# Utah S.B. 284: Local Land and Water Modifications Utah S.B. 284, Local Land and Water Modifications, is a 2026 General Session Senate bill sponsored by Lincoln Fillmore (Republican); status signed, last action 2026-03-18 (Governor Signed); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-14). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-SB284-2026GS - As of: 2026-10-14 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Utah S.B. 284 - State: Utah - Session: 2026 General Session - Title: Local Land and Water Modifications - Status: signed - Chamber: Senate - Introduced: 2026-02-10 - Last action: 2026-03-18, Governor Signed - Sponsor: Lincoln Fillmore (Republican) - Cosponsors: 1 - Subjects: Counties, Environment, Land Use, Workforce Services, Water Rights, Municipalities, Political Subdivisions (Local Issues), County and Municipal Finance, Incorporation, Local Taxation and Fees, Permits, Planning and Zoning, Water - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 11 (129 yes, 23 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 39 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - More backyard home options for homeowners: benefit, medium. Beginning October 1, 2026, covered cities must allow a detached second home on lots of at least 11,000 square feet. The lot must contain a permitted single-family home; cities can also allow smaller lots. Cities must provide a process to convert legally built accessory structures, and building, hea… - Applicants gain protection against changing rules: benefit, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, complete, fee-paid applications receive review under the rules in effect when complete, and approval when compliant. Exceptions include written findings of compelling public interest and prohibiting ordinance changes formally started before submission. A 180-day processing ru… - Applicants get published rules and checklists: benefit, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, cities and counties must publish land-use rules and fee schedules, including development-review and impact fees. When using a separate or third-party website, they must submit updates within six months after adoption. Beginning October 1, 2026, they must also publish checklis… - Builders receive interest on cash deposits: benefit, low. Effective May 6, 2026, the law covers new cash completion-assurance deposits posted beginning May 7, 2025. Counties accepting an applicant's chosen cash deposit must place it in an interest-bearing account. They must return earned interest with the deposit under applicable state law and local rules… - City permits face fewer added barriers: benefit, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, cities cannot deny building permits over assured improvements when building and fire code requirements are satisfied. Cities can require private landscaping plans before installation, but not with permit applications or as a condition of permits or occupancy. Cities generally… - Original owners get property return offers: benefit, low. Before disposing of covered property held for less than 15 years, counties must first offer it back to its original grantor. Beginning May 6, 2026, special districts must do the same before selling surplus real estate acquired through development exactions. The original grantor owes no additional p… - Project owners can cancel challenged approvals: benefit, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, an affected project owner can cancel a land-use approval after a timely referendum challenge. The owner must notify the local clerk in writing within seven days after the referendum petition is found sufficient. The approval and any land-use rule enacted specifically for it a… - Farm crop choices gain city protection: benefit, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, cities cannot restrict crop types on land zoned agricultural or assessed under the Farmland Assessment Act. The ban covers land-use rules, development agreements, and land-use decisions. Land needs to meet either condition, not both. - Businesses gain paths for unlisted uses: benefit, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, cities and counties must offer appeals of classifications for proposed business uses not listed in their ordinances. Applicants classified as new or unlisted can ask lawmakers to allow the use as permitted or conditional. Lawmakers must decide within locally set deadlines whe… - Land-use parties gain neutral advice options: benefit, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, eligible requesters can seek neutral written advisory opinions on additional land-use compliance questions. The added coverage includes Utah Code Sections 10-20-912 and 17-79-813. Local governments, private entities, and potentially aggrieved people must follow the required r… - Approved lodging projects gain story-count protection: benefit, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, authorities cannot limit above-ground habitable stories in qualifying commercial lodging projects approved by September 1, 2025. The protection applies when story-count and overall-height rules conflict, and the building stays within its approved overall height. On July 1, 20… - Builders avoid school service paperwork requirements: benefit, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, cities cannot condition land-use approval on documents about a school district's ability to serve development. This includes