9.3 Administrative Provisions

9.3.1 Development Approvals For Public Projects/Public Works/Public Utilities All public development projects and public works that visually impact or otherwise adversely impact sensitive areas, and all public utility installations including but not limited to water and sewer projects, pipelines, electrical supply facilities and wires, roads, and trails, constructed or undertaken within the Sensitive Lands Overlay Zone shall be reviewed according to the following process and guidelines. It is the intent of this section that the proposed public utilities projects, both private and public, make all reasonable attempts to comply with the standards and guidelines of the Sensitive Lands regulations. The primary emphasis shall be on reasonable and practical reclamation and revegetation of areas disturbed by major public works and utility projects. In some situations, it may be necessary to encroach upon certain environmentally sensitive areas in order to maintain a desirable level of public service and safety. In those cases, an evaluation of alternatives and possible mitigation shall be required prior to such projects being submitted. 9.3.1.1 Consultation (a) Public Utilities projects. The project sponsor shall notify the Town Planning Commission or Staff of the proposed project. A project plan delineating the location, alignment, and scope of the undertaking shall be submitted with such notification. If the Town Planning Commission or Staff determines that the project may have significant visual and environmental impacts, a consultation meeting shall be scheduled. No development shall occur until after the Page 9-11 consultation meeting and compliance with the steps outlined in the following subsections, unless the Town Planning Commission or Staff has determined that no significant visual or environmental impact will result from the proposed project. (b) Public Works and other public projects. The department director shall notify the Town Planning Commission or Staff of all proposed projects which may have significant visual and environmental impacts and a consultation meeting shall be scheduled. No development shall occur until after the consultation meeting and compliance with the steps outlined in the following subsections. Minor projects which are determined by the Town Planning Commission or Staff to have no potential for significant visual or environmental impacts shall be exempt from the process outlined in Sections 9.3.1.2 through 9.3.1.6. 9.3.1.2 Mitigation The Town Planning Commission or Staff shall review the proposed project and after the consultation meeting may request the project sponsor to prepare an environmental impact statement and/or mitigation plan that modifies the project to mitigate the environmental and visual impact of the project. To the maximum extent feasible, the project sponsor shall design the public works to preserve the natural character of the sensitive areas and locate it in areas not visible from major public rights-of-way or public property such as parks. 9.3.1.3 Adoption of Recommendations The project sponsor shall, before undertaking the project, to the maximum extent feasible, adopt the modifications and mitigation measures recommended by the Zoning Administrator or state in writing why adoption of such measures is not feasible before the project shall proceed. 9.3.1.4 Wetlands and Stream Corridors All public utilities and public works, constructed or undertaken within significant wetlands and significant stream corridors and their respective setbacks, including but not limited to water and sewer projects, pipelines, electrical supply facilities and wires, roads, and trails, shall be governed pursuant to the procedures set forth in Section 9.3.1. They shall be exempted from the requirements of Section 9.2.3 providing that: (a) no practical alternative location exists outside the significant wetland and significant stream corridor and their respective setbacks; and (b) the project meets the technical guidelines defined below: (a) To the maximum extent feasible, disturbed areas within the setbacks shall be revegetated using appropriate vegetation. (b) Maintenance access shall be provided at specific access points rather than parallel access roads. To the extent that access roads must be located within a corridor, the roads shall be kept to a minimum width. Parallel access roads shall be sighted contiguous to the utility corridor to minimize disturbance and shall be sighted on the outside edge of the utility corridor away from the resource. (c) Surface materials used for trail construction and other access routes shall be approved by the Town. (d) Road construction techniques for stream crossings shall use appropriate methods demonstrated to provide fisheries protection. Page 9-12 9.3.1.5 Emergency Repairs In the event of an emergency that requires immediate action to protect the health and safety of the general public, such action may go forward without the immediate consent of the Town Planning Commission or Staff. The Town Planning Commission or Staff shall be consulted at the earliest stage reasonably possible in the construction/repair phase. 9.3.1.6 Maintenance Maintenance projects shall proceed only after notification of and approval by the Town Staff. If the Town, due to the size or nature of the maintenance activity, determines that it may have a significant adverse impact on the sensitive areas, the project shall proceed through the review procedures set forth in Sections 9.3.1.1 through 9.3.1.5. 9.3.2 Substantial Compliance To avoid unnecessary review by Town consultants and/or agencies and disputes over the application of the Sensitive Lands Overlay Zone provisions, whenever there are practical difficulties over the application of the provisions or whenever the aims of this ordinance can be better achieved through alternatives to strict compliance, the Town Planning Commission may make specific modifications to strict compliance with the Sensitive Lands Overlay Zone ordinance provisions. 