At the Planning Commission In and for said City August 7, 2024 Minutes of the Richfield City Planning Commission meeting held on Wednesday, August 7, 2024, at 6:00 p.m., Chairman Josh Peterson, presiding.
- Roll Call.
Present: Josh Peterson, Brandon Anderson, Lisa White, Zach Leavitt.
Excused: Wes Kirshner, Wayne Cowley, Blaine Breinholt. - Conditional Use Permits/Home Occupation Permits
a. Danielle Peterson – To request conditional use for an accessory dwelling and for a commercial dog kenneling operation at 253 E. Annabella Road. The dwelling is a C-1 use in an MD zone. The kennel is a C-2 use in an MD Zone. This item was removed at the request of Peterson.
b. Adam Robinson to discuss improvement of a non-conforming use at 53 E. 480 South. Robinson said there is a semi-trailer on the property that has been used for storage that is now falling apart. He said the shop is trying to do some improvements to be compliant with EPA regulations, concerning oil.
He said the trailer has been a non-conforming use for 40 years or more. He said he would like to place a cargo container on the lot and replace the trailer, which would help clean up the property and lower the profile of the shop’s storage facility. Robinson said he wanted to go through the proper channels to get the container approved.
Chairman Peterson asked what makes this a conditional use.
The cargo container would be an improvement to a pre-existing non-conforming use, said Deputy Clerk Anderson. Also, under 17.14.300, as a C-1 use each business property can have one unit with an additional unit allowed for each acre of land.
Commissioner Leavitt asked about the location of the container. Instead of a 53-foot trailer, it would be the 40-foot storage container. They would also be a cover over the space between the shop and the storage container, keeping an area covered to make sure they stay within EPA regulations.
It would be so much cleaner to have a storage container, Robinson said. He said they would also be pouring a lot of concrete as part of the project to protect the soil from potential oil spills.
Commission White motioned to approve the use of the storage container and roof at the 53 E. 480 South location. Commissioner Leavitt seconded the motion. The motion passed with commissioners Josh Peterson, Brandon Anderson, Lisa White and Zach Leavitt voting aye. Commissioners Wes Kirshner, Wayne Cowley and Blaine Breinholt were excused.
c. Joshua Imes to request a conditional use for a short-term rental at 270 N. 200 W., a C-1 Use in a R1-10 Zone. Number 13 of 39 in STR Zone 3.
Mr. Imes said the unit he wants to make into a short-term rental is a one bed and one and a half bath unit that is an attached accessory dwelling unit. Mr. Imes occupies the main home.
Commissioner White asked about where the Imes family parks their vehicles.
Mr. Imes explained he where he and his wife park, and that there is enough space for the rental to park off the street.
Chairman Peterson said on street parking is not allowed the short-term rental use.
Commissioner White motioned to approve the conditional use for the short-term rental as presented. Commissioner Leavitt seconded the motion. The motion passed with commissioners Josh Peterson, Brandon Anderson, Lisa White and Zach Leavitt voting aye. Commissioners Wes Kirshner, Wayne Cowley and Blaine Breinholt were excused. - Public hearings –
a. Receive comments on General Plan amendment to change future zoning map and changing the zoning for property located at 256 N. 600 East from RM-24 to CS Commercial Shopping. Commissioner Peterson opened the hearing at 6:10 p.m.
Deputy Clerk Anderson explained the piece of property is an isolated parcel of RM-24 surrounded by commercial property. It was changed at the request of the owner at the time so a four-plex could be built on the property, but that project has since fizzled out. He said the new owner would like to have it zoned as commercial so he can use it for a commercial purpose. Hearing no comments, Chairman Peterson closed the hearing at 6:12 p.m. - Action on Public hearings –
a. Consider recommending a General Plan amendment to change future zoning map and changing the zoning for property located at 256 N. 600 East from RM-24 to CS Commercial Shopping.
Commissioner White said it makes sense to put the parcel back into a commercial zone as it’s an island currently. Chairman Peterson said he is in favor of eliminating the RM-24 zone for this property.
Commissioner Leavitt motioned to recommend changing the zoning on the parcel from RM-24 to CS. Commissioner White seconded the motion. The motion passed with commissioners Josh Peterson, Brandon Anderson, Lisa White and Zach Leavitt voting aye. Commissioners Wes Kirshner, Wayne Cowley and Blaine Breinholt were excused. Approved. - Discussion Items –
a. Work session with the City Council – The council would like to have a joint work session to discuss RM-11 zoning.
Chairman Peterson said there was a lot of discussion during the city council meeting that what was proposed by the planning commission was too limiting. There are some on the council who feel that they want big RM-11 developments. Peterson said he made it clear to the council that the limitations placed on RM-11 developments will determine what Richfield looks like in the future – either more urban like Provo or St. George or what more rural. The question is do they want more Eagle View apartment style developments or not?
The concern is the acreage limitation, unit limitation and the spacing.
The planning commission and council will have a joint session to work through this and figure it out.
Chairman Peterson said himself, Mayor Bryan Burrows, Deputy Clerk Anderson and City Administrator Michele Jolley have a meeting with SITLA on Aug. 14 to discuss a development, which might also be a good source of information for the RM-11 topic.
