Forwarded from Jody Stones <recorder@woodlandhills-ut.gov> Subject: Transparency Report on Building Height Ordinance Change Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2021 18:47:27 +0000 A copy of the Transparency Report on the proposed change to the building height ordinance can be found at: https://www.woodlandhills-ut.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Building-Height-... City email notifications will discontinue as of March 31, 2021. If you wish to continue to get information regarding public meetings, city events or other city information, please go to alerts.utahcounty.gov <http://www.alerts.utahcounty.gov> and sign up today. [This email list, woodlandhills-announce, will forward city information that is given through the new alert system] Text of the Transparency Report on building height [please use the link above to see the document with the useful diagrams illustrating the interpretation of "35 feet above natural grade"]. Community of Woodland Hills City Report Prepared by the Transparency Committee March 6, 2021 NOTE: Opinions and information published by the Transparency Committee are not official City positions. They represent the perspective of the Transparency Committee, and of the person(s) quoted or interviewed. While we strive to publish the most accurate information possible, plans and decisions can change quickly as new information is acted upon by City officials. Accordingly,the following information is accurate as of the date of publication, but beyond that time some details may become outdated. We have a public hearing on March 17 for a change in our building height ordinance. Why place a limit on the height of homes in Woodland Hills? Most cities place a limit on building height to maintain the beauty of the community environment. How does our current ordinance define building height?Currently it is defined this way:The vertical distance to a maximum of 35 feet from the natural lowest point to the highest point of a coping of a flat roof, or to the deck line of a mansard roof, or the mean height level between eaves and ridge for a gable, hip or gambrel roof. Why do we need a change? The current definition is ambiguous in several ways. First, natural lowest pointis hard to define. Is that a point anywhere on the lot? If so, what about lots that drop into a ravine? Is that point limited to the building footprint? Or to the area directly under the building? The ordinance doesn���t answer these questions. And if the home is built on a slope, this issue can be even more complex. Second, the ordinance measures building height from specific points on different kinds of roofs ���flat, mansard, gable, hip orgambrel. But in actuality, contemporary home designs can have numerous roof lines, or even different types of roofs on the same structure. This also complicates how an inspector would apply the ordinance. What is the proposed change? The proposed new ordinance would read as follows;The height of a building is measured from any or all points on a structure to the natural grade (grade prior to any construction) below that point. In order for a house in a residential zone to meet the height limit, no point on the structure may be higher than 35 feet above natural grade (flat roofs must be no more than 28 feet above natural grade). When determining the building���s height, you must calculate the elevation of the highest roof ridges and peaks. These points are then located on the site plan and, the elevation of natural grade below those points is subtracted from the elevation of the point on the highest ridge or peak thus indicating the height above natural grade. How will the change be better than what we have now? First, the new height is measured from natural gradeinstead of lowest natural point. The natural gradeis the point at ground level, directly below the high point on the roof. The distance between those points can never be more than 35 feet, and it is readily measurable. This also simplifies the issue of building on a slope, because the ordinance would simply mandate a height of 35 feet or less when measured from anywhere on the slope. Second, the measurement is from naturalgrade. Sometimes a contractor will remove or bring in earth to create a new grade for construction. In those cases, the measurement must be adjusted to reflect the height from the original natural grade, before those changes were made. Finally, the current ordinance actually limits home height to 35 feet or two stories. This wording is a problem, because theoretically a resident could build a home 50 feet tall as long as it only had two stories. The new ordinance eliminates the issue of stories altogether to avoid confusion. The bottom line is that the new ordinance could end up reducing the average building height by a few feet when compared to our current standard. (See page 3 of this report for diagrams from the Planning Commission that show some ways the new height measurement can be applied.) [The diagrams are in the pdf file mentioned above]. With these changes, how will our new ordinance compare with similar ordinances in other communities? The city has largely adopted this ordinance from the one used by Park City. They have terrain similar to ours, and the ordinance seems to workwell for them. To read the full text of the proposal from our Planning Commissionclick on this link to the city website: https://www.woodlandhills-ut.gov/public-hearing-on-change-to-building-height... When you reach the page, you can download the proposal by clicking on:BuildingHeightOrdinancePublicHearingProposalMarch2021For more details on the proposed building height changes, listen to this 6-minute telephone interviewwith Wayne Frandsen, head of the Woodland Hills City Planning Commission, at this link:https://youtu.be/AnUhDOkv6NE If you would like to listen only to selected parts of the interview, here are the question starting points: 00:00 The current ordinance measures building height from the lowest natural point. Why is that a problem? 01:15 How do you measure the height of homes built on slopes? 02:03 The new ordinance measures height from natural grade. What is that? 02:56 Again, how does it work to measure height from natural grade on a slope? 03:35 Will building height have anything to do with the number of stories a home has? 04:33 How does our new ordinance compare with Park City���s ordinance? 05:45 Bottom line: What do you think this ordinance change will accomplish? This reportwas authored by Glenn Anderson for the Woodland Hills Transparency Committee Jody Stones City Recorder City of Woodland Hills 801-423-3900 office 385-448-7838 cell recorder@woodlandhills-ut.gov