require a hearing for every boundary change. Separate boundary-adjustment routes and the remaining amendment exceptions still apply.

Owners lose subdivision name-change procedure

The law repeals the procedure allowing an owner to rename a recorded subdivision by recording an amended plat. It also removes the related same-name restriction and the rule voiding other documents that claimed to change a recorded plat's name.

Recorded boundaries still face local enforcement

Recording a boundary change does not itself grant land-use approval. Municipalities can enforce ordinances or deny land-use applications when adjusted parcels violate rules in effect on the recording date. Beginning May 7, 2025, cities and counties retain similar enforcement powers over recorded agreements establishing shared boundaries.

Neighbors can record agreed property lines

Beginning May 7, 2025, adjoining owners can record an agreement resolving an unclear or disputed common boundary without prior land-use approval. The document needs signatures, addresses, legal descriptions, boundary graphics, and a survey or survey reference when local law requires one. Recording establishes the line and conveys ownership to it; the recorder must index the document against each affected property. Owners must treat the established line as their shared boundary, shown through possession, cultivation, or control up to it. The agreement cannot create new lots or parcels and is presumed not to harm earlier recorded easements unless expressly modified.

Owners get two boundary change routes

The law replaces the former lot-line exchange process with simple and full boundary adjustments. Simple changes cannot affect public property, easements, onsite wastewater systems, or internal lot restrictions, or make parcels nonconforming. Full changes require a survey and any locally required plat amendment. Officials must consent when submissions are complete, surveys show no land-use violations, and required plat amendments are approved. Beginning May 7, 2025, conveyance documents need signatures, assessment addresses, before-and-after legal descriptions, title-transfer language, and boundary drawings. They also need required survey information or plat amendments and notice of local consent. Adjustments take effect when recorded with the required documents.

Small subdivisions can skip plats, not maps

Cities and counties may offer administrative approval without a plat for subdivisions of 10 or fewer parcels. The county option covers unincorporated land or land in mountainous planning districts. Local governments must provide a certificate or written approval as their ordinances require. Subdivisions must meet street, public-purpose land, water, sewer, zoning, and land-use requirements, with applicable variances allowed. Using the plat exemption still requires a survey map filed with the county surveyor. The map must show boundaries, describe the original and resulting parcels, and identify the exemption.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

Calvin R. Musselman
Republican • Senate

Cosponsors

Paul A. Cutler
Republican • House

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 129 • No: 0

House vote • 2/27/2025

House/ passed 3rd reading

Yes: 70 • No: 0

House vote • 2/25/2025

House Comm - Favorable Recommendation

Yes: 8 • No: 0

Senate vote • 2/19/2025

Senate/ passed 3rd reading

Yes: 24 • No: 0

Senate vote • 2/18/2025

Senate/ floor amendment

Yes: 0 • No: 0

Senate vote • 2/18/2025

Senate/ passed 2nd reading

Yes: 21 • No: 0

Senate vote • 2/6/2025

Senate Comm - Substitute Recommendation

Yes: 3 • No: 0