documents about the district's willingness or capacity to provide service. The law does not require school districts to add services or capacity. - Builders can install approved public improvements: benefit, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, cities and counties cannot block required public improvements after approving final civil engineering plans. Adopted inspection standards still apply. Cities cannot demand documents that conflict with state law to accept assurance or issue building permits. Separate assurance… - Builders get clear improvement inspection standards: benefit, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, land-use authorities must set objective inspection standards for accepting required public landscaping and infrastructure. These standards give applicants a defined basis for having completed improvements accepted. - Builders get subdivision review deadlines: benefit, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, cities must finish initial ordinance review of qualifying home subdivisions within 15 business days when population exceeds 5,000; otherwise, within 30. Improvement-plan review takes 20 or 40 business days, respectively, when submitted with a complete application. These rules… - City water charges face stronger limits: benefit, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, cities must base water-interest charges on projected needs, state system-wide minimum sizing standards, and development-specific residential-equivalent connections. A lower connection-based charge requires at least five years of local usage data for similar land uses. Cities… - District water charges require demand evidence: benefit, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, special districts must calculate water-interest charges using projected needs, state sizing standards, and development-specific residential-equivalent connections. Charges must be lower when at least five years of district usage data for similar land uses supports lower deman… - Public agencies lock in development fees: benefit, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, specified public agencies lock in city development rules and fees when submitting a qualifying plan and schedule. Covered requirements include land-use and zoning maps, hookup fees, impact fees, other development fees, and land-use rules. The plan and schedule must comply wit… - District home assessments block final inspections: cost, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, cities cannot conduct final inspections for homes within infrastructure financing districts until assessment liens are cleared. Applicants must show that the unit's assessment was paid in full and its lien released. This inspection is required before a certificate of occupanc… - Fewer guaranteed speaking rights at hearings: cost, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, cities no longer must protect each participant's right to speak at every contested land-use hearing. Applicants and adversely affected parties keep their rights to formal consideration. They also keep the right to appeal to a separate appeal authority. - Residents face limits on hearing participation: cost, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, only appellants, land-use applicants, and city representatives, or their representatives, may speak at municipal land-use appeal hearings. Other community members cannot speak under this rule. Counties also no longer must protect every participant's right to speak at every co… - Residents face thirty-day land challenge deadline: cost, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, district-court challenges to enactment of covered city land-use rules or general plans have a 30-day deadline. The deadline runs from enactment and applies when the city has complied with Utah Code Section 10-20-205. - Builders must answer every review comment: cost, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, subdivision improvement-plan applicants must answer every city review comment in writing. Revised plans must identify changes and explain decisions not to make requested changes, with citations and an index. A review cycle remains incomplete until every comment is addressed. - County permits advance despite unfinished improvements: mixed, medium. Beginning May 6, 2026, counties generally cannot deny permits or occupancy because assured improvements remain unfinished or private landscaping is missing. Building permits can still require operable hydrants and a properly compacted temporary road base, but not a permanent or paved temporary road… - Conflicting descriptions of open house protections: mixed, low. The supplied descriptions conflict about city rules for open houses beginning May 6, 2026. One removes protection against treating open houses differently from residential uses; another expressly bars that different treatment for qualifying events. The latter protects homeowner events showcasing a… - Land disputes gain remedies and limits: mixed, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, applicants can bring legal actions to stop or remove unlawful buildings, uses, or acts. Applicants and adversely affected parties must challenge decisions promptly and specifically under local rules before court review; cities cannot require successive administrative appeals.