TREMONTON CITY CORPORATION
DEVELOPMENT REVIEW COMMITTEE
JUNE 5, 2019

Members Present:
Steve Bench, Chairman/Zoning Administrator
Chris Breinholt, City Engineer
Marc Christensen, Community Services Director—excused
Paul Fulgham, Public Works Director
Shawn Warnke, City Manager
Cynthia Nelson, Deputy Recorder

Chairman Bench called the Development Review Committee Meeting to order at 9:10 a.m. The meeting was held June 5, 2019 in the City Council Meeting Room at 102 South Tremont Street, Tremonton, Utah. Chairman Steve Bench, Engineer Chris Breinholt, Director Paul Fulgham, City Manager Shawn Warnke, and Deputy Recorder Cynthia Nelson were in attendance. Director Christensen was excused.

1. Approval of agenda:

Motion by Director Fulgham to approve the June 5, 2019 agenda. Motion seconded by Engineer Breinholt. Vote: Chairman Bench – aye, Engineer Breinholt – aye, Director Fulgham – aye, Manager Warnke – aye. Motion approved.

2. Approval of minutes—May 22 & May 29, 2019

Motion by Director Fulgham to approve the minutes of May 22 & May 29, 2019. Motion seconded by Administrator Bench. Vote: Chairman Bench – aye, Engineer Breinholt – aye, Director Fulgham – aye, Manager Warnke – aye. Motion approved.

3. New Business:

a. Discussion of multi-family housing development in Tremont Center – Bracken Atkinson with Wasatch Development, Brent Skinner, Micah Capener, and John Losee

Mr. Atkinson said we are here to understand your City and what we are looking at with this project. We have some questions as far as density, height, width, and length requirements. What type of exterior requirements are you thinking? Mr. Capener said it has to be three different exteriors that are tweaked a bit. Mr. Atkinson said the code says no two buildings adjacent or across from each other can have the same façade. How do you manage that in a multi-unit project? We deal with this in other cities and we flip, turn, and rotate, but across the street do I have to design a separate building? Mr. Capener said we hired Civil Solutions to put these together so we may need to adjust that language. We just want it to be nice. Mr. Atkinson said it is good to have variances, but fear we will get into this and get stuck because this building cannot be built like that one. Mr. Losee said I do not think that was the intent to make it so that nothing can be the same it was more for variation. Mr. Skinner said it is easier to do a color variation or change the siding (either direction or material) versus morphing the actual building. Mr. Atkinson said is that impacted on the street frontage or throughout the whole project? Mr. Capener said the whole project. We will have a three-member board that includes a design engineer, City staff, and one of us to approve the design. We want it really nice and that is why we chose these guys. They do not do stuff subpar. Their design will be better than anything we have seen in Box Elder County.

Mr. Atkinson said we are taking a big leap of faith in Tremonton on this because of the nature of how we do a development. We tend to put more amenities than our competition and more landscape. Mr. Skinner said anyone could build an apartment complex. The tricky part is managing and keeping it up to par. We build them right and maintain them well. We also set aside capitals project so we can revamp and put life back into them every 10 to 20 years. Mr. Atkinson said that this year the budget is $22 million in capital renovations throughout our company (about 18,000 units). Manager Warnke said you build, hold, and then eventually sell. Mr. Atkinson said we have sold a few in the last few years, but we do not anticipate selling this.

Mr. Capener said they are contemplating 288 units on 15 acres. Manager Warnke said it is a City Council decision based on amenities to mitigate the density. How do you handle on-site storage? This is a big issue with renters. Mr. Atkinson said it depends on your density. If you allow a higher density, I can have a bigger building with garages to rent onsite. In other projects, we have 300 units with 50 garages that are usually full. It also comes down to management. We run it like an HOA so they tend to be more cautious on what they own and how they store it. If we do not hit a certain amount of people in our project, it is hard for us to fully staff it. Our magic number is 280 to 300 units so we can have onsite maintenance and justify the pool, hot tub, and gym, and so we are profitable enough to maintain everything. Mr. Skinner said all boats rise with that tide and it sets a new standard for the City and helps people who have been lackadaisical about taking care of stuff. Mr. Atkinson said there are a lot of things with this location that benefit the City.

