TREMONTON CITY CORPORATION
PLANNING COMMISSION
MARCH 10, 2020

Members Present:
Micah Capener, Chairman
Arnold Eberhard, Commission Member
Paul Fowler, Commission Member
Ben Greener, Commission Member
Brad Janssen, Commission Member
Layne Sorensen, Commission Member
Tom Stokes, Commission Member
Bret Rohde, City Councilmember
Steve Bench, Zoning Administrator
Paul Fulgham, Public Works Director
Cynthia Nelson, Deputy Recorder

Chairman Capener called the Planning Commission Meeting to order at 5:32 p.m. The meeting was held March 10, 2020 in the City Council Meeting Room at 102 South Tremont Street, Tremonton, Utah. Chairman Capener, Commission Members Eberhard, Fowler, Greener, Janssen, Sorensen (arrived 5:34 p.m.), Stokes, City Councilmember Rohde, Zoning Administrator Bench, Public Works Director Fulgham, and Deputy Recorder Nelson were in attendance.

1. Approval of agenda:

Motion by Commission Member Greener to approve the March 10, 2020 agenda. Motion seconded by Commission Member Stokes. Vote: Chairman Capener – aye, Commission Member Eberhard – aye, Commission Member Fowler – aye, Commission Member Greener – aye, Commission Member Janssen – aye, Commission Member Sorensen – aye, Commission Member Stokes – aye. Motion approved.

2. Approval of minutes—January 28, 2020

Motion by Commission Member Janssen to approve the January 28, 2020 minutes. Motion seconded by Commission Member Stokes. Vote: Chairman Capener – aye, Commission Member Eberhard – aye, Commission Member Fowler – aye, Commission Member Greener – aye, Commission Member Janssen – aye, Commission Member Sorensen – aye, Commission Member Stokes – aye. Motion approved.

3. New Business:

a. Discussion of Accessory Dwelling Unit ordinance

Commission Member Stokes asked if there is a maximum occupancy for those living in the 200 square feet home. Administrator Bench said the definition for the state of Utah addresses that they be legally related, but does not put a number to that. Residential is tough, but I can see your point. We could come up with one. Commission Member Stokes asked about the secondary building, saying if you have four unrelated persons living in a single unit, each one of them will have a car and that is not enough parking. Administrator Bench said a lot of people would not be able to do this because they will not meet the criteria. When they come in, we would look at their property. Older parts in town would not have the room. This is either for a building out back or the basement. We ought to split it out to say that within the main home there can be this many people and for the outside building there can be this many. Commission Member Stokes asked if he looked at what Logan is doing. They would be a good one because they have college kids. We could see what they do for their automobile situation. Administrator Bench said I picked bigger cities, but could take a look at them as well.

Commission Member Stokes asked about the statement saying no windows, doors, or other openings on a certain wall. Is that a fire escape problem? Administrator Bench said that meets the code. For a 10×20 building (200 square feet) how many partition walls are you going to be able to put in there besides a bathroom? I see them more as a studio style. It does not say they are not required to put windows in it just talks about when they should not based on distances to the property line.

Commission Member Stokes said this says they are permitted to occupy the full area of the basement, but that is not the case in my neighborhood. Administrator Bench said that is a duplex and is grandfathered in. Any of those that exist would be grandfathered in. Chairman Capener said I like the part in there that says they can go on a mission or sabbatical—that is good forethought. Good addressing needs to be in place incase there is a 911 call. Commission Member Greener said when someone builds one of these does the City require that small building to pay for an additional water hookup and garbage can, like an apartment would? Administrator Bench said an accessory dwelling would get charged for two living places even if they were on one meter and a garbage can too. There is the exception for those living in a basement. If there are two separate units, then it is two separate water charges and two garbage cans. Chairman Capener said no additional water development or connection fee shall be required unless a separate utility connection is requested and installed by the property owner. So there would not be another impact fee. Commission Member Greener said but they need to understand they should be required to pay the additional fee, just not the connection fee.

