Brown v. Sandy City Board of Adjustment , 339 Utah Adv. Rep. 13 ( 1998 )

BENCH, Judge,

concurring in result:

Sandy City relies upon an ordinance in arguing that its Development Code does not permit short-term leases of property. The ordinance provides as follows:

No land shall be used or occupied and no building or structure shall be designed,. created, altered, used or occupied for any use, except those uses specifically permitted on the land upon which the building or structure is located or erected or use established as permitted in the regulations for the district in which said land is located.

Sandy City, Utah, Dev.Code § 15-21-11 (1996) (emphasis added). Essentially, Sandy takes the position that every use of property is prohibited unless the use is specifically permitted by ordinance. That approach to zoning is diametrically opposed to the common law followed in Utah. See, e.g., Patterson v. Utah County Bd. of Adjustment, 893 P.2d 602, 606 (Utah Ct.App.1995) (stating zoning ordinances are to be strictly construed against the municipality because they are “in derogation of a property owner’s common-law right to unrestricted use of his or her property”).

As the main opinion concludes, short-term rentals are permitted in Sandy unless the city passes an ordinance to specifically prohibit them.