March 24, 2026 Minutes

THE STATE OF UTAH
COUNTY OF SEVIER
CITY OF RICHFIELD

At the City Council
In and For Said City
March 24, 2026

Minutes of the Richfield City Council meeting held on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Richfield City office building located at 75 East Center, Richfield, Utah. Mayor Bryan L. Burrows presiding.

1. OPENING REMARKS
2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
3. ROLL CALL
4. MINUTES
5. EXPENDITURES
6. CONFLICT OF INTEREST
7. OTHER BUSINESS
8. EXECUTIVE SESSION
9. RECONVENE & ADJOURN
10. OPENING REMARKS were offered by Kip Hansen.
11. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE was led by Kevin Arrington.
12. ROLL CALL. Present: Mayor Bryan Burrows (Not voting), Brayden Gardner, Kip Hansen, Kendrick Thomas, City Administrator Michele Jolley (Not voting), Financial Director Rob Jenson (Not voting), Andrew Chappell, Kevin Arrington.
    Also, in attendance, Russ Brightwell, Heidi Stringham, Carson DeMille, Sven Mikesell, Micklane Farmer, Keith Mogan and David Anderson.
13. MINUTES APPROVED. The Council reviewed the minutes of the meeting held on March 10, 2026.Motion: Approve the minutes of the March 10, 2026, meeting, Action: Approve, Moved by Kevin Arrington, Seconded by Kip Hansen.
    Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yes = 5).
    Yes: Andrew Chappell, Brayden Gardner, Kendrick Thomas, Kevin Arrington, Kip Hansen.
14. CONFLICT OF INTEREST. Councilmember Thomas declared a conflict due to his employer being involved in the chip seal agenda item. Councilmember Gardner declared a conflict on the RM-11 Amendments portion of the meeting due to his owning RM-11 land and having a future interest in developing it.
15. Librarian Stefanie Anderson to discuss a request to label books at the Library. Anderson addressed the council to let them know about an issue the arose at the library. She stated that a father had taken issue with a book his 15-year-old daughter had checked out from the library, stating that it had explicit material in it. Anderson said upon hearing the concern, she agreed with the concern and immediately moved the series from young adult section to the adult section. The father who made the complaint said moving it isn’t enough, and he wants the library to label any book with explicit material as such. The father who made the complaint was also allowed to address the library board. Anderson said this is not practical for many reasons. One issue is that it becomes a type of government censorship once it decides where the line between what is explicit and what is not. What is to stop the government from overreach at some point. Nearly any book in the library could be considered objectionable by someone. Books banned throughout history include titles like “Green Eggs and Ham” and “Pinkalicious.” Explicit is a subjective term.
    Labeling books comes down to the library essentially telling people what they can and cannot read. The argument against it is that its just labeling books to be safe, but even the Bible could get and explicit label on it. She also said the library doesn’t restrict teens from checking out adult fiction. Labeling the books at the library will not keep the children safe.
    Mayor Burrows asked what the state library board’s guidance was on this issue. Anderson said the state library tends to stay out of these types of issues.
    Councilmember Hansen said the father was given the majority of the last library board meeting to express his concerns. What happened was exactly what should have happened – a parental authority policed it. However, in this case the father doesn’t want his child to check it out, and he doesn’t want any other minors to be able to check the material out.
    Anderson said the library really can’t start labelling books, it infers a judgement on what is morally appropriate, which isn’t the library’s role. She said the library has hung up signs for QR codes for review sites that can be a resource for parents wanting to screen material before their children check out books.
16. Consider adopting Resolution 2026-4, accepting the Municipal Wastewater Planning Program Survey (MWPP). Public Works Director Keith Mogan addressed the council, presenting the plan. He said the sewer lagoons are functioning as they should. There isn’t a lot of difference from last year’s survey. Motion: Accept the Municipal Wastewater Program Survey, Action: Approve, Moved by Kip Hansen, Seconded by Kendrick Thomas.
    Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yes = 5).
    Yes: Andrew Chappell, Brayden Gardner, Kendrick Thomas, Kevin Arrington, Kip Hansen.
17. Review and discuss the Planning Commission’s suggested changes to the RM-11 zone. Zoning Administrator David Anderson addressed the council, walking through the primary points. One of the big changes is setting some reasonable standards for townhomes so they can be built in Richfield City without a development agreement, hopefully streamlining the process. Another of the primary issues addressed is lot size. Currently RM-11 requires 8,000 square feet for the first unit and an additional 3,500 feet for each additional unit. Under this proposal, single family homes could be built on lots as small as 4,500 square feet. The idea is foster single-family home development with smaller homes on smaller lots. This would still be aspirational housing, but it would hopefully provide an entry point for home buyers who don’t want to live in a townhome type setting.
