CITY OF ST. GEORGE
WASHINGTON COUNTY, UTAH
PLANNING COMMISSION
September 16, 2008 – 4:00 p.m.
PRESENT: Acting Chairman Ron Bracken
Council Member Gloria Shakespeare
Commissioner Ron Read
Commissioner Kim Campbell
Commissioner Ross Taylor
Commissioner Chapin Burks
Commissioner Julie Hullinger
CITY STAFF: Assistant City Attorney Joseph Farnsworth
Community Development Director Bob Nicholson
Planner Ray Snyder
Planner Craig Harvey
Engineer Jay Sandberg
Deputy City Recorder Linda Brooks
EXCUSED: Commissioner Mike Nobis
CALL TO ORDER
Acting Chairman Bracken called the meeting to order and welcomed those in attendance. Acting Chairman Bracken led the flag salute.
CONSENT ITEM – FINAL PLATS
A. Consider approval of a road dedication plat for “Astragalus Road.” This road will be located at the new Exit 2 South Block interchange. It approximately parallels the I-15 freeway extending from the Atkinville Wash and will cross the Southern Parkway. SITLA is the applicant. The representative is Alliance Consulting. Case No. 2008-FP-035
B. Consider approval of an amended plat for the “Cliffs at Snow Canyon Plat “C”- Amended with thirty (30) residential lots located at 3052 North Snow Canyon Parkway. The applicant is Snow Canyon Development. Mr. Newt Andrus, PEPG Surveying representative. The zoning is PD-RES (Planned Development Residential). The site is located on 19.48 acres more or less. Case No. 2008-FP- 038
C. Consider approval of a final plat for “Tuscany Commercial Subdivision” with three (3) commercial lots. Located north of 850 North Street and east of 2720 East Street (adjacent to the “East St George Commercial Subdivision”). The applicant is Blue Diamond Properties. The representative is Mr. Steve
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Kamlowsky, Brown Engineering. The site is on 12.058 acres more or less. Case No. 2007-FP-057
D. Consider approval of a final plat for “Bloomington Courtyard Professional Office Condominiums (Lot “F”) – Amended.” The purpose is to adjust interior party walls between units in the building. Located next to the Bloomington Courtyard Commercial Center on 2710 South Circle and Young Street. The representative is Mr. Brandon Anderson, Rosenberg Engineering. Case No. 2008-FPA-009
Assistant City Engineer Jay Sandberg presented the final plats into the record.
MOTION: Commissioner Read made a motion to recommend to City Council approval of the final plats read into record and authorize Chairman to sign. Commissioner Burks seconded the motion. All voted aye.
SHARED PARKING
Consider a request for a shared parking agreement for the telemarketing business located at 94 South Mall Drive. The business is “Mentoring of America.” The site is located next to the former Heideman Mortuary (vacant). The property is zoned AP (Administrative Professional Office). Case No. 2008-SHP-001
Community Development Director Bob Nicholson said this item is for a shared parking agreement between Heideman Mortuary and Mentoring of America. The property is zoned AP (Administrative Professional). There is an existing building on the corner of 94 South Mall Drive where Mentoring of America occupies. The office building is 2-story and the ground floor is a typical office building section. The second floor is layout with cubicles which are in there quite tight. The first floor area which has a parking requirement of 1 space per 250 sq. ft. of gross floor area and the 2nd floor which houses a Call Center requires a minimum of 1 space per 100 sq. ft. of gross floor area or 1 space per employee on the highest shift whichever is greater. In this case the parking requirement for the first floor comes to 30 parking spaces and 72 parking spaces for the Call Center on the 2nd floor. There are 59 on-site parking spaces which means there is a deficit of 43 spaces. The applicant (Call Center) proposes to lease 44 additional parking spaces from the developed property to the south. The applicant proposes that the Shared Parking Agreement runs for 18 months which is concurrent with their office space lease. Staff suggests that this is probably a reasonable solution to the parking situation, provided that the Shared Parking Agreement is extended for the same duration as any new office space lease would be.
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Commissioner Campbell asked how many parking spaces are there on the Heideman’s lot.
Bob Nicholson replied he did not know at this time.
Commissioner Campbell thought they would be creating a solution for one business but may be creating a problem to the other business (Heideman).
Bob pointed out that the Heideman building is currently empty and they are proposing a new use for wedding receptions. He believes that the use would be during the evening hours and Mentoring of America the Call Center is used during the daytime hours therefore it would not create a conflict.
Bob said the shared parking agreement will run for 18 months. After that they would need to extend the lease agreement.
