The Summit County Board of Adjustment reviews and may grant zoning exceptions to property owners called “variances.”
Utah law generally allows variances in cases where normal zoning imposes unreasonable hardship on a property owner. Variances can’t detract from residents’ health, safety and welfare.
Summit County is disbanding its board and replacing it with a single administrator — commonly known as an administrative law judge — in part because of a new state law, according to planner Ray Miliner.
“[State legislators] prohibited the requirement that we hold a public hearing for variances, and so, because of that — and also because of some desire by the county council to streamline our variance process — we have a proposal to amend the code that would basically eliminate our board of adjustment and replace the board of adjustment with an administrative law judge,” he told the Eastern Summit County Planning Commission Aug. 7.
The Snyderville Basin and Eastern Summit County planning commissions have both agreed to the change, which must be formally enacted by the county council.
Miliner told eastside commissioners the change isn’t happening because the board of adjustment is falling short of its mission — quite the opposite.
“They do a good job, and they've been very thoughtful, and everything. It’s just with the state code changes and everything,” he said. “It seems to be the way most — most other jurisdictions are going this way.”
Boards of adjustment aren’t the only kind of committee being replaced with ALJs this year.
The State Records Committee, the volunteer board that used to hear appeals regarding the public’s access to government records, has been dissolved too. State lawmakers replaced it with a governor-appointed ALJ during the 2025 General Session.
Elected or appointed boards can still review ALJ decisions.
In the case of Summit County zoning variances, ALJ decisions will be appealable to the county council.
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