Salt Lake City's H Hillside Protection Overlay restricts grading, building height, and impervious coverage on slopes over 30% along the Wasatch foothills, protecting wildfire interface zones, scenic viewsheds, and watershed inflows to City Creek.
Under SLC Code Title 21A.34.030, the H Hillside Protection Overlay applies to foothill parcels with slopes exceeding 30%. It limits grading, requires geotechnical and stormwater review, caps disturbed-area footprints, and steps building heights down with topography. Applicants must submit slope analyses and erosion-control plans. The overlay protects wildland-urban interface from wildfire while preserving views from the valley floor to the Wasatch ridgeline. Combined with watershed protection rules for City Creek, Emigration, and the Cottonwood drainages, hillside zoning is among Salt Lake City's strictest land-use regulations.
Unpermitted grading, tree removal, or construction on hillside parcels triggers stop-work orders, restoration requirements, and daily fines under Title 21A. Severe violations may require revegetation bonds and engineered slope stabilization at owner expense.
See how Salt Lake City's hillside overlay rules rules stack up against other locations.
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