TREMONTON CITY CORPORATION
PLANNING COMMISSION
MARCH 24, 2026
Members Present:
Raulon Van Tassell, Chairman
Micah Capener, Commission Member—excused
Karen Ellsworth, Commission Member
Andrea Miller, Commission Member
Ashley Phillips, Commission Member
Jack Stickney, Commission Member
ChrisDean Epling, Zoning Administrator
Linsey Nessen, City Manager—excused
Tiffany Lannefeld, Deputy Recorder

Chairman Van Tassell called the Planning Commission Meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. The meeting was held March 24, 2026, in the City Council Meeting Room at 102 South Tremont Street, Tremonton, Utah. Chairman Van Tassell, Commission Members Ellsworth, Miller, Phillips, Stickney, Administrator Epling and Deputy Recorder Lannefeld were in attendance. Also in attendance was Officer Greg Horspool. Commission Members Capener and Manager Nessen were excused.

1. Approval of agenda:

Motion by Commission Member Ellsworth to approve the March 24, 2026 agenda. Motion seconded by Commission Member Miller. Vote: Chairman Van Tassell – yes, Commission Member Capener – absent, Commission Member Ellsworth – yes, Commission Member Miller – yes, Commission Member Phillips – yes, Commission Member Stickney – yes. Motion approved.

2. Declaration of Conflict of Interest: None.

3. Approval of minutes—February 10, 2026 & February 24, 2026

Motion by Commission Member Ellsworth to approve the minutes stated above. Motion seconded by Commission Member Stickney. Vote: Chairman Van Tassell – yes, Commission Member Capener – absent, Commission Member Ellsworth – yes, Commission Member Miller – yes, Commission Member Phillips – yes, Commission Member Stickney – yes. Motion approved.

4. Training Presentation

a. Discussion Only: Administrative and Legislative Duties
b. Discussion Only: Land Use Code Training

Administrator Epling said I was hired as the new zoning administrator for Tremonton and am excited to work with you. My roles are the day-to-day enforcing of the code and making sure the City is following our own laws and State laws. The City is working on getting a full-time planner. We will work together with you very closely. This presentation is part of your training hours. All the information I have here was found in the book, “Ground Rules: Your Handbook to Utah Land Use Regulation.” When it comes to land use and developing land within the City, we have elected and appointed citizen planners, professional planners, neighborhood third parties, applicants and property owners. All these people have to work together to create the development. The Planning Commission is considered citizen planners. I would be one of the professional planners as the zoning administrator. I am here to coordinate and relay information—the liaison for the City. We are in the process of getting heads for each district to create the executive committee for the NPI (Neighborhood Partnership Initiative). I am very grateful for the citizens who have stepped up to help. When a developer comes in with a plan, I have to ensure it meets code. I am in charge of administering at DRC and getting the information where it needs to go. I am day‑to‑day enforcing of the code while the city planner will help plan out the future.

Administrator Epling said there is a difference between legislative actions and administrative actions. Legislative actions have to do with changing an ordinance and amending an existing ordinance or adoption to the General Plan. Whenever a fundamental change is made to zoning regulations or specific property zoning status, it will require the applicant to go through the legislative process. Utah State Code says only the body of elected officials can make legislative decisions. I love how Utah gives cities autonomy to govern the way they want. They give a lot of legislative discretion with those decisions. They are a lot stricter when it comes to administrative decisions. The City has to have a lot more proof to defend itself. Legislative things will come through the Commission for recommendation, and those decisions are finalized by the City Council. Anything that changes the way someone can use the dirt or what you can put on it, whatever changes the basic function of what that dirt is used for, that would most likely encounter a legislative decision. We have State standards, but they are not as strict and rigorous. They give cities more discretion to shape our community. When we go over code, your job is to make sure we what do flows with our laws. My job is figuring out what is our code and how should we be implementing it, so we protect our citizens and developers’ investments. We want to be fair and do our due diligence. My job is to make sure we follow the rules. If a decision affects what can be built, how much can be built or how land can be used at a fundamental level that is legislative.

