Commission reviews proposed 2025 planning and building fee schedule, moves to ordinance adoption process

Duchesne County planning and building staff briefed the commission on proposed 2025 fee changes and an accompanying ordinance draft.

Staff said they re-ran a reasonable-cost analysis (Appendix A) and adjusted several fees to be more equitable. Examples discussed in the meeting include a lowered proposed minor-subdivision fee in the revised draft (staff cited $150 in a recent draft) and a reduced administrative conditional-use-permit fee for oil and gas production sites (re-run to $700 from an earlier $800 proposal). Staff said the recent change in state law requires the county to adopt such fees by ordinance (with public hearing), rather than by resolution, and that attorneys were reviewing the draft ordinance.

Commissioners expressed concern about ensuring the fee structure does not create arbitrary breaks between types of applications and asked staff to provide a clean, final version showing differences from the earlier draft. Staff committed to deliver an ordinance-ready packet to the attorney's office and return with a refined presentation before the Jan. 6 meeting for formal consideration and public notice.