… - Incorporation sponsors get revised filing timelines: mixed, low. Incorporation feasibility requests filed before May 3, 2023, generally keep the rules in effect when originally filed. Modified requests filed on or after May 6, 2026, instead follow the process and filing rules in effect on their filing date. For modified requests, the county clerk's mailed notice… - City planning oversight and decision shortcuts: mixed, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, cities required to have planning commissions must set membership, appointment, vacancy, removal, and recusal rules. Removal causes must include political misuse of public funds, ethics violations, and specified bias. Discussing pending applications with staff, elected officia… - Counties can act without planning advice: mixed, low. Beginning September 15, 2026, county lawmakers can approve or reject proposed land-use rules without a planning commission recommendation. They can act after an applicant's request under Section 17-79-805(2)(b), or after finding the commission had adequate review time. A late commission recommendat… - Counties get targeted ordinance notice rules: mixed, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, counties may use Class A notice for listed routine land-use ordinance changes. These include legal compliance, specified zoning updates, clerical changes, recodification, and defining boundary-adjustment or annexation areas. A proposal containing any unlisted change requires… - Land appeals get different proof rules: mixed, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, applicants appealing land-use decisions must prove illegality or a lack of substantial evidence. Other adversely affected parties must prove illegality or clearly erroneous factual findings. When a city has not set its factual review standard by ordinance, the appeal authorit… - Local use reviews focus on harm: mixed, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, city and county conditional-use definitions focus on a use's unique traits or possible harmful effects. Relevant harm includes effects on the local government, neighbors, or nearby land uses. Counties can set conditions to reduce or remove that harm. The definition no longer… - Planning commissioners face training and safeguards: mixed, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, covered city and county planning commissioners must complete four training hours yearly: one on duties and three on land use and ethics. City coverage includes first- through fourth-class cities, plus fifth-class cities with at least 5,000 residents in first- through third-cl… - Builders can challenge wider road requirements: mixed, low. Applicants can appeal a city's requirement for pavement wider than 32 feet on a residential road. They can ask the county to assemble a three-engineer panel for technical issues; members cannot have an interest in the application. Applicants pay 50% of the panel's cost plus the county's published a… - Builders face capped improvement security requirements: mixed, low. Beginning May 7, 2025, applicants generally must finish required public improvements or provide financial assurance before development or plat recording. Assurance generally covers 100% of required work, or the unfinished or unaccepted portion. Combined assurance is capped at estimated improvement… - Landscaping bonds narrowed for housing projects: mixed, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, cities cannot demand completion assurance for accepted improvements, separately secured work, private landscaping plans, or qualifying private improvements. Private infrastructure needed for codes, stormwater, access, or essential public safety is not exempt. Work installed a… - Residential road width requirements face limits: mixed, low. Counties generally cannot require pavement wider than 32 feet for residential roads built as infrastructure improvements. Exceptions cover turnarounds, traffic constraints, planned improvements, utilities, flood routing, fire-code needs, and street parking; narrower roads remain allowed. Applicants… - Subdivision reviews gain limits and deadlines: mixed, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, cities cannot require the same improvement plan with both preliminary and final subdivision applications. Completeness review takes 15 business days in cities over 5,000 people, or 30 in smaller cities; plan review takes 20 or 40. Cities generally get no more than four review… - Water suppliers face long-term planning requirements: mixed, low. Beginning May 6, 2026, the state engineer must set written-plan standards for public suppliers claiming the water-right nonuse exemption. Plans must cover 40 years of future public water needs. Standards must address population, drought, possible source loss, conservation, per-person needs, and oth… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Lincoln Fillmore (Republican), Senate - Cosponsor: Jill Koford (Republican), House ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2026-03-06 | House | House/ circled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-03-06 | House | House/ uncircled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-03-06 | House | House/ substituted | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-03-06 | House | House/ passed 3rd reading | pass | 61 | 7 | | | 2026-03-06 | Senate | Senate/ concurs with House amendment | pass | 24 | 3 | | | 2026-02-26 | Senate | Senate/ uncircled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-02-26 | Senate | Senate/ passed 3rd reading | pass | 21 | 3 | | | 