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HB 191 Utah House · 2026 General Session

Airport Land Use Amendments

HB 191 amends Utah's airport definitions to explicitly include "flight parks" - areas used for hang gliding or similar nonmotorized aircraft that are FAA-recognized and publicly owned. This change ensures flight parks receive the same land use protections as traditional airports, including a 1,000-foot "influence area" buffer (compared to 500 feet for vertiports) and requirements for local governments to adopt airport overlay zones. The bill mandates that cities/counties within these areas must enforce noise notifications, conform development to FAA airspace rules, and may require avigation easements for new construction. It applies directly to flight parks (like public hang gliding sites) and local zoning authorities, with a delayed deadline (2026) for flight parks versus regular airports (2024). No funding is appropriated, and the bill focuses solely on clarifying regulatory treatment.
Issues: ✓ TransportationSupports TransportationBill explicitly expands airport infrastructure protections (flight parks) under Transportation, mandating land use buffers and overlay zones for aviation facilities, aligning with transportation infrastructure safeguards.95% confidence
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Jan 20, 2026 Last action Mar 7, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

Amended 2/24/2026 14:02:98 → Substitute #1 · 5 edits
MODERATE
This bill updates Utah airport laws to formally recognize 'flight parks' (areas for hang gliders and similar non-motorized aircraft) as airports. The changes ensure flight parks receive the same legal protections and zoning regulations as traditional airports, including rules for airport influence areas, overlay zones, and avigation easements.
Scope change
The scope of the bill was expanded to include flight parks, which were previously excluded from the legal definition of an airport under Utah Code.
DEFINITION

Added a new definition for 'flight park' to include areas used primarily for landing and taking off hang gliders, paragliders, or similar nonmotorized aircraft that are recognized by the FAA and owned by the state or a political subdivision.

Modified the definition of 'airport' to explicitly include flight parks, vertiports, and appurtenant areas, ensuring they are treated consistently with traditional airports.

REQUIREMENT

Updated the definition of 'airport influence area' to include land located within 1,000 feet of a flight park boundary, extending regulatory protections to these areas.

Amended zoning regulations to require political subdivisions within flight park influence areas to adopt overlay zones and enforce development standards similar to those for traditional airports.

TECHNICAL

Corrected various grammatical errors and formatting inconsistencies in existing definitions, such as removing redundant words like 'any a' and 'an aviation'.

Floor votes

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
24
Key actions
2
Committee
2
Amendments
2
Feb 24, 2026
Lower · Passed
House/ comm rpt/ substituted/ amended [House Political Subdivisions Committee]
lower
Feb 24, 2026
Lower · Passed
House Comm - Favorable Recommendation [House Political Subdivisions Committee]
lower
Feb 24, 2026
Introduced
House Comm - Amendment Recommendation [House Political Subdivisions Committee]
lower
Jan 23, 2026
Committee
House/ to standing committee [House Political Subdivisions Committee]
lower
Jan 20, 2026
Introduced
House/ 1st reading (Introduced)
lower
0 primary · 1 co-sponsor

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.