    Also, the Planning Commission mirrored what is already in place in the RM-24 zone as far as spacing and maximum size of large-scale projects. The primary example is the Eagle View development which is spread across two parcels the encompass more than nine acres. The intent is that an Eagle View isn’t built, with another one built right next to it. This would help prevent the same types of housing clustered in some areas of town.
    Councilmember Hansen said there are a lot of reasons why spacing is a good idea, including public safety.
    Councilmember Chappell asked what would happen if a development were exactly 2 acres, which is the cut off point between the two sizes. Zoning Administrator Anderson said that is a good point and the code should read anything up to 2 acres, and then anything over two acres to clarify the intent.
    Councilmember Thomas asked about existing lots being grandfathered in.
    Zoning Administrator Anderson said the intent is for all lots facing future development, and also foster future entry-level single-family housing.
    Councilmember Gardner asked if there were some that had already created a conflict.
    Mayor Burrows said it seems like the goal is to simplify and quell questions upfront.
    Zoning Administrator Anderson state that is the goal, especially when it comes to townhomes, which currently can’t be built in Richfield City without entering into a development agreement. Zoning Administrator Anderson said the process of determining the standards for townhomes involved input from a developer at one of the meetings, and looking at other communities as well as looking at what has been built in this community, landing on a 24-foot width.
    Councilmember Gardner said he likes the majority of what is in the proposal. He said he would like to have a joint meeting with the planning commission. He praised the single-family component, but he is concerned about the six-acre limit on size and the required spacing between larger developments. There are almost two types of RM-11 – the existing, and the larger parcels that are not yet developed. He feels that it might tie hands and constrain property rights because the spacing won’t let them.
    Councilmember Hansen said they would still be able to build, but maybe not the model they want to build.
    Councilmember Gardner said he is worried about the spacing as it may make it harder for the smaller developers to work through the financing process. He said he thinks it may limit his project, as he may want to build some homes to sell and then some to rent, if they were different projects, they wouldn’t be able to due to the spacing.
    Councilmember Hansen said he would have to be aware of the situation going in. The ordinance can’t be written for every exception.
    Councilmember Gardner said he is looking at modeling his project on the Fiddler’s Canyon area in Cedar City.
    One of the things the Planning Commission is trying to address is situations like the 20+ acres of state trust lands, where the first proposal was to build it to the brim with identical townhomes and then add a large apartment complex on the end to reach the maximum density, Zoning Administrator Anderson said.
    Mayor Burrows explained that the older parts of town will always have exceptions, but the expansion out needs to be controlled.
    Also, if a duplex sits on less than an acre, then the spacing requirement doesn’t affect it.
    Gardner said he is looking how the ordinance could be exploited by developers that might build six .9-acre projects to avoid the spacing requirement. Some properties are close to other RM-11, so they’d fall into the spacing requirements. He thinks maximum size is irrelevant. Address it at the zoning level, just don’t allow the zone if they want to annex in a larger area at the RM-11 Zone. Developers like to be creative on financing and this could possibly could constrain it.
    Zoning Administrator Anderson said zoning decisions have to be informed by what the general plan states.
    Gardner said he would like to use this for single family, but the spacing could possibly constrain it.
    Zoning Administrator Anderson said perhaps the issue is one of definition. The intent is not to allow an Eagle View type of development to be placed right next to another Eagle View type of development. The planning commission is trying to prevent the sprawl of multiple large housing complexes being built right next to each other. The City’s job is not to help developers do whatever they want, but to guide the growth and character of the community. Perhaps defining what is meant by project could help as a group of single-family homes on their own lots, or a series of duplexes on separate lots, are clearly not the same thing as a large-scale housing complex like Eagle View.
    Gardner said it would be easier to just get rid of the spacing and just handle it through zoning.
    City Administrator Jolley discussed the example of someone who develops four four-plexes, each on their own lot. If each were on its own lot the spacing wouldn’t matter.
    Gardner said he likes the Fiddler’s Canyon area in Cedar City, which has a mix of multi-family housing. It was all one mass-planned development, but with different smaller projects inside encompassing different types of housing on separate lots. He would be open to exploring the definition.