Assistant City Attorney Joseph Farnsworth said Planning Commission can condition their business license subject on this shared parking agreement being in place.
Acting Chairman Bracken asked how long the call center has been operating without a business license here in St. George.
Tyler Truman representative for Mentoring of America said they have been in business here in St. George the last four months. Before that they were in Washington City with their business. He apologizes for not following up on a business license but there was a lack of communication happening between corporate office and the main headquarters in California.
Tyler said their peak time is between Tuesdays through Thursday generally from noon to 6:00 p.m. Tyler said they are not actually a telemarketing company they work with existing clients. They consider themselves a sales company. Tyler said they will not be able to add any more employees to the building there is not enough room.
Commissioner Burks asked if Planning Commission approves this could they condition it on that Heideman’s business would need to determine if they have enough parking stalls and if they didn’t then they would not be able to do the business.
Assistant City Attorney Joseph Farnsworth said the use for the Heideman’s building is anticipated to be a wedding reception facility and if there is conflict in the parking then the shared parking agreement would need to be revisited.
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Commissioner Taylor said this is different than a shared parking agreement because they have leased the parking spaces to the call center.
Tyler said there are 30-50 people there during their peak hours and on Saturday’s maybe 15 employees.
Assistant City Attorney Joseph Farnsworth said Planning Commission needs to find sufficient evidence that the peak time is not in conflict.
Commissioner Read suggested they could approve this item conditioned on when the Heideman business license comes through and they would need to come to Planning Commission to see if they met the requirements.
Bob said the letter from Brien Heideman is included in your packet. He said based on his letter he states that their peak hours would be between 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday evenings.
Commissioner Taylor said without a cross access agreement Heideman is not in compliance with his parking. There should be cross-access agreement.
Tyler said currently they are not at peak capacity and they are not using all the parking spaces at the location they are at.
MOTION: Commissioner Read made a motion to approve this shared parking agreement with findings that the peak hours that have been represented here today vary and that there is no substantial conflict on those peak hours. Also, 1) Tyler Truman has a new agreement in place if they extend beyond the 18 months and 2) Planning Commission wants to see Heideman come before Planning Commission when he comes in for a business license so the peak uses can be explained. Also, with the understanding if both businesses cannot reach an agreement on the parking allocation that one of the businesses will not be able to operate. Commissioner Campbell voted aye. All voted aye.
ZONE CHANGE REQUEST – PUBLIC HEARINGS (5:00 P.M.)
Consider a zone change from RE-20 (Residential Estate 20,000 square foot minimum lot size) to PD-RES (Planned Development Residential) on 14.68 acres. Located on 3000 South (Horseman Park Road) and Little Valley Road. The site is east of 2350 East Street (& the Little Valley Elementary School). This site is across the street from the new Intermediate School). The applicant is Mr. Bart Frost. The representative is
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Mr. John Fleming of Bonneville Builders, and the engineer is Mr. Jim Raines of Bush & Gudgell. The project is “Little Valley Commons.” Case No. 2008-ZC-018
(This item is continued from July 22, 2008)
Community Development Director Bob Nicholson presented this item. This item was heard at the July 22nd meeting and was deemed incomplete at that time. It was discussed for a great length of time. Approximately six residents spoke in opposition to the proposal and one letter of opposition was received. It was determined that the following issues were to be resolved before this item returned to the Planning Commission;
Bob said the area that was designated with MD (Medium Density 4-7 du/acre) and M/HD (Medium-High Density 7-10 du/acre). The applicants had to come back to the committee in June and the Council asked them not to proceed with their half-acre lots at that time and to wait. Staff agrees with their calculations.
Bob presented a layout of the design of the homes. Some of the designs are similar to the DayBreak subdivision in Salt Lake City. Bob said they are proposing private streets. They have to demonstrate and show that the private streets are the best design they can come up with.
Assistant City Attorney Joseph Farnsworth said the City’s Legal Dept. has a copy of the development agreement and staff has reviewed it and made some changes. The changes are fine with applicant. In your motion if it is approved here tonight it needs to state that the development agreement be signed before it goes to City Council for their public hearing.
Jim Raines with Bush & Gudgell said at the last meeting they were asked to spell out the General Plan and the Bonus Density Plan. Staff felt comfortable that they have met the three factors. Tonight they feel they need to meet and show the design.
John Fleming the applicant with Bonneville Builders said they struggled a bit with the superior architectural design. At this time John read into the record the ‘Superior Architecture’ (a copy will be available in the Community Development office).
Commissioner Taylor asked how much variety in the size and price of homes in the project.
