“It was wild and crazy the last couple of weeks,” said Brian Allen, principal lobbyist for Cottonwood Heights. 

Allen was joined by Executive Assistant Chantel Nate and lobbyist Greg Curtis to provide a Legislative Recap Report on the 2025 General Session to the Cottonwood Heights City Council and staff members March 18.  

As the council has been in numerous conversations about housing affordability within the city throughout the years, they were especially interested in hearing about how the housing bills panned out.

HB 256: Municipal and County Zoning Amendments, sponsored by Rep. Neil Walter and Sen. Evan Vickers, was signed March 19. This bill attempts to define and modify authority related to short-term rentals. Allen reported that now cities will be able to look at vacation rental listing websites to report nonbinding listings that are noncompliant. 

“It ended up not as strong as we’d hoped but better than we thought,” he said. 

SB 23: First Home Investment Zone Amendments sponsored by Sen. Wayne Harper and Rep. Stephen Whyte was signed March 26. This bill makes changes to median home pricing ratings and extraterritorial home definitions within first home investment zones. 

SB 262: Housing Affordability Modifications sponsored by Sen. Lincoln Fillmore and Rep. Whyte was signed March 27. This bill makes changes to the Utah Housing Corporation and home ownership zone funds for municipality use regarding water exaction, street lighting and environmental costs. 

Allen reported that both HB 360 and HB 368 (below) were supported by the Utah League of Cities and Towns. 

HB 368: Local Land Use Amendments sponsored by Rep. Whyte and Sen. Fillmore was moved to the governor’s office March 17. This bill modifies provisions related to municipal land use including floor plans, landscaping and deeds. 

HB 360: Housing Attainability Amendments sponsored by Rep. Whyte and Sen. Fillmore was signed March 26. This bill is entirely related to affordable housing regulations through numerous state housing programs. 

HB 58: Building Inspector Amendments, sponsored by Rep. Thomas Peterson and Sen. Calvin Musselman, was signed March 19. This bill alters amendments for building inspections and licensing. 

“For rural cities it would have been a real challenge to comply with the original bill,” Allen said. “We got it down to a much more reasonable place by amending it down to home examining." 

Allen tentatively reported on two of the more controversial bills of the session and discussed how the city needs to move forward to be in compliance with the new laws. 

HB 77: Flag Display Amendments sponsored by Rep. Trevor Lee and Sen. Daniel McCay passed into law March 27 without the governor’s signature. This bill prohibits certain flags to be displayed on government property. 

“You can fly flags of other nations for historical or informational purposes, like in a classroom. But it prohibits some other things...it targets other flags, really,” Allen said. 

Allen did note the lack of “teeth” within this bill to the city councilmembers. If there is a violation, it must be “cured” within 30 days. Otherwise, no specific punishment or violation is listed. 

SB 277: Government Records Management Amendments, sponsored by Sen. Michael McKell and Rep. Jefferson Moss, was signed March 27. This bill replaces the State Records Committee with the director of the Government Records Office. Allen told the city council that this bill doesn’t change the process for accessing records. 

“The good news about this is it will speed up the process,” he said. “A full-time trained law person will be reviewing records requests every day. In the long run, I think it will be a faster, quicker, cheaper process.” 

Cottonwood Heights will likely see an increase to their tax revenue funds thanks to the passing of two separate house bills. 

HB 456: Transient Room Tax Amendments, sponsored by Rep. Bridger Bolinder and Sen. Vickers, was signed March 25. This bill creates an Outdoor Recreation Mitigation Grant Program and modifies acceptable uses of transient room tax revenue for municipalities. 

“It gives us an opportunity to work with the county and raises the tax,” Allen said. 

HB 502: Transportation and Infrastructure Funding Amendments, sponsored by Rep. Teuscher and Sen. Kirk Cullimore, was signed March 27. This bill allocates funds for counties and transportation projects. 

“The $20 million set aside for the transit hub at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon changed to a percentage of taxing to grow with the economy and overall community,” Curtis said.

Another bill that might have a financial impact on the city relates to the authority and ownership of gravel pits — especially as the Big Cottonwood Canyon Gravel Pit development is underway. 

HB 355: Mining and Critical Infrastructure Materials Amendments, sponsored by Rep. Casey Snider and Sen. Scott Sandall, was signed March 26. This bill clarifies how a gravel pit can expand into land they currently own.

“I think there’s work to be done still between cities and gravel pits,” Allen said. “We had a lot of fun with Rep. Snyder on this bill. It was better in the end but it’s still not in a perfect place.”  

Allen and Nate mentioned a few lasting bills that may have more minimal impact to the city’s leadership and residents in the year to come. 

SB 195: Transportation Amendments, sponsored by Sen. Wayne Harper and Rep. Kay Christofferson, moved to the governor’s office March 13. This bill clarifies connectivity planning for who has responsibility for maintaining street lighting. Cities have to maintain decorative lighting on state highways.

“This targeted Salt Lake City and their traffic education strategies,” Allen said. 

SB 340: Protected Person Amendments, sponsored by Sen. Don Ipson and Rep. Tyler Clancy, was signed March 25. This bill provides opportunity to obtain a certificate to bypass municipal codes for security measures when there’s a credible threat against life or safety. Allen had speculated this bill was written to accommodate a celebrity. 

“It was for someone who has a lot of money,” corrected Cottonwood Heights Mayor Mike Weichers. 

HB 40: School Safety Amendments, sponsored by Rep. Ryan Wilcox and Sen. Ann Millner, was passed to the governor’s office March 17. This bill modifies communication requirements and administrative structures relative to school safety programs. It takes some of the “burden” off of local law enforcement, even though it requires coordinating with the county. Allen noted how it was the seventh substitute of this bill that was passed. 

“That’s how many times it went back and forth,” he said. “I think that’s a good win.” 

SB 328: Alcohol Amendments, sponsored by Sen. Jerry Stevenson and Rep. Karen Peterson, was signed March 24. This bill prohibits alcohol in local parks and playgrounds. It also addresses alcohol allowances in amphitheaters and venues. 

Allen laughed at the process of this bill — thinking it had died earlier in the session but then came back. “There was a Lazarus effect.” 

SB 179: Local Regulation of Business Entities Amendments sponsored by Sen. Calvin Musselman and Rep. Karen Peterson was signed March 19. This bill will require Cottonwood Heights, and all municipalities, to enact a land use regulation establishing a process for reviewing a business use not already listed in existing ordinances.

HB 504: Financial and Conflict of Interest Disclosures by Candidates Amendments, sponsored by Rep. Lisa Shepherd and Sen. Ronald Winterton, was signed March 24. This bill amends deadlines and requirements for conflict of interest disclosure statement for running candidates. 

HB 198: Highway Expansion Impacts on Signage Amendments, sponsored by Rep. Val Peterson and Sen. John Johnson, was signed March 26. Allen summarized how this bill allows a billboard to move, if highway expansion forces it to come down, anywhere along the same roadway in the same city. If the city can’t work out a new agreement location for the billboard, then the city has to pay for it. 

HB 364: Governmental Immunity Amendments, sponsored by Rep. Kay Christofferson and Sen. Todd Weiler, would provide governmental immunity to law firms. 

“It will come back next year,” Allen said. “It died by the clock on the last day.” λ