9.3.3 Economic Hardship Relief Provisions. 9.3.3.1 Hardship Relief Petition Any applicant for development, after a final decision on its development application is taken by the Town Council, may file a hardship relief petition with the Town Board of Adjustment seeking relief from certain of the sensitive lands regulations on the basis that the denial of the application has created a substantial economic hardship, depriving the applicant of all reasonable use of its property. 9.3.3.2 Affected Property Interest The hardship relief petition must provide information sufficient for the Town Board of Adjustment and the Town Attorney to determine that the petitioner possesses a protectable interest in property under Article I, Section 22 of the Constitution of Utah and the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. 9.3.3.3 Economic Hardship Standard For purposes of this ordinance, a substantial economic hardship shall be defined as a denial of all reasonable use of the property. Upon a finding that the denial of the application has resulted in a denial of all reasonable use of the property, the Town Board of Adjustment may provide the petitioner with relief from certain of the overlay zone and/or sensitive lands regulations. 9.3.3.4 Time for Filing Notice of Petition and Petition No later than ten (10) calendar days from final action by the Town Council on any development application, the applicant shall file a notice of petition in writing with the Town Recorder. Within thirty (30) days of filing of a Notice of Petition, the applicant shall file a Hardship Relief Petition with the Town Recorder. Page 9-13 (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) (i) (j) (k) (l) 9.3.3.5 Information to be Submitted with Hardship Relief Petition. The hardship relief petition must be submitted in letter form or on a form prepared by the Town Planning Commission or Staff, and must be accompanied at a minimum by the following information: Name of the petitioner; Name and business address of current owner of the property, form of ownership, whether sole proprietorship, for-profit or not-for-profit corporation, partnership, joint venture or other, and if owned by a corporation, partnership, or joint venture, name and address of all principal shareholders or partners. Price paid and other terms of sale of the property, the date of purchase, and the name of the party from whom purchased, including the relationship, if any, between the petitioner and the party from whom the property was acquired; Nature of the protectable interest claimed to be affected, such as, but not limited to, fee simple ownership, leasehold interest; Terms (including sale price) of any previous purchase or sale of a full or partial interest in the property in the three years prior to the date of application; All appraisals of the property prepared for any purpose, including financing, offering for sale, or ad valorem taxation, within the three years prior to the date of application; The assessed value of and ad valorem taxes on the property for the previous three years; All information concerning current mortgages or other loans secured by the property, including name of the mortgagee or lender, current interest rate, remaining loan balance and term of the loan and other significant provisions, including but not limited to, right of purchasers to assume the loan; All listings of the property for sale or rent, price asked and offers received, if any, within the previous three years; All studies commissioned by the petitioner or agents of the petitioner within the previous three years concerning feasibility of development or utilization of the property; For income producing property, itemized income and expense statements from the property for the previous three years; and Information from a title policy or other source showing all recorded liens or encumbrances affecting the property; The Town Staff or the Board of Adjustment may request additional information reasonably necessary, in their opinion, to arrive at a final conclusion concerning whether there has been a denial of all reasonable use constituting a substantial Page 9-14 economic hardship. 9.3.3.6 Failure to Submit Information In the event that any of the information required to be submitted by the petitioner is not reasonably available, the petitioner shall file with the petition a statement of the information that cannot be obtained and shall describe the reasons why such information is unavailable. 9.3.3.7 Burden of Proof The petitioner shall have the burden of proving that the denial of the application creates a substantial economic hardship under the standard provided in Section 9.3.3.3. 9.3.3.8 Findings of the Board of Adjustment The Board of Adjustment shall, after receiving all the necessary information will hold a public hearing, pursuant to regulations as contained in Chapter 5 of this Code. The Board shall make their decision on the basis of the evidence and testimony presented, and address the following issues in its report or its findings: (a) Whether the petitioner has complied with the requirements for presenting the information to be submitted with a hardship relief petition; (b) Whether the petitioner has a protectable interest in property; (c) The market value of the property considering the Sensitive Lands Overlay Zone designation; (d) The market value of the property disregarding the Sensitive Lands Overlay Zone designation; (e) Whether it was feasible to undertake construction on or development of the property as of the date of the application, or in the reasonably near future thereafter; Whether, in the opinion of the Board of Adjustment, the denial of the application would create a substantial economic hardship as defined in Section 9.3.3.3.