2026-02-25 | Senate | Senate/ circled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-02-24 | Senate | Senate/ substituted | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2026-02-24 | Senate | Senate/ passed 2nd reading | pass | 19 | 10 | | | 2026-02-17 | Senate | Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation | pass | 4 | 0 | | ## Actions (46) - 2026-03-18: Governor Signed - 2026-03-13: Senate/ to Governor (Senate) - 2026-03-13: Senate/ received enrolled bill from Printing (Senate) - 2026-03-12: Senate/ enrolled bill to Printing (Senate) - 2026-03-12: Enrolled Bill Returned to House or Senate - 2026-03-11: Draft of Enrolled Bill Prepared - 2026-03-11: Bill Received from Senate for Enrolling - 2026-03-11: Senate/ signed by President/ sent for enrolling (Senate) - 2026-03-11: Senate/ received from House (Senate) - 2026-03-07: House/ to Senate (House) - 2026-03-07: House/ signed by Speaker/ returned to Senate (House) - 2026-03-07: House/ received from Senate (House) - 2026-03-06: Senate/ to House (Senate) - 2026-03-06: Senate/ concurs with House amendment (Senate) - 2026-03-06: Senate/ placed on Concurrence Calendar (Senate) - 2026-03-06: Senate/ received from House (Senate) - 2026-03-06: House/ to Senate (House) - 2026-03-06: House/ passed 3rd reading (House) - 2026-03-06: House/ substituted (House) - 2026-03-06: House/ uncircled (House) - 2026-03-06: House/ circled (House) - 2026-03-06: House/ 3rd reading (House) - 2026-03-05: House/ 2nd reading (House) - 2026-03-05: House/ Rules to 3rd Reading Calendar (House) - 2026-03-05: House/ comm rpt/ sent to Rules (House) - 2026-03-02: House Comm - Recommends Returned to Rules - 2026-03-02: House Comm - Not Considered - 2026-02-27: House/ to standing committee (House) - 2026-02-26: House/ 1st reading (Introduced) (House) - 2026-02-26: House/ received from Senate (House) - 2026-02-26: Senate/ to House (Senate) - 2026-02-26: Senate/ passed 3rd reading (Senate) - 2026-02-26: Senate/ uncircled (Senate) - 2026-02-25: Senate/ circled (Senate) - 2026-02-25: Senate/ 3rd reading (Senate) - 2026-02-24: Senate/ passed 2nd reading (Senate) - 2026-02-24: Senate/ substituted (Senate) - 2026-02-24: Senate/ 2nd reading (Senate) - 2026-02-18: Senate/ placed on 2nd Reading Calendar (Senate) - 2026-02-18: Senate/ committee report favorable (Senate) - 2026-02-17: Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation - 2026-02-13: Senate/ received fiscal note from Fiscal Analyst (Senate) - 2026-02-12: Senate/ to standing committee (Senate) - 2026-02-11: Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced) (Senate) - 2026-02-10: Senate/ received bill from Legislative Research (Senate) - 2026-02-10: Numbered Bill Publicly Distributed ## Bill text - Enrolled, 2026-03-12: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/enrolled/SB0284.pdf) - Substitute #6, 2026-03-06: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0284S06.pdf) - Substitute #7, 2026-03-06: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0284S07.pdf) - Substitute #5, 2026-03-05: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0284S05.pdf) - Substitute #3, 2026-03-02: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0284S03.pdf) - Substitute #4, 2026-03-02: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0284S04.pdf) - Substitute #2, 2026-02-28: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0284S02.pdf) - Substitute #1, 2026-02-23: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0284S01.pdf) - Introduced, 2026-02-10: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0284.pdf) ## Related bills - H.B. 94: Criminal Accounts Receivable Amendments (signed) - H.B. 101: Firearm Background Check Amendments (signed) - H.B. 178: School Zone Speeding Amendments (signed) - H.B. 134: Offender Transfer Amendments (signed) - H.B. 136: Unlicensed Driver Amendments (signed) - H.B. 220: Public Safety Data Amendments (signed) ## Sources - [Enrolled (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/enrolled/SB0284.pdf) - [Substitute #6 (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0284S06.pdf) - [Substitute #7 (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0284S07.pdf) - [Substitute #5 (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0284S05.pdf) - [Substitute #3 (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0284S03.pdf) - [Substitute #4 (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0284S04.pdf) - [Substitute #2 (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0284S02.pdf) - [Substitute #1 (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0284S01.pdf) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/SB0284.pdf) ## Related - [H.B. 94: Criminal Accounts Receivable Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB94-2026GS) - [H.B. 101: Firearm Background Check Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB101-2026GS) - [H.B. 178: School Zone Speeding Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB178-2026GS) - [H.B. 134: Offender Transfer Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB134-2026GS) - [H.B. 136: Unlicensed Driver Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB136-2026GS) - [H.B. 220: Public Safety Data Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB220-2026GS) - [Utah bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/utah/bills) - [Utah state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/utah) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-SB284-2026GS (as of 2026-10-14).