SLC.gov

Minor Planned Developments

Minor planned developments have limited impact or use a zoning incentive (Chapter 21A.52) and can be approved at the administrative level by the Planning Director or their designee.

Proposals qualify for a minor planned development if the project:

• Uses an approved zoning incentive, or
• Needs a setback change due to a utility easement, or
• Is in select districts (R-1, SR, R-2, RMF-30, FB-UN1 at 10,000+ sq ft, or any size in M-1, M-2, BP, PL) and requests only minor changes like added buildings without street frontage, reduced yards, lot width, or building coverage.

A minor project is automatically forwarded to the Commission if it:

• Is paired with another application that requires Commission approval
• Requests more than three qualifying modifications
• Draws public comment raising compatibility or neighborhood-character concerns
• Doesn’t meet an approval standard and the applicant won’t accept the recommended conditions

Major Planned Developments

Major planned developments are typically larger, need more flexibility from zoning rules, carry greater potential impact on surrounding areas, risk displacing residents, or simply don’t qualify as minor. They:

• Are always reviewed by the Planning Commission
• Must fulfill the purpose of a planned development and include at least one community benefit (§21A.55.060)

A project requires major review if it:

• Requests modifications that don’t qualify for minor review
• Seeks a height exception through a transfer of building height
• Displaces residential units (unless using affordable housing incentives)

What the Planning Commission can modify

For major planned developments, the Commission may modify:

• Zoning and subdivision standards generally, unless a specific rule prohibits modification.
• Off-site parking: Parking on a different parcel within the planned development boundary is treated as on-site, as long as it serves only uses within that development.
• Building height: Up to 5 additional feet may be granted (outside a formal height transfer) except in the FR, R-1, SR, and R-2 districts, where added height isn’t allowed through this process
• Density: Residential planned developments can’t exceed the base district’s maximum density, though open space may count toward the density calculation (public streets may not).

What the Planned Development process cannot do

The process may not be used to:

• Approve a land use not otherwise allowed in the zoning district
• Modify overlay district standards, unless that overlay specifically allows it
• Bypass other special approval processes, such as amendments, conditional uses, design reviews, or zoning incentives

The proposed amendment updates the standards of review for planned developments. All planned developments must meet a series of standards, described below.

• Purpose: Minor projects must meet the planned development purpose and at least one objective. No community benefit is required. Major projects must also include a community benefit.

• Justifying Modifications: Applicants must show how requested changes relate to the purpose and General Plan, and that any community benefit is proportional to the project’s scale and impacts.

• General Plan Consistency: The project must advance applicable General Plan goals and policies.

• Design & Compatibility: Height, setback, orientation, and material choices should be compatible with the neighborhood; facades should support pedestrian interest; lighting, screening, and parking should minimize impacts on neighbors.

• Landscaping: Preserve mature/native trees and existing buffers where possible; add landscaping and water conservation measures beyond code minimums where appropriate.

• Mobility: Support safe, multimodal circulation; provide street frontage improvements, emergency access, and public trail/walkway connections identified in the General Plan.

• Existing Site Features: Preserve natural and built features important to neighborhood character.

• Infrastructure: Utilities must adequately serve the project without harming surrounding infrastructure.

• Lighting: Follow dark-sky principles; avoid spillover onto neighboring properties.

• Service Areas: Screen dumpsters, utility boxes, and loading docks; minimize noise, odor, and impacts to sidewalks or bike infrastructure.

• Parking: Design driveways and parking to minimize impact on neighbors and public rights-of-way.

What it is

Within a single planned development, unused height from one building (or from open space set aside as a community benefit) can be shifted to another building in that same development, ultimately letting the receiving building exceed its zone’s base height.

How it works

Building 1 doesn’t build all the way up to the district’s base height, leaving unused capacity (outlined in blue). That capacity can be transferred to Building 2, letting it rise above the base zone height, up to an extra 50% of the base height.

Approval

Only allowed through major planned development approval by the Planning Commission.

Where it’s allowed

Only in these districts: D (Downtown), MU (Mixed Use), G-MU (Gateway), PL-2 (Public Lands), and UI (Urban Institutional). Not permitted anywhere in the H Historic Preservation Overlay District.