The commission decided to meet Monday, Aug. 19, at 6 p.m.
Deputy Clerk Anderson said he would pass the word along.
Chairman Peterson said he would like to know how many apartment buildings there are in Richfield and how many are income restricted. The city is feeling quite inundated.
Another fact to know heading into the meeting is the number of starter homes for sale in the region? A starter home, accounting for the median income in the area, would be approximately $250,000, according to Commissioner Leavitt. There are very few homes available in that price range, and fewer that are livable.
The point of the RM-11 zone is to provide a way for affordable housing, but the city wants to avoid massive developments, said Commissioner White. The use of RM-11 needs to be appropriate use of it to help with the situation and now overrun it.
One, the city has to have some limitations on it, period, Chairman Peterson said. Two, no one has tried to build 1,500-square foot single family homes. Everyone goes straight to apartment style housing, which has a bigger profit margin. The development to the south of the old Topsfield Lodge is supposed to be RM-24, but is actually more of an RM-11 style development.
The development behind Black Bear Diner was brought up by the city council. Only two of those units have been purchased. They just are not worth the $400,000 asking price.
Kendrick Thomas’s townhomes are selling fast, people tend to like them, Chairman Peterson said. The duplexes Kendrick is building were priced somewhere in the neighborhood of $375-$380,000. The next phase will be price at over $400,000. These prices are unattainable for most people in the area.
Commissioner White said there is a balance between bringing in people to fill the affordable housing vs. providing opportunity for housing for people who need it who are already here.
Chairman Peterson said he and the Mayor agree that the income restricted developments are not meeting the needs of the community. The city needs single family housing.
One item to note going forward, the owner has to identify if they are applying for tax credits or grants. At that point at least, the city could have a warning, and would be able to ask how many units are proposed and require a percentage be market based through development agreements. However, development agreements can also have drawbacks, Chairman Peterson said.
Chairman Peterson said his preference is to work within the ordinances, as with development agreements the safety nets for the city are removed. - Minutes Approval –
a. Minutes of June 5 Planning Commission Meeting. Commissioner White said she there are parts she feels need clarification. First, she questioned the that xeriscaping needs special permission as it relates to the fourplex development by Donavan Allen and Tyson Hansen. If it does say that in the code, she disagrees. The code does require a landscaping plan, which can include xeriscaping. Deputy Clerk Anderson said he told Allen and Hansen that it doesn’t have to be grass, but it does need some plants. The point is to avoid someone simply dumping gravel on the lot and calling it xeriscaping. Chairman Peterson said the city is trying to avoid a repeat of Allen’s development on 100 West, where gravel was just dumped.
Commissioner White said it doesn’t make sense to make people waste water or limit how to beautify things.
Commissioner White also asked for clarification on two other sections of the minutes. The sections need to have added clarity. Those will be addressed for next month’s meeting.
Commissioner White motioned to table the minutes until the next meeting. Commissioner Anderson seconded the motion. The motion passed with commissioners Josh Peterson, Brandon Anderson, Lisa White and Zach Leavitt voting aye. Commissioners Wes Kirshner, Wayne Cowley and Blaine Breinholt were excused. - Other Business – Tyson Curtis – Discussed the pending razing of the old Pizza Hut, so it can be replaced with a larger new retail facility.
The new building be approximately 14,855 square feet – strictly retail space with no food.
Commissioner Anderson asked about the effect on parking. This is part of the Richfield Plaza complex, so the parking is intermixed with other businesses in the plaza. Curtis said he would like parking to comply with just what he owns, which excludes the UHaul facility and portion of the parking lot to the north.
The code requires one parking space for every 200 feet of gross floor area, in this case approximately 75 parking spaces. Commissioner White said it seems like a lot of parking for the proposed use.
Parking can be added along the west side of the plaza, as long as a space is open for various driving tests conducted by the state drivers license division, a client in another part of the plaza.
Commissioner Leavitt asked if there is already parking in the parking lot. There is, but it isn’t well marked currently.
Since the parking is part of a shared area, the total number of parking spots would have to be calculated by totaling the amount of floor space. However, some of the floor space is not retail – it’s professional offices and professional services. The driver’s license division and Dr. Yardley’s office are not considered retail, and would fall under the one space for every 400 feet of gross space.
Chairman Peterson said doing some quick math, it would require 134 spaces for the plaza and an additional 75 for the proposed building not including UHaul’s property – so approximately 210 spaces.
Chairman Peterson said they would like to see the parking spaces completely figured out prior to approving it as an action item.
Commissioner White said it’s important to make sure that the trash receptacle for the facility is accessible for garbage trucks to access.
Chairman Peterson asked about the conditional use status of this type of facility. As a retail facility in the current zone, it is a C-1 use.
This will be on next month’s agenda to be approved as an action item. - Adjournment. Commissioner White motioned to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Leavitt seconded the motion. The motion passed with commissioners Josh Peterson, Brandon Anderson, Lisa White and Zach Leavitt voting aye. Commissioners Wes Kirshner, Wayne Cowley and Blaine Breinholt were excused. Approved.