Administrator Epling said administrative actions are not entitled to the same difference as legislative acts. They are held to the law of the City and State code. Courts are a lot stricter when it comes to enforcing code that is already in place. If we do something that varies from it, we do not have as much legislative discretion and that protects people’s property rights. It is working within a framework. We cannot deny an application if they are meeting the standards of the code, because it is already in place and you are not changing the land use around it. Developers can build as it is currently zoned. If the City says we are going to deny that application because we do not want it and we are challenged, the courts are going to be way harder on the City. There is a caveat. If it is shown that it is going to hurt the City because we do not have the public utilities for it, then the cities can deny or hold the permit, but we have to be able to prove that we do not have the capacity for this development. That is where you can get into moratoriums and such. The City will never be required to approve things that are going to hurt financially or in other ways. For legislative decisions, it has to be reasonably debatable that this is going in the direction that the City wants to go.

Officer Horspool said when you take in comments, I hope you listen to the public, but then decide, is this a legislative or an administrative decision? Legislative decisions uphold the existing land use ordinance codes. Public clamor is not substantial evidence, and an administrative decision cannot be based primarily on citizen comments at a public hearing, petitions, or social media campaign. You have to have substantial evidence if you are going to make a change, but legislative decisions are where you use your judgment. You decide if the proposed plan or changes to the plan promote the general welfare of the community. As they are legislative acts, public clamor and informal opinions are acceptable considerations in enacting local and land use regulations. Oppositions by citizens may be noted by the Council or Commission and they may base their decisions on public support or comment. I hope you use that as a tool. Administrator Epling said as appointed citizen planners, your job is to look at things as a whole and figure out where we want to go. The Land Use Plan will help with that. You have more discretion for legislative decisions than administrative decisions. If you are going to change the current zoning based on the plan, then you still have to go through legislative processes. Chairman Van Tassell said referencing the Land Use Plan as authority is helpful because then it is not so much that we are arbitrarily making choices. People are calling for update, which is needed, but as far as when the plan is made, it really depends on who is up here and whether or not we say we are going to accept it. It would help to have that plan so we can make less administrative decisions.

Administrator Epling said if you want to do a Land Use Plan and do it right, you will follow a plan. Cities who forget the plan and deviate from it shoot themselves in the foot. It is suggested that cities stay on track. If you deviate from the Land Use Plan, you should accompany it with an amendment. That keeps a record of why you are amending the plan and then you are always referencing back to the plan. It needs to be standardized so a developer can come in and look at our Land Use Plan and know the zone and can plan on developing in that way. If they need a change to zoning, there needs to be an amendment to our Land Use Plan so we know why we are doing it and can tell citizens why we are deviating from what we currently have. When a specific issue looms over municipal land use the tendency is for government officials and citizens to skip preliminary steps. We have to have a Land Use Plan. That is required to understand the General Plan and the related land use ordinance. Skipping such is short-sighted. The entire concept of local land use planning was intended to move from general decision making to making specific lot by lot decisions in light of general community goals. Land use decisions that avoid acknowledging such contexts are more likely to fail at challenge and breed cynicism. We need a plan and that was the whole reason I started the NPI. I wanted to a plan we could follow and work together better. A Land Use Plan is a solid guide and ordinances support that. Ordinances are what we use to enforce the general Land Use Plan. We have a lot of growth coming and I love that we can work together and have good things coming to us in the future as long as we have a plan.

Administrator Epling said the current plan has qualities that define Tremonton. The goals of this plan are to preserve and enhance Tremonton’s agricultural character, peaceful lifestyle and rural atmosphere, using careful considered zoning ordinances, preserving environmentally sensitive lands and providing high quality open space. Next, concentrate development in existing urban areas, commercial quarters and along arterial and collateral routes. Then it has parks and trails. This shows that we have some standards. We are the City of connection. With that overall theme how do we connect sidewalks, as well as from one city to another? How are we getting trails? I do not feel like we are really a city of connection yet so how can we create that? I want our City to be a city where we can connect and people can safely walk so how are we going to attract that and what are we doing to make sure that comes into our City? That is something we can do as we develop the Land Use Plan. Administrator Epling is working on grants and the process to create the plan and conduct surveys. This will be discussed in a future meeting.

