If you're building a big house on a steep hillside in Farmington, or anywhere near the city's wildfire-prone eastern foothills, a fire sprinkler system may soon be part of the deal.
The Farmington City Council took up an ordinance Tuesday, July 21, that would require automatic fire sprinklers in certain new single-family homes. The city has not yet posted meeting minutes, so it remains unconfirmed whether the council voted to approve the measure. The agenda packet and staff report are available on the city's meetings page at farmington.utah.gov.
What the ordinance requires
Under the proposed ordinance (No. 2026-[26-5]), a new home must install an automatic sprinkler system if it meets any one of four conditions, according to Community Development Director Lyle Gibson's staff report dated Tuesday, July 21:
- It sits within the city's Wildland-Urban Interface area and does not meet WUI code minimums.
- Its combined floor area exceeds 10,000 square feet.
- It is more than 800 feet from a public fire hydrant.
- Its only road access has more than 500 continuous feet at a 10% or steeper grade.
One trigger is enough.
Homes outside the WUI area, built on a one-lot subdivision with at least 50 feet of defensible space on all sides, are exempt.
For existing homes, any expansion that pushes total floor area above 10,000 square feet and adds more than 30% to the home's size requires sprinklers in the new construction, effective Wednesday, July 1, 2026.
Why this matters for Farmington residents
The city's fire hydrant system delivers an average of 2,000 gallons per minute, according to the staff report. A home over 6,000 square feet requires 2,200 gpm to fight a fire effectively. At 9,500 square feet, that demand jumps to 3,300 gpm. The city simply cannot pump enough water to protect the largest homes without sprinklers in place.
Farmington Fire Department data presented in November 2025 showed the department meets the national standard of arriving within 5 minutes and 20 seconds only 33% of the time. The department responded to 2,375 total calls between August 2024 and August 2025, up from 2,079 the prior year, according to Fire Chief Shelby Willis's staffing presentation.
The ordinance also carries a liability provision: if a homeowner knowingly disables a required sprinkler system, they are strictly liable for injuries to neighboring occupants and property damage from a fire originating at their home.
How it got here
The Farmington City Council unanimously approved the city's Wildland-Urban Interface map on Tuesday, April 7, in a 5-0 vote (Councilmembers Shumway, Child, Isaacson, Layton, and Sherlock all voting aye), a prerequisite for the sprinkler ordinance. Fire Chief Willis presented that map, which draws on Utah Division of Natural Resources wildfire hazard data.
The sprinkler ordinance itself uses authority granted by Utah's 2025 House Bill 48, which allows cities to require residential sprinklers under defined risk conditions. A Farmington Fire Department memo in the council packet states the city "is not exceeding Utah law" but using "the limited, specific code/authority placed in state code through the Legislature's construction/fire-code process."
Planner Shannon Hansell presented the ordinance Tuesday, July 21, with Gibson's staff report noting the Planning Commission had already held a public hearing and recommended approval.
What's next
The ordinance takes effect immediately upon passage. Meeting minutes confirming the council's vote are expected to be posted to farmington.utah.gov. Residents can access the full agenda packet, including the ordinance text and fire department memo, on the city's meetings page. Several neighboring agencies, including South Davis Metro Fire (serving Bountiful and Centerville), Layton, Fruit Heights, South Weber, and Draper City, already have similar sprinkler requirements on the books.