Mr. Atkinson said we have not altered or tweaked this site plan yet because we want to get a feel from the Committee first. Manager Warnke said it sounds like we want the same thing—a nice project that is different and provides amenities. One thing we need to talk about is circulation and traffic. How do we move people through there? We have had several iterations, but need a street that wraps from 4th West all the way to Main Street. A signalized intersection, in the future, is going to be on Main Street rather than 400 West so we need a strong connection to Main Street. Mr. Capener said we always planned to have an exit. The original design planned that as an out only because we do not want the commercial going through the apartments. We plan to put in the grocery store and have a connection off the back. Once the project is built out then they could connect. It is a timing issue. The grocery store is proposed in the middle and we widened the corner. That road will tie in the exit for the back of the apartments. We are willing to make sure there is a second exit to address the flow. Manager Warnke said we need to drive traffic to the signalized intersection. In order to make it convenient for circulation and safety I think we need to make this a free flowing movement to your project. Mr. Capener’s and Mr. Losee’s development into yours will be critical for the long-term success of the project. Mr. Atkinson made suggestions on how to alter that road. Why would you try to force that grocery store right against the other buildings and create a strip mall versus putting it on that right side and then have that road come into the parking lot? Mr. Capener said the grocery store wants to be in the middle where everything comes to it versus on the end. Mr. Atkinson said do they know there is a light that will direct them there? Mr. Capener said they want the light dumping into their store. Engineer Breinholt said I do not think we want what we have at Kent’s Market where the street from a light goes straight into the parking lot. That does not function well. Director Fulgham said we do not want one that dumps in there and then closes off and no one can flow through there. Mr. Atkinson said I think you can accomplish that with what you have there. If they want to stay there, you just have it so the road winds to your property and you have some parking on the other side instead of a T. That will help slow traffic as well. Mr. Capener said we are open to design and could propose adjustments. It was originally a City road and since then has changed to a private type drive. Manager Warnke said we might need to revisit that. We need a corridor through there.

Mr. Capener said we could work through all that because we want the same thing. The biggest issue we need to address is if City staff is okay with the 288-units under a good design with good flow. If so, we can go back to the drawing board. Mr. Skinner said are you more concerned with height or length of a building? Manager Warnke said it is more about the architecture. You can deceive the eye and create a good design by how you treat a façade or elevation. It does not scare me unless it does not look good. Engineer Breinholt said we are concerned with developers cramming too much into a space where it is all building and parking lot and no open areas. Mr. Skinner said if we can go higher, we could create that space. Director Fulgham said you are better to go up than down because of groundwater. Mr. Atkinson said we have a three-story building with 80 units. It is L-shaped and it creates a lot more open space. We have open space in our buildings the size of a football field. Having 70 people in one building versus 24 allows me to do more with my amenities and yards. We could have two 24 units on 400 West and a couple bigger buildings behind it. Inside the project, you do not notice the buildings you see the ones in front of it. We could phase it with some protection and garages. We would alter view perception because of aesthetics for the eye and breakups.

Mr. Atkinson said how handcuffed are we to be creative in our design to make sure this project works? We do better projects when cities do not handcuff us with historic stuff, requirements, and what citizens do not like. Administrator Bench said the code currently says a maximum of three stories and about 50 units, but we can work with you. We are talking lot width area regulation and parking ratio requirements is two per unit. Mr. Atkinson said I would like to understand where the road connections are and do a couple concepts. We would then come back to show you our thoughts. Manager Warnke said one way to go about it is to create a development agreement. We could amend the code, but there are a lot of ways to go about trying to make you comfortable enough to invest. Mr. Atkinson said we need to dive in to see how this site works. We will put our building footprints on there to make sure it matches what you have and meet in a couple weeks.

b. Discussion and consideration of office building around 850 West Main – Marc Allred

