Wasatch County is in the process of approving a code enforcement officer position. The job would enforce code before complaints are filed and investigate violators.
Planning Director Doug Smith said the role would be split between the planning department and the county attorney’s office.
He said code enforcement duties are currently divvied up amongst three planning department staff members. The group responds to individual complaints, rather than preemptively stop infractions.
Smith said as more people move to Heber Valley, the department doesn’t have the bandwidth.
“All my planners that are doing code enforcement also have their building permits they’re looking at, their business licenses, their projects they’re dealing with,” Smith said. “So it hasn’t been something that we can dedicate a lot of time to.”
County manager Dustin Grabau said the position had been approved by the council in 2023, but was changed in favor of an additional planner.
“At the time, the council gave the direction that was kind of more of the priority,” Grabau said. “We weren’t quite sure if we were ready to pull the trigger on some proactive code enforcement.”
Now, Grabau said the officer would be for “the benefit of everyone.”
The officer would help enforce Ordinance 26-15, a newly approved zoning code that allows residential facilities for people with disabilities to operate with either a license or a contract with the Utah Department of Health and Human Services. Previously, such facilities only needed a contract.
The code is central to a years long dispute over Cascade Home, a teen treatment facility for girls with mental health diagnoses east of Heber.
Grabau said he will recommend adding the position to the 2027 county budget during the next Wasatch County Council meeting Nov. 4.
