PROCESS + FAQ

Every city in Utah must have a General Plan (UCA 10-9a-401). A general plan is the local government’s long-term roadmap for future development. It represents the community’s vision for its future and expresses the community’s goals on a variety of topics. The general plan contains the goals and policies upon which the city will base its land use and other decisions. It will address the issues facing the city for the next 10 to 20 years.

Cedar City adopted its current general plan in 2012. Since that time, the area has grown, new trends have emerged, and the State Legislature has passed many new requirements for general plans. These changes require an update of the existing general plan and an exploration of the future vision of Cedar City. The updated general plan will look ahead to not only bring policies and programs up-to-date, but also position the city for the future.

A general plan is designed to be comprehensive. Utah state statute mandates that city plans address issues of land use, transportation, housing, and the county’s public land resources (a resource management plan). They also allow for cities to choose other topics of importance, which emerge from the public process.

Under Utah law, all cities are required to develop and maintain a general plan. Vision 2050 is an important and valuable initiative spearheaded by the Chamber of Commerce. The work done by Vision 2050 participants is being leveraged by the city in its process. Ultimately, the general plan that is adopted by the Cedar City Council will have the ‘rule of law’* because it will be adopted by the elected officials.

*NOTE: under state statute, a general plan is intended to be a description of the community’s vision. It should be adopted as an “advisory document” (unlike a zoning ordinance). It might be helpful to consider the general plan as the “spirit of the law” while the resulting ordinances and budgets are the “letter of the law“.