Mr. Allred said how close are we on this and what are the concerns so we can move forward? Manager Warnke said I saw the punch list and Mr. Johnston’s responses. Mr. Allred asked the committee about different areas and the need for curbing or asphalt. Where the power box and telephone pole is, I think we should loop that out with something for protection. It is better to do curbing there. I would rather not have this island and be able to park back in here with my service trucks. It will not be designated parking, but would work out better for the property. Administrator Bench said you have 18 parking stalls and only needed 16. Mr. Allred said is there a way to widen this out and bring it back in so we can park off-site a bit. Administrator Bench said in the last meeting we discussed a 7.5 feet minimum if this came out to mimic that and then went back in. Engineer Breinholt said he has to maintain that buffer because that is residential. I thought it was 10 feet out here to make up for some of the lost landscaped area over here and then went down to 7.5 feet on the building to the minimum. Mr. Allred said we would come off it with a curb to protect that stuff and get back to where the concrete starts. It is a concrete foundation and we will do asphalt right to the cement wall. For the parking, I think we are fine we just want to keep as much as possible and I would like to assign them to the suites. Manager Warnke said I am struggling with how the code envisions these buffers and parking, but it is what it is. Engineer Breinholt confirmed there is a City owned alley that does not go through. Mr. Allred said we have the sewer running through there and have everything hooked up between the two buildings. Manager Warnke said I am good with no curb if you wrap it around. Engineer Breinholt said it needs to be graded so it flows away from the building.

Manager Warnke asked about water shares. Mr. Allred said Mr. Johnston suggested that this site was grandfathered in before that ordinance took place. He said I do not know if it is worth digging and fighting for as little as it is. Do we want to supply secondary to this and trench it? Director Fulgham said you have to trench the water line there. The meter will go back and you own that as your service line. You will bring secondary in the same trench just shallower. Mr. Allred said do you think this is justifiable for secondary? It was already in the process before we did the water shares. Director Fulgham said turning over shares is part of your requirement to develop. Engineer Breinholt said your timing does not matter. This dropped for a long time. Anything we started expired. It is minimal and you owe us water shares for another development. Mr. Allred said we would need to have a cash thing of sorts if we cannot get anyone to release the water shares to be able to do that and move forward. Engineer Breinholt said we have not had a final approval of the buffer areas.

Administrator Bench asked about a raised sidewalk. Mr. Allred said it would have an approach, but not much of a curb because it will drop down to the elevation. We will have to bring it up somewhat. There are five openings for garage doors or accesses through the front. I would like to have the four-inches of curb for them to pull up against, but I am not sure with those doors. They talked more about the islands and curbing. Manager Warnke said this could work if you landscape here. Mr. Allred said it gets too tight. Engineer Breinholt said you are next to this residential area. I would rather have a wider buffer there and no buffer here than a narrow one here. Administrator Bench said start at 7.5 feet and leave a transition mark to the parking line then bump out and take it back in. Engineer Breinholt said I thought we talked about bumping the whole thing out all the way along here 10 feet. Mr. Allred said Mr. Johnston had an argument for that. Manager Warnke said we agreed we could omit the southwest island against the building if the landscape strip along the south end was extended more than 7.5 feet on the entire south side. Mr. Johnston wrote a comment saying, you requested 10 feet, but I made the entire landscape area on the south side eight feet so the curb was not right on the exit line. This will allow more for turning and snow removal, but I could probably stretch it to nine feet without it looking too awkward. Engineer Breinholt said we talked about coming out and bubbling back in. He suggests going eight all the way around. Administrator Bench said past the parking line this could go back to 7.5 feet as long as we meet the parking. Engineer Breinholt said that should extend all the way along. It looks like there is enough room and I do not see an advantage to bumping that over. Manager Warnke said the practical aspect is not having something here, but the code envisions having something. The 10 feet helps to mitigate that issue.

Manager Warnke asked about fire hydrants. Director Fulgham said there is one across Main Street, but there are two in the Cloverfield Subdivision to the south. Engineer Breinholt said it is beyond the standard. If we are going to accept that, I want Fire Chief Steve Batis to approve it. You need to be within 250 feet to your frontage measured along the frontage. We are close to that one on the south. We have two within 275 feet of this property. The rule says an average 500-foot spacing on the water system or 250 in the fire code measured along the frontage.

Manager Warnke said you need a landscape architect to design a plan. Mr. Allred said Mr. Johnston is still arguing that. According to a Utah code, he is qualified to do that. Manager Warnke said regardless it has to be more than five trees. They talked about servicing the area with culinary and secondary water. Mr. Allred will run the water line and put the meter and secondary water box in the park strip. They discussed laterals and sizing. Administrator Bench said get a landscape architect to plan the landscaping because our code requires that. Mr. Allred said Mr. Johnston feels that should be adjusted since he is licensed to do so. Director Fulgham said we cannot be more lenient than the State code, but we can be more restrictive. Administrator Bench said we will look at it and could adjust the code, but right now, it says it needs a landscape architect.

