Fire Restrictions, Flushable Wipes & New ADU Rules

Hey Provo! 👋Fire Restrictions, Flushable Wipes and New ADU Rules

The Provo City Council met on Tuesday 7/14 this week. Here’s a quick summary of what they DEBATED and DECIDED.

🚨Next Council Meeting is August 11 @ 5:30 p.m.

🔥NEW FIREMEN AND CITY FIRE RESTRICTIONS

Five new firemen were sworn into the Provo Fire Department.

Also, the City Council raised Provo’s fire restriction to “Level 2.” Provo Fire Marshal Koby Hubbs told me that means:

• Basically, just don’t burn anything anywhere in Provo right now - and especially not on the hillside or in the Canyon.

• No open fires - not even in sanctioned firepits. If you don’t live on the hillside and you have a backyard bonfire and your neighbors tattle on you, you’ll get a citation.

• No charcoal grilling. No weed burning.

  

🧨WILL FIREWORKS BE BANNED in Provo again for July 24th? Hubbs says Provo officials are waiting to see if the Governor and State Forester issue another emergency declaration like they did for July 4th. But the chances are pretty good unless we get A LOT of rain in the next week.

🚽FLUSHABLE WIPES ARE A FALLACY

The Council got an annual update on the state of Provo’s sewer system and I can summarize the council’s discussion in three quotes

“When these things don’t work well, we feel it. So thank you,” said Councilor Craig Christensen (District 1)

“You never think about it until there’s a very stinky problem,” said Councilor Jeff Whitlock (District 2)

“Never flush those flushable wipes. They will not degrade. They clog the system. Do not do it. Don’t,” said Councilors Rachel Whipple (District 5) and Katrice MacKay (Citywide 1), very emphatically and practically in unison.

Like seriously, friends. “Flushable wipes” are a marketing con. They might flush, but they don’t breakdown like regular toilet paper. They wreak havoc on sewer pipes and the City’s sewer treatment plant.

Get a bidet attachment for your toilet. I’m told it’ll change your life.

🚸NEW SIDEWALK PLANS FOR 1600 W.

The City Council gave a little bit of street-adjacent land back to property owners at 672 S. and 674 S. 1600 W. that had been earmarked for widening the road. But the Provo Public Works department has decided that widening won’t happen anytime soon. (Public Works director Gordon Haight says the city would have to buy half a dozen homes on the road to make way for a wider street and that’s expensive.) So instead, they’re going to prioritize putting a sidewalk in on 1600 W. as soon as they can acquire the right-of-way. It’s a major walking route for kids from Sunset View Elementary and Shoreline Middle School.

🗣️KEY QUOTE:

“This road is really narrow and we need sidewalks on it for safety. So for that reason I will vote yes, but I do acknowledge this is a road that is very small and we don’t have any plans to widen it for generations,” said Councilor Becky Bogdin (District 3).

❌TOW TRUCK EXEMPTION DIES

During their work meeting, councilmembers debated giving tow truck owners an exemption to the law that prohibits Provo residents from parking large commercial trucks on their property overnight. Councilors Bogdin (District 3) and MacKay (Citywide 1) brought this to the Council after hearing from a Provo resident who operates a tow truck. The argument was essentially that tow truck operators could respond to emergency calls more quickly if they were allowed to park truck at their house at night. But after learning the city sees an average of just one tow-truck-parking-violation a year, the Council decided creating an exemption in the law for such a small impact wouldn’t make sense.

🗣️KEY QUOTE:

“I don’t like that this tailors the law to favor a very small subset - a certain kind of business - when we know there are other businesses that operate in Provo for the good of the city, like food trucks, trailers for audio visual equipment, things like that, where they are not allowed to park on their property. When we have looked at those things before we’ve had safety concerns about sightlines. Now, if we decide that you should be able to park whatever you want on your property - which I think is also a defensible position - then I would be in favor of removing those restrictions entirely. But not for this very small subset,” said Councilor Rachel Whipple (District 5).

✅THREE INITIATIVES MOVE FORWARD

The Council discussed - and decided to advance - three items to appear on a future night meeting agenda for a vote. (So if you have thoughts about them, email council@provo.gov today!)

• RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT FOR BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS: Currently many of Provo’s citizen committees (ie. Parks and Rec, Landmarks, Energy Board) do not require members to actually be Provo residents. The Council seems inclined to change that. More info on here.

• NO MORE PARKING REDUCTION DEALS FOR DEVELOPERS: City Planner Bill Peperone says the requirement that developers provide a certain amount of parking per bedroom is “the single biggest factor holding back more student housing” near BYU. Currently, a developer can ask the Planning Commission for an exception in exchange for things like offering bicycle parking and storage. A majority of City Councilmembers seem inclined to eliminating that pathway. (District 5 Councilor Rachel Whipple is a notable exception.) They’ll take an official vote at a future night meeting. Read the proposed ordinance revisions here.

• NEW RULES FOR DETACHED ADUS: The Council has spent many hours on this one. A new state law requires Provo to allow detached Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs ie backyard cottages) on any residential lot that’s 11,000 ft or larger. That’s a lot of properties in Provo that are now eligible for a detached ADU. But some on the City Council have concerns about the impact a new cottage or garage apartment might have on neighbors. So city staff have drafted some size, height and setback restrictions for detached ADUs that are now legal under the new state law. They include:

  • All accessory structures (ADU, shed, garage) and the main house cannot cover more than 40% of the total parcel area.

  • Detached ADU must be smaller and shorter than the main house. But no smaller than 200 sq ft. Also it has to be attached to a foundation and it can’t be a shipping container.

  • Must be setback at least 10 feet from any property line or match the setback of the main house - whichever is less.

  • Must be shorter than 25 feet tall - and no taller than the main house.

  • For every foot of height over 16 ft, the ADU must be setback from neighboring property lines by an additional foot. (This is to address the concern some councilmembers have about someone putting in a huge ADU that affects the sunlight and views of neighbors.)

The City Council has instructed planning staff to include the above restrictions in a rewrite of the City’s Zoning laws that’s currently underway and due for votes by the Planning Commission and City Council later this summer.

A just for kicks, here’s a look at our fair city from a paddleboard on Utah Lake last night. #provorocks

And the pelicans were having a party at Utah Lake State Park: