Housing Mitigation Requirements in Utah County, Utah

A 2019 state law (SB34) requires this, tied to transportation funding

Under SB34, passed by the Utah Legislature in 2019, municipalities across the state -- including essentially all of Utah County's incorporated cities, given the size thresholds involved -- are required to adopt a Moderate Income Housing element as part of their general plan and to select and pursue strategies aimed at encouraging affordable housing. Utah state code defines moderate income housing as housing affordable to households earning at or below 80% of the area median income (AMI) for the county. Compliance isn't merely aspirational: it's directly tied to eligibility for state investment funds administered through the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT), giving cities a concrete financial incentive to adopt and actually implement their selected strategies rather than treat the requirement as a paperwork exercise.

The state offers municipalities a menu of 25 defined strategies to choose from -- among them waiving development fees, allowing accessory dwelling units (ADUs), rehabilitating aging housing stock, and adopting zoning that encourages higher-density construction near transit. A city selects some number of these strategies (with a higher count generally required for priority state funding consideration) and then has to report annually on its progress implementing them. For a buyer or developer evaluating land in one of Utah County's fast-growing cities, this means the specific zoning and density rules in place today are more likely than in a slower-growing area to be under active, state-driven revision.

Real, documented local examples -- not a hypothetical state mandate

This isn't an abstract legal requirement in Utah County's cities; it has produced specific, named local outcomes. In Lehi, the Moderate-Income Housing element of the city's General Plan documents the use of a density bonus -- a zoning tool that lets a developer build more units than the base zoning would otherwise allow, in exchange for an affordable-housing or other community benefit -- to let a specific senior-living facility, Beehive Homes, double its unit count from 8 to 16 as part of meeting the city's affordable-housing goals. Density bonuses of this kind are used broadly across Utah cities pursuing SB34 compliance, not just at Beehive Homes, so a density-bonus request tied to affordable-housing goals is a realistic possibility to encounter on a Lehi development parcel generally.

Eagle Mountain City amended its own General Plan (Chapter 9) specifically to incorporate the state-required Moderate Income Housing strategies, and separately runs a Mortgage Assistance Program (updated as recently as March 2025) available to owner-occupied residences with a city-approved accessory dwelling unit, under which the ADU may be rented out -- a direct, documented example of an ADU-friendly policy tied to the county's affordable-housing push. Saratoga Springs, one of the fastest-growing cities in the state (as covered on the county hub), has its own published annual Moderate Income Housing report to the Utah Department of Workforce Services documenting its selected strategies and progress. Each city's specific strategy selections and implementation status differ, so a parcel's applicable rules depend on which city (or unincorporated county jurisdiction) it falls in.

What this means for evaluating land in a fast-growing Utah County city

• Confirm which city's (or the county's own unincorporated) Moderate Income Housing plan and strategy selections apply to a specific parcel, since strategies and their implementation status vary significantly city by city.
• Ask the relevant city planning department whether a density-bonus program exists and whether it applies to your project type, if you're evaluating a multi-unit or higher-density development concept.
• If ADU income is part of your evaluation of a specific property, confirm the current city-level ADU ordinance and any associated program (such as Eagle Mountain's Mortgage Assistance Program) directly, since these are actively evolving policy areas tied to the state mandate.
• Don't assume a zoning or density rule found in an older listing or plat is still current -- SB34 compliance is an ongoing, annually reported process in these cities, and rules can change from one reporting cycle to the next.
• Remember this state-mandated framework is separate from, and layered on top of, the specific zoning district and jurisdiction questions (city vs. unincorporated county) the county hub already flags as the first thing to confirm for any Utah County parcel.