    Deputy Clerk Anderson said the goal is not to limit the size of the subdivision. If someone were to subdivide 20 acres for single family homes or duplexes, that would have a better public reception than stacking 20 acres of townhomes back to back, which is what the planning commission is trying to address.
    Councilmember Thomas said it doesn’t feel right to incumber one property owner’s ability to build what they want if someone else across the street did it first. The City should be sensitive to property rights.
    Councilmember Hansen said the idea is to govern the exceptional exceptions. Do what is fair and reasonable.
    Administrator Jolley said if each townhome is on its own lot, it doesn’t matter what the size of the overall parcel was to start with. Is it one parcel with 20 units on it, or is it 20 units on their own parcels.
    Mayor Burrows asked if he had a 20-acre RM-11 parcel, if it were used for single family homes, even if it’s zoned RM-11, it’s not really an RM-11 type of development.
    Councilmember Gardner said there are only four or five existing properties. Perhaps this is putting too much effort on something that in the future would be handled with zoning as future properties are brought into the City. It does create a lot of different opportunities.
    Administrator Jolley said the planning commission is trying to avoid large, single lot developments from being clustered together.
    City Engineer Farmer said another issue the Planning Commission is trying to address is having the front of the building face the street to avoid more developments from being placed on lots sideways.
    Councilmember Gardner asked if the reason was aesthetics. This could limit development of narrow lots.
    Deputy Clerk Anderson said there are some developments that they can’t back the truck out of the garage due to the narrowness of the lot.
    Farmer said it’s not just the parking on the street, it’s the utility of the garage.
    Aesthetics are not something to be dismissed, Deputy Clerk Anderson said. He said the Planning Commission is concerned with what the development looks like 20 years in the future, not just what it looks like when it’s brand new.
    Farmer said the point of having this discussion is that the council would have some input so that it’s not something that is shot down by the council.
    Usable open space is another issue the Planning Commission addressed – could be a pickleball court, a picnic area, or some type of amenity that makes the developments livable. Families will move into these developments. Concerns voiced by the council tonight will be passed along to the Planning Commission.
18. Consider awarding the chip seal project to the apparent low bidder. Motion: , Action: Approve, Moved by Brayden Gardner, Seconded by Kevin Arrington. Vote: Motion passed (summary: Yes = 5, No = 0, Abstain = 1).
    Yes: Andrew Chappell, Brayden Gardner, Kevin Arrington, Kip Hansen, . Abstain: Kendrick Thomas.
19. Review and discuss current financial statement.
20. Consider a request to waive impact fees for a 4-plex at Centennial Plaza to be constructed by the Richfield Crown Home program with funding from the Utah Housing Corporation. Motion: , Action: Approve, Moved by Kip Hansen, Seconded by Kendrick Thomas. Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yes = 5). Yes: Andrew Chappell, Brayden Gardner, Kendrick Thomas, Kevin Arrington, Kip Hansen.
21. OTHER BUSINESS. Carson DeMille said there was a state-wide study of regional recreation funding. Two grants have been submitted. One for a paint pathway, the other for trail head parking project. There is also a state study on future recreation planning. As part of that they are looking at possible projects. DeMille said he going to submit a project for more trail development including possible campgrounds or restrooms. The Forest Service is working on the permitting for trails that have been master planned. It could be something could be considered for funding during the next year, but it not committing anything at this point. If there are other recreational projects that could benefit the City, that is something to consider. There is $2-$4 million allocated to each region of the state, and there are four or five regions. It is a competitive grant.

Councilmember Gardner asked about the golf course project. It will probably be after July when it is started. The course is also having a filter replaced.

Councilmember Arrington said the sound for the Independence Day celebration was rebid this year as a substantial savings. The concert was also switched up with a magician, which is also a savings on the entertainment costs for the celebration. One idea that was brought up was a series of community block parties on Sunday, July 5.

Councilmember Thomas said there is a groundbreaking set for the R project on April 6. There will be side-by-sides shuttling people back and forth from the event on the hill. Fundraising for the project has been going well.

City Administrator Jolley said the Bookmobile is seeking a place to park. There is a place near the sewer lagoons that is available, easily accessible and secure.

The Richfield Lantern Festival is April 10.

13. MEETING ADJOURNED. At 8:42 p.m., adjourn. Motion: , Action: Adjourn, Moved by Kip Hansen, Seconded by Brayden Gardner.
    Vote: Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote (summary: Yes = 5).
    Yes: Andrew Chappell, Brayden Gardner, Kendrick Thomas, Kevin Arrington, Kip Hansen, .

PASSED and APPROVED this * day of * 2026.

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                            Recorder