c. Discussion Only—Planned Unit Development (PUD) Approval Process

Administrator Epling said Utah State code says PUDs modify the zoning standards and density. Since it changes the base zoning, it has to, in some point of the approval process, go through the legislative process. When development already has an agreement and been vetted by the DRC before coming to the Planning Commission as a legislative package, there is a lot more pressure to approve it because work has gone into that, even though it is still a legislative decision. Do we do a PUD upfront with a concept plan, knowing the restraints of our PUD code, so they know if we can establish base density or not? They could then work out all the details and come back with a development agreement, knowing they have the PUD in place, which puts less pressure on the Commission. As zoning administrator, I am working that out with our current code, City attorney and DRC to see where that would be. When asked about a PUD being a part of City code, Administrator Epling said it is in the Land Use Plan as a tool. It is not attached to the base zoning. That is where the confusion has been. This code says the developer may make an application for consideration and approval of the PUD overlay zone. City Council shall review and approve such applications after receiving recommendation from the Planning Commission as with other legislative matters. It sets it up for a legislative decision at the beginning. This does not to say everybody who buys land has a PUD attached because it changes the base density and structure of the land. We adopted it as a tool; it is not guaranteed for developers to use. Developers are legally bound to uphold whatever is within the code. If they promise certain things with a PUD, if it is not attached to a development agreement, they only have to do what we have set in the code. A PUD allows deviations from a zone. For example, with R1-10 the developer can only do a single-family house on a 10,000 square foot lot. But let us say we need park space. They can cluster the houses in a different way and provide that open space. It gives the developer the ability to be more flexible with what they provide. This could allow townhouses in a single-family residential area. A zone for single-family will not allow a townhouse, but a PUD would say they can some townhouse in with a park. However, that is up to the legislative discretion. The PUD is just another zoning tool. For example, a developer could put in 100 houses on their land, but with a PUD they can put 150. By presenting this upfront you already know that is the maximum. I am trying to pin down the PUD code so you know ahead of time how it can be used. Then we let the engineers and DRC negotiate all the details so when it comes to you in a package, they already have that base density established and whether they can do it or not. Currently they are doing that at the end of the negotiations. The developer has already worked with the City and gone through multiple meetings and have a lot invested, so they are expecting it to be approved. I argue it would make sense that they need to know first if they have the PUD so we avoid frustrations. You will get a lot of pressure from both sides if you wait until the very end. As with any development, we have to consider if the City is capable of supporting the proposed density. Commission Member Stickney said we are dependent upon City staff to screen the City’s capacity and capabilities. When things come to us for approval, we hope that groundwork has already been done. We have to have confidence in that aspect of the process. Officer Horspool said you are going to see more involvement with the DRC on that and more input from department heads to get the information we need. It will be a considerably smoother process with a lot more information getting out to everybody. We are going to scrutinize things as they come in and be better prepared for what each individual thing will be as the plans are submitted.

Administrator Epling said this is my conclusion to this training. To grow responsibly a city must first establish a clear Land Use Plan and align its code with that vision. When we choose to deviate, we should formally amend the plan, so the direction remains transparent. This creates a unified process between the City and its residents and ensures we stay in harmony with State and local law. I am excited to work with you guys, and I will do all I can to get you the information you need to make good decisions.

5. Citizen Engagement

Zayne Wilding said I appreciate what Administrator Epling is doing. I am part of the NPI team for the West area. There has been a lot of talk about the annexation that is going to happen with my property and the property around us. I am concerned about how the property is going to be zoned after it is annexed. I would like to have influence in how it gets zoned. I have been trying to figure out how that occurs. As I read the ordinance, it appears somebody gets to establish what that zoning is going to be, and I would like to be involved in that. I would like to see a simple flow chart that we as citizens can use and say, here is the process of how things are done. A simple flow chart we can all look at and say, we are at this step. This is when we want to have public input so we can all be on the same page. Currently it is very confusing, and I have no idea when to stand up and say something. I make comments quite regularly so thank you for taking time to listen.

Michelle Martineau said if a developer meets all the criteria, then he can do that development. On a PUD, is it the same? If a developer meets all the criteria, all the points, does he automatically get to do that? Administrator Epling said the PUD has to be approved first and each PUD has to be approved individually. If somebody buys the land at R1-10, even if they meet all of the requirements of R1-8, they cannot develop it because it is still R1-10. So even if they meet all the requirements of a PUD, they cannot develop it unless the overlay is applied to the zone. Mrs. Martineau said so they come in with this plan for R1-10 and meet all of the code, then you legally cannot deny them to do that. Then they want to do a PUD. That does not automatically get approved just because they meet all the boxes. Commission Member Stickney said it has to be a PUD for R1-10.