Director Fulgham said we talked about replacing that sewer line in that alley. Have you hooked onto it and did my guys inspect it? Mr. Allred said he had and it was not inspected. Director Fulgham said that is illegal to hook onto that sewer line without us knowing. We did not inspect or see anything. We talked about replacing it so it was new underneath all that. It should have never been done. Mr. Allred apologized and said we were digging for the power and realized your sewer line is not deep enough. The power conduits could not go over that line so we dug underneath the sewer line and laid all the conduits from this building. While we had it opened, we hooked on. Director Fulgham said it is a tile sewer so I really get concerned on how did you hook into it. Mr. Allred said we drilled it and cemented it. Director Fulgham said cement is not in our code and I want to see it. I would like to replace the sewer line up to the fence line all the way up to the street so that section is new before we get asphalt in there. I would cut the road and replace that manhole at the same time.

Mr. Allred asked about requirements for the back, which does have several doors. Director Fulgham said hard surface is easier to maintain, but could add to your water problem. Mr. Allred suggested a five-foot sidewalk and leaving the rest gravel or asphalt to the edge. Administrative Bench said either is fine he just needs to have drainage. Manager Warnke asked about the elevations. He said the standard ruling is 15 feet in front, but does allow for reductions based upon agreements by the Committee. In the past, we have allowed for reductions with upgraded emphasis on the building. Your front looks like it is going to be nice and is viewed from three sides. Is there anything you can do to make them better? Mr. Allred said we planned on metal. On the front, there will be three to four different styles that will give it a different and industrial look. There will be rust metal awnings over the doors on the front elevation. Can I put a temporary aluminum roof that hangs into your easement? Director Fulgham said I do not have a problem with that. Mr. Allred said it would be cool to have another angle with a tin structure or aluminum awning type thing. It would be a lightweight structure. I can put temporary buildings and slide a cargo container there that is moveable, but I would like to have it look good. Administrator Bench said the code right now says you cannot block the alleyway. I know it goes nowhere, but that is what the code says. Manager Warnke said we should figure out what we are going to do with that alley. Maybe we allow the fencing to cross this portion. Director Fulgham said if it were not for the sewer line, they could. I have to either get rid of it or keep a right of way through there, but that gives them an opportunity to build on it.

Engineer Breinholt said on this buffer out front it is a reduced amount with the requirement that there is more landscaping. Landscape plan or not that has to have more landscaping than it does. Manager Warnke said the code requires so many trees and a percentage of shrubs. Administrator Bench said there needs to be headlight screening here and additional trees and shrubs based on what the code says because of the reduction. That is where a landscape architect helps. What they study in school is different from what a civil engineer studies.

Manager Warnke asked about the multi-tenant sign and its location. Administrator Bench said it could be like the one you have on Main Street—one sign with each business on it. You could also do a monument on your property. Mr. Allred said I want to use the Main Street sign with the address and not do anything here. I would add one up high and eliminate the lower ones to add the new one. It would be the 805 West Main Street address with the different suites. Engineer Breinholt said that is confusing I do not like that and think it ought to be an 800 West address. It is a completely separate parcel and should not have a Main Street address.

Administrator Bench said get Mr. Johnston to redo that and bring it back in. Get your water shares and the landscape plan stamped. Mr. Allred asked about moving on the curb and gutter. Engineer Breinholt said why are we doing curb and gutter without an approved plan? We need to have that. Director Fulgham said you have to have the water shares. We have never done a fee in lieu for them.

c. Walk ins:*

There were no walk ins.

4. Comments/Reports: none.

5. Public comments: Comments limited to five minutes.

No public comments.

6. Adjournment:

Motion by Administrator Bench to adjourn the meeting. Motion seconded by consensus of the Committee. The meeting adjourned at 11:16 a.m.

The undersigned duly acting and appointed Recorder for Tremonton City Corporation hereby certifies that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of the minutes of the Development Review Committee Meeting held on the above referenced date. Minutes prepared by Jessica Tanner.

Dated this 19th day of June, 2019

_____________________________
Linsey Nessen, City Recorder

*Utah Code 52-4-202, (6) allows for a topic to be raised by the public and discussed by the public body even though it was not included in the agenda or advance public notice given; however, no final action will be taken.