Administrator Bench said they would work toward the public hearing and set it for an upcoming meeting. If the Commission thinks of anything else to let him know, but it is just a slow process. Resident Terrell Womack said slow is better than stopped, but it is springtime and I would love to start working on it. I have purchased trees for the property, want to start a garden, and have contacted several workers for gravel, fencing, and cement. Administrator Bench said you could get started doing anything except putting the building on it. The Commission clarified that in Miss Womack’s case her mother would have the primary dwelling, while her house would be the secondary unit. Miss Womack said we would place an attachment on our homes to bring them over 400 square feet. She was asked to submit any plans she might have. Chairman Capener said you could put one home on there now, but it has to be 400 square feet. The secondary dwelling could not be built until it is approved. The target today is to garner support and get them to come to the public hearing so we have comments and support behind what we are trying to do.

b. Review scope of work for the Tremonton Land Use Plan

Administrator Bench said this is a submittal from Landmark Design of what they are proposing to do to help redo the Land Use Plan. The Planning Commission will be heavily involved. When asked about the cost, Administrator Bench confirmed it is $71,000. The City received a grant from UDOT for $50,000 and would pick up the difference of $21,000. Chairman Capener said are they going to redo the book or are we going to do the land uses for each zone? Administrator Bench said they would update the book and see if it needs adjustments, and they will look at the present and future zoning to see what changes need to be made. The Planning Commission and City Council will have the final say. Chairman Capener said my concern is having restrictions that are impossible to meet. Councilmember Rohde said but on the other side of the coin, they would maybe remove some of the restrictions that are too high. I would like to see their opinions and adjust it accordingly. We should move forward with it.

c. Review and recommend PW Standards Drawing – Paul Fulgham

Director Fulgham said most of this is just clean up and updates for changing times. We have added new roadway sections with 80-foot right-of-ways. There are street details for how we are going to lay that out for different traffic patterns, with neighborhoods being different from main corridors. Some of the Public Works equipment and material needs things to change. Councilmember Rohde said with all of these changes are we adding a lot to the developers’ cost? Director Fulgham said most of those changes for the roadway sections are on the main corridor, which the City participates in so the developers’ costs are not going to be impacted. In the Public Works standards, we are changing service saddles. For years we have used cast iron material with a nylon coating, but those have been failing. If the coating gets nicked, then they start to deteriorate and rust out. We are going with the full stainless steel saddle. That will make the cost go up, but this is what we have gone to in the Public Works. Another change is in the storm drain boxes. We are going away from the flat grate style to one that has a hooded dome. It picks up more storm water and helps us collect better. There is an added cost, but these are typically only seen at intersections. Not everyone has a storm drain box—it just depends on the design and engineering. It is cast right in and is part of the curb. Most of these things are industry standard changes.

Commission Member Stokes said the bookmarks for the PDFs are out of sync. They just need to be corrected for the right page. Chairman Capener asked about the extra five feet on the PUE in the front. Director Fulgham said that is just an industry standard. We got rid of the PUE on the side and backyards for the same reason. The extra on the front helps the power and communication companies get their utility in the front yard and back side of the sidewalk. The Commission also asked about the bollards on the dumpster enclosure. Director Fulgham said Engineer Breinholt probably pulled that standard from other cities that use it to protect the structure from the truck and dumpster.

Motion by Commission Member Sorensen to approve the updated drawings and send them to the City Council. Motion seconded by Commission Member Stokes. Vote: Chairman Capener – aye, Commission Member Eberhard – aye, Commission Member Fowler – aye, Commission Member Greener – aye, Commission Member Janssen – aye, Commission Member Sorensen – aye, Commission Member Stokes – aye. Motion approved.

4. Adjournment

Motion by Commission Member Sorensen to adjourn the meeting. Motion seconded by consensus of the Board. The meeting adjourned at 6:13 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 24 day of March, 2020.

______________________________
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.