TREMONTON CITY CORPORATION
PLANNING COMMISSION
OCTOBER 9, 2018
Members Present:
Micah Capener, Chairman
Val Bennett, Commission Member
Arnold Eberhard, Commission Member
Troy Forrest, Commission Member – excused
Ben Greener, Commission Member
Brad Janssen, Commission Member
Tom Stokes, Commission Member
Bret Rohde, City Councilmember
Steve Bench, Zoning Administrator
Cynthia Nelson, Deputy Recorder
Chairman Capener called the Planning Commission Meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. The meeting was held October 9, 2018 in the City Council Meeting Room at 102 South Tremont Street, Tremonton, Utah. Chairman Capener, Commission Members Bennett, Eberhard, Greener, Janssen, Stokes, City Councilmember Rohde, Zoning Administrator Bench, and Deputy Recorder Nelson were in attendance. Commission Member Forrest was excused.
1. Approval of agenda:
Motion by Commission Member Greener to approve the October 9, 2018 agenda. Motion seconded by Commission Member Bennett. Vote: Chairman Capener – aye, Commission Member Bennett – aye, Commission Member Eberhard – aye, Commission Member Greener – aye, Commission Member Janssen – aye, Commission Member Stokes – aye. Motion approved.
2. Approval of minutes—September 25, 2018
Motion by Commission Member Greener to approve the September 25, 2018 minutes. Motion seconded by Commission Member Eberhard. Vote: Chairman Capener – aye, Commission Member Bennett – aye, Commission Member Eberhard – aye, Commission Member Greener – aye, and Commission Member Janssen – aye. Motion approved. Commission Member Stokes abstained from voting.
3. New Business:
a. Preliminary Review and Approval of lot split, amend River Valley, Phase 2 – Lots 22 and 23 – Matt Nielson, Sierra Homes
Administrator Bench said the last two lots (22 and 23) in the River Valley Fourplex Subdivision Phase 2 at 500 North and 2650 West were just big enough to split into two and put a fourplex on each. Chairman Capener said are there recorded townhome plats already on these. Mr. Nielson said throughout the other subdivision yes, but not on these right now. Chairman Capener said the ones built on huge lots have a lot of dead space that turns into nothing but a mess. I like them tighter because when you are getting into a fourplex you do not need all that space. Commission Member Stokes asked about parking. Administrator Bench showed the easement between the lots. Commission Member Bennett confirmed that it is zoned for multi-family and asked if there is a minimum lot size requirement in the code? A couple of these do not make the quarter acre. Administrator Bench said 10,000 square feet is a quarter acre when doing zoning. Commission Member Bennett said I am good with that then. I do not see any problems if it meets the existing zoning.
Motion by Commission Member Bennett to approve and pass it along to the Development Review Committee. Motion seconded by Commission Member Greener. Vote: Chairman Capener – aye, Commission Member Bennett – aye, Commission Member Eberhard – aye, Commission Member Greener – aye, Commission Member Janssen – aye, Commission Member Stokes – aye. Motion approved.
Councilmember Rohde gave an update on City Council information. He said the City Council passed the tattoo ordinance as a conditional use. The restrictions put included only one tattoo shop per 5,000 residents which allowed only two shops in the City. The two shops would have to be 600 feet apart with “no loitering” signs, which would be enforced by the business. There is to be no alcohol beverages on the premises. Business hours can be from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and they must meet all the health department requirements which holds them liable and is pretty restrictive. They will watch them closely. Commission Member Bennett said how often they are inspected. Administrator Bench said I am not sure if it is more than once a year, but it could depend on complaints and other things. Councilmember Rohde said if they broke the law their license could be revoked quickly.
Chairman Capener said do you want to fill them in on the façade grants. Councilmember Rohde said City Council is trying to pass a façade grant where the City will pay 50% for upgrades on Main Street if the storeowner is willing to pay the other 50%. A local architect from Brigham City would help design storefronts to keep it within a certain standard. People will have a right to choose what they want to do, but we are doing what we can to provide them with some financial relief to help improve downtown. Chairman Capener said it would be reimbursed by the CDA if funds were available. Councilmember Rohde said we should see some improvement there, as well as along the walkways downtown. The City Council is also working on some goals and has five pillars. One of them is Development, which will have a five-year zoning and land use long-term plan. I am pushing them to put the Planning Commission as the champions of coming up with that plan. We will take a zone at a time and discuss a plan so there are no more overlays. Secondary water is also moving along. We are trying to purchase shares and working on zones 1 and 2, with 3 being done next year. Councilmember Rohde said the City is purchasing shares for $4,500. The City has enough shares to cover zones 1 and 2, and maybe 3. We will not build until we have those shares. New development will provide the shares, which is based on irrigable acreage. The City is also getting ready to finish the collector road agreement. We should see some good development take place up there in the next year.
Chairman Capener said I do not think manufactured homes ought to be built on Main Street and currently the code allows that. I do not think homes should be on Main Street at all. Administrator Bench said the state law requires that you allow them unless they are in a subdivision that has restrictions. Chairman Capener said commercial does not allow for residential housing expect for manufactured homes. Mixed use is different, but the commercial zone allows for manufactured homes. I do not like that and think this could cause problems. I do not think that new homes ought to be on Main Street. The Commission agreed they do not want to see manufactured homes on Main Street. They continued to talk about the revitalization of downtown and some areas that could be fixed. Chairman Capener said he would like to see the façade grant be at 75% rather than 50%. If people start doing things we should put our foot on the gas while everyone else is and fix the problem. Councilmember Rohde said that with the pillar Vibrancy, our five-year goal is the revitalization of downtown. There will be strong efforts to get that done. Chairman Capener said that the odds of success with a 75% façade grant over a 50% grant is substantially different, especially if we will have an engineer working on it. The cost of fixing those buildings might exceed their value. We have to find a way to do it Tremonton style without too much expense. I want to make sure we have a path to get there and get all the storeowners on board.
4. Adjournment
Motion by Commission Member Stokes to adjourn the meeting. Motion seconded by consensus of the Board. The meeting adjourned at 5:54 p.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 Planning Commission held on the above referenced date. Minutes were prepared by Jessica Tanner.
Dated this 8th day of January, 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.