Ben Greener said I am against PUDs. Over the years, I have seen too many contractors come in and get the zoning changed when they know what they bought it as. Then they say we want to do this and will give you that, but it just has never, in my opinion, turned out. As a City we have never got what we expected to get. They say we will do this and that and there is just too much negotiation that never pans out. I say, let us get our plans together and determine what we want the City to look like in our zoning and build from that zoning. I sat with you guys for several years and watched too many things not come that were promised. My son lives in another town, and they will not even touch a PUD. They stick with the zoning. They cleaned it up the way they want their city to look, and I would suggest you do that. Get zoning set up the way you want the City to look and stick to it. Quit letting contractors come in with their big game plans and then tell you it does not pencil, and they cannot make a profit on how they bought the property.

Linda Alaco said we were just at our daughter’s house in Texas. She lives in a subdivision, and they started building houses like crazy. They have about 4,000 homes with two ways in and out. They stay in their house an hour and a half in the morning and an hour and a half in the evening without going on the road because there is just too much traffic. So be careful of what you say. It could happen here, too.

Layne Wilding said the subdivision that is being planned along Iowa String on 70 acres plans to have 500 units in there. My concern is if they do what they have planned, I do not know how the traffic is going to flow. They will leave south heading into County roads that cannot handle the traffic right now. That will have to be updated to handle the amount of traffic that is going to go there. As we start looking at these developments, we have to think about how in the world traffic is going to flow. With 500 houses, where are we going to put 500 new jobs in this town? We have to start thinking about that as well. Those people will all migrate to the south and it is going to become just another feeder community.

Cassandra Merrill said I live in a townhouse and I love my house, but I personally would love it if you would look at duplexes. They are a little more affordable than a single-family house but still have a yard. You would have land that is your own. Right now, my house stops when the concrete stops so my son, when he wants to go outside, I cannot just let him run out and play. If I had a yard that was fenced, I could let him go out and play with the door open and I could watch him. I know a lot of young families who feel similarly. If they could just have a little bit of a yard as their own. I would love to have an acre of land, but we cannot afford that right now. To have that steppingstone with a yard and something you can own that is grass and not just cement would be nice.

Jase Ellsworth said it seems like there is confusion on if they meet all these criteria of a PUD. I think we need to understand it is the exception and not the rule and not having them seems to simplify things a lot. The second concern I have is impact fees. What understanding do we have of our impact fees? How are we charging those? What are the true mechanisms for those? I do not know where to find the resource or that anybody has a true understanding of that. That is one thing I would encourage, is if we could get a true off of our actual costs.

Morgan Messerili said I live in the Freeman Farms subdivision, the one that was just annexed. I live directly next to the cement plant. I also have questions about impact fees, because throughout this annexation process, there was a lot of he said she said, and things that were promised. We have no idea what is actually in the agreement and who is on the hook for the impact fees. I think we need more understanding of are we going to have to pay that or is the developer, which was verbally agreed to. How much is it going to be? How do we pay it? Not everyone can just write a check for $16,000 all of a sudden for an annexation we were volunteered for. The more knowledge we have the better.

6. Comments & Reports

Administrator Epling provided an update to the Commission on a development that will be discussed at their next meeting. The property is zoned R1-10. The developer will provide a concept plan in April. As soon as I get it, I will email it to you. This is behind the Wizard Wash and that is the golf course. He wants to rezone this to RM-16 with multiple products. We are early in this process. It has to go through DRC. I am going to get stats from Public Works on what that would do if they changed the density. A big concern is outlet roads. There is only one outlet there now. They are working with the property above it to get a roadway that goes all the way to 1000 North. This density would allow them the flexibility of a PUD without getting a PUD. They could put townhouses and different things in. If approved at RM-16 they could do apartments, too. We could figure out ways to have a portion remain single-family housing with a transition into multi-family housing. You could also keep the housing as is. Chairman Van Tassell said with water, I feel it is pertinent to do a retroactive study on that particular topic or how much we have and how much we have already approved. Administrator Epling said I will look into that and this could be held off until we have more information. This is 36 acres so that times 16 is a lot of houses. I will send over that information for a future discussion.

Councilmember Bowcutt said I love what this gentleman said, you do not have to allow PUDs in your community. It is a tool. I am a stickler for the rules and if it is an ordinance, we will follow it. In order to appoint someone to the Planning Commission, it goes to the ex officio. We have never done that so we are going to start doing that right. I have applications and those who want to be on the Planning Commission need to fill one out. I will then take them to the City Council for approval or disapproval.

7. Adjournment

Motion by Commission Member Phillips to adjourn the meeting. Motion seconded by consensus of the Board. The meeting adjourned at 7:08 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 _____day of ___________, 2026.

______________________________
Cynthia Nelson, 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.