How much height can transfer

• Capped at 50% of the underlying zone’s maximum permitted height for the receiving building.
• In districts with no set maximum height, transferred height can’t exceed 75 feet.
• Can’t be stacked with other height bonuses under the zoning incentives chapter, except height added through design review.

How the transferred area is calculated

• Equals the footprint of the “sending” building.
• Excludes parking lots, driveways, drive aisles, landscape buffers, and required setbacks.
• For open space donors, excludes setbacks and existing easements/encroachments.

Design impact standards on the receiving building

• Street-facing facades above 85 ft need a 10-ft stepback (or a 10-ft yard setback instead).

• The first full floor and everything above 30 ft must set back at least 45 ft from property lines abutting low-height-limit parcels (under 45 ft max), public trails, or public open space — unless a public street separates them.

Legal paperwork

A restrictive covenant must be recorded with the Salt Lake County Recorder before any building permit issues. It has to document: legal description, confirmation the transfer occurred, a ban on future height at the donor site, the donor building/open space details (location, height, footprint/area), the amount transferred, the receiving building’s approved height, and a requirement that any future development needs a new planned development application. The covenant can only be released with city approval.

Any major planned development application must identify at least one community benefit from the categories shown below that supports the community or advances general plan goals.

Community benefit categories

• Open Space: Plazas, active recreation, or natural open space.
• Historic Preservation: Preserving historic buildings on site.
• Housing: Affordable, accessible, or multi-bedroom units.
• Site Remediation: Cleaning up contaminated soil.
• Utility Infrastructure: Expanding capacity for future development.
• Community Facilities: Space for daycares, clinics, food pantries.
• Transportation: Bike paths, trails, sidewalks, transit space.
• Other Benefits: Any benefit that advances general plan goals

How are they reviewed? The Planning Commission evaluates each proposed benefit for proportionality to determine if it is commensurate with the scale of new development and the modifications being requested.

Detailed on each benefit

• Open Space: Reviewed on total area provided, how it meets general plan goals, quality/quantity of amenities (seating, sports fields, trails, etc.), and public accessibility.

• Historic Preservation: Reviewed on the building’s historic significance, scope of preservation work, and structure size. Must sit outside an existing historic district, needs a survey, must follow Secretary of the Interior preservation standards, and new construction must visually relate to the preserved building’s scale and massing.

• Housing: Three sub-options: affordable units (tiered by AMI: 5% at ≤30% AMI, 10% at ≤60% AMI, or 20% at ≤80% AMI), accessible/visitable units beyond code minimums, or buildings where 20%+ of units have three or more bedrooms.

• Site Remediation: Must be DEQ-approved, with documentation submitted before any above-ground permit issues; reviewed on public health risk, alignment with city goals, and reduction of environmental inequity.

• Utility Infrastructure: Must be capacity-expanding public improvements to public utility infrastructure, such as sewer or water infrastructure.

• Community Facilities: Space for uses like daycares, clinics, food pantries, or small businesses that serve or support the community.

• Transportation: Creation of publicly accessible infrastructure like bike paths, sidewalks, or transit space.

• Other Benefits: Anything not listed, evaluated on proportionality, how many general plan goals it meets, and the degree of community engagement involved.

When it applies

If a major planned development would demolish an existing dwelling, the Planning Commission can require the applicant to provide either relocation assistance or a replacement dwelling for each unit lost.

Relocation assistance

Covers moving costs (up to $1,500), the application fee and deposit for a new unit, and the gap between old and new monthly rent (up to $7,200). If instead the owner relocates the tenant into another unit they own in Salt Lake City at the same rent with no new fees or deposit, only the moving-expense piece applies.

If a unit was demolished, left uninhabitable, or placed on the city’s boarded-building list within the 5 years before the application, the Planning Commission can still apply these protections retroactively, either to the displaced tenants directly or by requiring payment to the city for other relocation efforts.

Replacement units

Separately, the Commission (or Planning Director for minor planned developments) can require any demolished unit to be replaced with one that has at least the same number of bedrooms.