TREMONTON CITY CORPORATION
PLANNING COMMISSION
APRIL 14, 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—excused
Tom Stokes, Commission Member—excused
Bret Rohde, City Councilmember
Steve Bench, Zoning Administrator
Shawn Warnke, City Manager
Cynthia Nelson, Deputy Recorder

Chairman Capener called the Planning Commission Meeting to order at 5:31 p.m. The meeting was held April 14, 2020 in the City Council Meeting Room at 102 South Tremont Street, Tremonton, Utah and via Zoom. Chairman Capener, Commission Members Eberhard, Fowler, Greener, Janssen, City Councilmember Rohde, Zoning Administrator Bench, City Manager Warnke and Deputy Recorder Nelson were in attendance. Commission Members Sorensen and Stokes were excused.

1. Approval of agenda:

Motion by Commission Member Greener to approve the April 14, 2020 agenda. Motion seconded by Commission Member Eberhard. Vote: Chairman Capener – aye, Commission Member Eberhard – aye, Commission Member Fowler – aye, Commission Member Greener – aye, Commission Member Janssen – aye. Motion approved.

2. Approval of minutes—March 24, 2020

Motion by Commission Member Greener to approve the March 24, 2020 minutes. Motion seconded by Commission Member Janssen. Vote: Chairman Capener – aye, Commission Member Eberhard – aye, Commission Member Fowler – aye, Commission Member Greener – aye, Commission Member Janssen – aye. Motion approved.

3. New Business:

a. Discussion on Moderate Income Housing Plan

Lara Gale addressed the Commission about this plan, which outlines the City’s commitment to providing moderate-income housing. It is housing reserved for households with a gross income of less than 80% of the Area Median Income. We looked at data that comes from the US Census, building permit data from your office, and the Box Elder County Tax Assessor for details on household income, housing costs, current rental occupancy, and available developed units to determine the need for moderate-income housing. We looked at how much housing stock you have available that is affordable within different income ranges and how many people are in each of those. It was determined the City has an adequate supply of affordable housing opportunities for moderate and low-income households, but there is a deficiency in properties valued in ranges available to high and very low-income households. There is a considerable population at a higher income that could afford a more expensive house than is available on the market. The thumbnail conclusion from all the data is that Tremonton could have more high-income housing and hopefully people would move into those homes, which would then leave more moderate-income homes available to those who need it. There are different programs to renovate homes for low-income people. The variable income is a hard nut to crack because the construction industry cannot produce product for people in that level. You need to have more housing options, but the big problem in every housing market is there are not enough different types of housing options available for people of different incomes and at different stages of their life. A lot of what is available on the housing market is multi-family apartments or single-family detached homes that come with a yard and all those costs associated with it. The housing market is missing more duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes. There are options for rezoning that will not scare your existing residents and we would be happy to help draft that.

The Commission asked if this report takes into account zoning they have changed with the housing options that are coming up with higher density. Ms. Gale said I did this analysis with the existing house values given your current zoning and the City has very successful zoning. We broke down availability by zone and the City’s R1-8 zone (8,000 square foot minimum) is a successful zone, but the R1-6 zone (6,000 square feet) is built out. In terms of return per acre value for property taxes, the R1-6 zone is the most successful. It is twice as lucrative as R1-8, which is twice as lucrative as R1-10.

Commission Member Fowler said you mentioned the return on higher density housing as far as taxes and income on that, but that is not all of the equation because there is also more burden. Higher density brings more burdens on schools and City services such as ambulance, fire, and police. Ms. Gale said that is another part of this story. I have done a regional analysis of Box Elder County and the permitting information I got from the census shows Tremonton and Brigham City are the only cities that have built any multi-family housing in the last 10 years. Therefore, Tremonton is bearing the burden in terms of all those services and all those things for the entire region. That is something to be think about—about distributing your population equitably countywide. Tremonton and Brigham City are bearing the burden of the diverse population while the others are developing bigger communities. It would make sense for you to coordinate with planning commissions in other local communities and get a sense of what everyone’s vision is because Tremonton is going to continue to absorb this growth. Commission Member Fowler said or we could limit our R1-6 and R1-8 so developers would be forced to use these other communities as well. Ms. Gale said the projections have to be taken with a grain of salt because they trend growth patterns, but the trajectory is if Tremonton continues to grow the way it has, you are going to end up with a big low income rising population and a small stock of affordable apartments that are available for that population.

Commission Member Fowler said those who do not have more zoning that allows for affordable housing, push people out of their community by zoning requirements. With more rooftops, we have more revenue related to businesses. They come as a result of that population. To have diverse community housing and population demographics bodes well for the future. Commission Member Janssen said section three strategies all talk about moderate-income housing, which is seen in our maps in abundance. That very low income is what we are struggling with and need more of. Section nine encourages LED bulbs and solar panels, but those do not seem like things that would help very low-income people because they add quite a bit of cost. Ogden has a plan where they pick a street and remodel small homes there and people have to apply or show they are low income to purchase or rent that home. I wonder which of these things can help with very low-income housing since we are good on moderate.

Manager Warnke addressed the RDA and how a portion of tax increment has been earmarked for low to moderate-income housing. We have been working with the State and wanted some of these policies in our plan. We are really good with our zoning and in some cases we are generous across the board. We grant higher density without a lot of amenities in return. What I have seen more often in Tremonton compared to other cities is a higher density with a lack of amenities, but we have turned a corner. Developers are coming in and creating higher density with some amenities. If there were more expensive housing, do you feel the market could move that direction for people in Tremonton to purchase up? Chairman Capener said yes, but the builders do not want to spec a $600,000 home. Most of those are custom-built homes. Manager Warnke said that is something that lets diversity in along with other housing types. Ms. Gale said that according to this data, high income is $60,000 a year. We are not talking $600,000 homes. There is room for increasing housing stock that is $300,000 to $400,000.

Commission Member Janssen said it would be interesting to see what we have approved in terms of new homes and where those fall. There are nice homes in Holmgren Estates and that will increase the number for higher income households. We need to review things we have approved and see where they fall into these brackets. Ms. Gale said I will work on those, but it is constantly moving. Right now there is a lot of construction going on. The inherent problem with this data is a time lag. Your housing plan will always be a year or more behind. I will work with Manager Warnke to update that. The more up to date stuff we can get the better the trends will be. From the data that exists currently the dashboard is showing Tremonton has a growing population at an income bracket for which there is no housing and that is a potential problem. Chairman Capener said we have made some incredible strides with these new projects that are going to change the affordability for residential. If anything we need to look at some of the higher end lots. The reason why all our lots are in one segment is because of zoning requirements. People are going to Fielding, Bothwell, the County, and everywhere around us to build really nice homes. The County is taking a higher percentage of those bigger, nicer homes on bigger lots because we cannot develop them affordable enough. The County does not have a lot of requirements so it is easier to go outside. Administrator Bench said they would prepare this for a public hearing. If there are any changes or additions that need to be made, they can work through those.

4. Adjournment

Motion by Commission Member Eberhard to adjourn the meeting. Motion seconded by consensus of the Board. The meeting adjourned at 6:07 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 12th day of May, 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.