17-79-1001. Appeal authority required -- Condition precedent to judicial review -- Appeal authority duties.

539 words·~2 min read·/ut/title-17/chapter-79/17-79-1001·

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

Effective 5/6/2026

(a)Subject to Subsection (1)(d) , each county adopting a land use ordinance shall, by ordinance, establish one or more appeal authorities.

(b)An appeal authority shall hear and decide:

(i)requests for a variance from a land use ordinance;

(ii)appeals from a land use decision applying a land use ordinance; and

(iii)appeals from a fee charged in accordance with Section 17-79-802 .

(c)An appeal authority may not hear an appeal from the enactment of a land use regulation.

(d)Beginning on July 1, 2026, a county described in Subsection 17-79-302(5)(a)(i) may not designate the county's legislative body as an appeal authority.

(e)Notwithstanding Subsection (1)(d) , a legislative body shall continue to be the appeal authority for an appeal if:

(i)a land use ordinance designated the legislative body as the appeal authority when the appellant filed the appeal: and

(ii)the appellant filed the appeal on or before June 30, 2026.

(2)As a condition precedent to judicial review, each adversely affected party or land use applicant shall timely and specifically challenge a land use authority's land use decision, in accordance with local ordinance.

(3)An appeal authority described in Subsection (1)(a) :

(a)shall:

(i)act in a quasi-judicial manner; and

(ii)serve as the final arbiter of issues involving the interpretation or application of a land use ordinance; and

(b)may not entertain an appeal of a matter in which the appeal authority, or any participating member, had first acted as the land use authority.

(4)By ordinance, a county may:

(a)designate a separate appeal authority to hear requests for variances than the appeal authority the county designates to hear appeals;

(b)designate one or more separate appeal authorities to hear distinct types of appeals of land use authority decisions;

(c)require an adversely affected party to present to an appeal authority every theory of relief that the adversely affected party can raise in district court; and

(d)provide that specified types of land use decisions may be appealed directly to the district court.

(5)A county may not:

(a)require a public hearing for a request for a variance or land use appeal; or

(b)require a land use applicant or adversely affected party to pursue successive appeals before the same or separate appeal authorities as a condition of an appealing party's duty to exhaust administrative remedies.

(6)If the county establishes or, before May 2, 2005, has established a multiperson board, body, or panel to act as an appeal authority, at a minimum the board, body, or panel shall:

(a)notify each of the members of the board, body, or panel of any meeting or hearing of the board, body, or panel;

(b)provide each of the members of the board, body, or panel with the same information and access to municipal resources as any other member;

(c)convene only if a quorum of the members of the board, body, or panel is present; and

(d)act only upon the vote of a majority of the convened members of the board, body, or panel.

Amended by Chapter 166 , 2026 General Session