HB 544 — County Land Use Authority Amendments

(vi) energy-efficiency;

(vii) light and air;

(viii) air quality;

(ix) transportation and public or alternative transportation;

(x) infrastructure;

(xi) street and building orientation and width requirements;

(xii) public facilities;

(xiii) fundamental fairness in land use regulation;

and (xiv) considerations of surrounding land uses to balance the foregoing purposes with - 2 - 03-03 07:58 H.B.

544 a landowner's private property interests and associated statutory and constitutional protections.

(2) Each county shall comply with the mandatory provisions of this part before any agreement or contract to provide goods, services, or municipal-type services to any storage facility or transfer facility for high-level nuclear waste, or greater than class C radioactive waste, may be executed or implemented.

(3)(a) Any ordinance[,] or resolution a county enacts, or [rule enacted by a county] a policy that a county adopts in accordance with the county's authority under this chapter shall comply with the state's exclusive jurisdiction to regulate oil and gas activity, as described in Section 40-6-2.5.

(b) A county may enact an ordinance[,] or resolution, or [rule] adopt a policy that regulates surface activity incident to an oil and gas activity if the county demonstrates that the regulation:

(i) is necessary for the purposes of this chapter;

(ii) does not effectively or unduly limit, ban, or prohibit an oil and gas activity;

and (iii) does not interfere with the state's exclusive jurisdiction to regulate oil and gas activity, as described in Section 40-6-2.5.

(4)(a) This Subsection (4) applies to development agreements entered into on or after May 5, 2021.

(b) A provision in a county development agreement is unenforceable if the provision requires an individual or an entity, as a condition for issuing building permits or otherwise regulating development activities within an unincorporated area of the county, to initiate a process for a municipality to annex the unincorporated area in accordance with Title 10, Chapter 2, Part 8, Annexation.

(c) Subsection (4)(b) does not affect or impair the enforceability of any other provision in the development agreement.

Section 2.

Section 17-79-621 is enacted to read:

17-79-621 .

Qualifying parcel application and approval for single-family dwelling building permit.

(1) As used in this section:

(i) was created by a written instrument, other than a subdivision plat, before the county adopted a land use ordinance Ĥ→ [[regulating {regulating the parcel}parcel] ]thatthat requires 98a- county3 subdivision- approvalH.B. to create a lot for a single-family dwelling in the zone 98b where the parcel is located ←Ĥ ;

Ĥ→544 [03-03 {or}07:58 ]and98a 98ccounty (ii)subdivision isapproval locatedto increate a zonelot wherefor a single-family dwelling in the zone 98b where the parcel is alocated permitted←Ĥ use.;

[Ĥ→ {(ii)[or] isand similar98c to(ii) ais lotlocated orin parcela that:}zone ]where [a {(A)single-family hasdwelling theis samea zoningpermitted designation;use.

and}[(ii) ]is [similar {(B) (I) conforms to applicable development standards for a single-family } ] ←Ĥ Ĥ→ [ {residential lot;} ] [ {(II) at some point in the past was approved, recognized, or treated as a lot or }parcel ]that:] ←Ĥ[(A) Ĥ→has [the {parcelsame forzoning whichdesignation; a single-family dwelling was a conforming use;

or}and] ][(B)(I) [conforms {(III)to containsapplicable adevelopment single-familystandards dwellingfor that the county recognizes as a }single-family ] ←Ĥ Ĥ→ [[residential {conforminglot;] use.}[(II) ]at ←Ĥsome (2)point Subjectin tothe Subsectionpast (3)was andapproved, Sectionrecognized, 17-79-810,or atreated countyas shalla acceptlot andor process] a←Ĥ planĤ→ review[parcel application for which a single-family dwelling onwas a qualifyingconforming parceluse; that is made by the qualifying parcel's owner of record, if:

-or] 1[(III) -contains Housea Committeesingle-family Amendmentsdwelling that the county recognizes as a ] ←Ĥ Ĥ→ [conforming use.] ←Ĥ (2) Subject to Subsection (3) and Section 17-79-810, a county shall accept and process a plan review application for a single-family dwelling on a qualifying parcel that is made by the qualifying parcel's owner of record, if:

(a) the proposed building meets the minimum setback requirements of the zoning designation where the qualifying parcel is located;

(b) applicable utility providers review and approve the plan review application;

(c) to the extent required by county ordinance, the local health department reviews and approves the plan review application;

and (d) to the extent required by county ordinance, the owner of the qualifying parcel dedicates a portion of the qualifying parcel for street frontage.

(3) The owner of a parcel has the burden, under Subsection (2), of establishing by substantial evidence that the parcel is a qualifying parcel.

(4) A county accepting and processing a plan review or approval of a building permit under Subsection (2) does not:

(a) require the county to accept or maintain a street or other right-of-way;

(b) require the county, a special district, or a utility provider to extend or provide a utility to a qualifying parcel;

or (c) limit the county's authority to enforce the provisions of this chapter or other law against a person who divides a parcel without required county approval.

Section 3.

Effective Date.

This bill takes effect on May 6, 2026.

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