John replied they are trying to stay in a median price range which is around $250,000 and the home would be around 1,400 sq. ft. John pointed out the four pods of subdivision where they are surrounded by a common front yard. There are also alley front homes in this subdivision. These homes will be closer to the street with an entrance to the rear to
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obtain access to their garages. The third group is the attached garage homes. There are
parking areas for guest parking. He spoke on the park areas through out the development and the community garden. John said the City decided a long time ago that they would want a planned development that would be affordable. They used Vision Dixie as a template.
Amy Taheo with Design Works presented the traditional styles of the homes which she felt were timeless and a natural choice for this development. The design gave a warm and friendly atmosphere. They wanted to de-emphasize the garages in order to take the focus away from the garages and put them in the back. They plan on having at least six different designs and floor plan layouts. These are homes the homeowners can be proud of. She spoke on the color design options for these homes. They want to make this a vision for St. George.
Commissioner Taylor asked about the garages and how many cars does it hold.
Amy replied they are build to hold two cars.
Beth Headlock who has been working on the color palette’s spoke next. She said these are craftsman home colors. She went over the six color boards. Craftsman style has been around for many years.
Commissioner Read had to leave the meeting at 6:00 p.m.
Commissioner Campbell asked about the type of material used with the metal, wood, or plastic.
John Fleming replied they are working with materials that are typically for this type of climate.
Commissioner Campbell spoke on the fencing – would a person be able to fence part of their yard.
John said they are not planning fencing restrictions as part of the CC&R’s. They are interested in having private areas for part of these homes. Not everything is open to the public.
Commissioner Campbell asked about the landscaping. He felt the trees make the development within the inside of the development.
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John said the homeowner’s will be able to pick which type of landscaping they want to have. They don’t have a specific landscape design at this point.
Commissioner Burks asked about the distance from the homes wall to wall.
John said it is 10 ft. between the homes.
Commissioner Taylor asked about the HOA will they be able to meet the maintenance. This causes some concerns. He is concern about real estates investors purchasing some of these homes and their lack of concern with the HOA. It needs to be looked at carefully.
John said they are planning on limiting the number of homes to be rented at 10% which will be a restriction in the CC&R’s.
Paul Gooch lives in the area where this is going to happen. He would like to speak on the opposition from the neighbors and the capability of the homes in the neighborhood. He said at least 10 homes will be along the back fence where he keeps his horses. He spoke on the flies and dust that is created from the horses. These residents will be exposed to these elements. He feels this subdivision will create a major fight because of the farm land adjacent to them.
Paul Iverson said he is concern about the crime rate. When you put in dense housing the crime rate goes up. In the past the City has feathered zoning. He feels there is no feathering at all here. Paul spoke on the bonus density. He talked about the possibility of rentals and how the CC&R’s can be changed once the HOA is turned over to the residents. He told Planning Commission that they will be doing a dis-service to Little Valley if they approved this here tonight.
Richard Southwick said he lived in one of these developments in Salt Lake City. He will certify that there are close neighborhood connectivity. He feels this would be a terrible mistake to allow this development to go in.
Helen Southwick said there will be problems in higher density. She feels there should be more separation between the homes.
Jim McArthur said he owns property next to this project. He asked about the fence between the animals and the residents. It needs to be separated enough so that no children can be hurt from the animals. He said they want to see the crime stats in other developments such as this one that is being proposed. He would like to see them put in some safe guards around the neighborhood.
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Tiffany Harris said this area is a jewel and once it is gone - it is gone. She has talked to numerous people in St. George and they are very opposed to this. This area needs to be reserved. She raises pigs on her property.
Milo Hughs purchased property out there 18 years ago. He said no one out there is in approval of this development. The area should be left agricultural.
Jim Raines said the question tonight is not the density it was decided a while back. The decision tonight is for this zone change and did they meet the criteria for what the City wants to see in this area. They did agree to install a fence along the south boundary line.
Assistant City Attorney Joseph Farnsworth said the standard the Planning Commission needs to follow is if this zone change is in the best interest of the City. So tonight Planning Commission needs to ask is this a reasonable request and is it in the best interests of the City and the Little Valley area. That’s the question the Planning Commission needs to answer.
Shannon Cutler spoke on the safety for the children to walk to school and the construction going on in Little Valley. She is also concerned about the amount of traffic as well.
Cameron Cutler said the HOA says they will regulate the parking on the street. He said it never happens. He would recommend a minimum road way width.
Close the public hearing at 6:50 p.m.
Council Member Shakespeare said she has some concerns about this project. She visited DayBreak subdivision when she attended Utah Cities Leagues. She said there are about 18-20 different builders and potential residents could pick up a larger lot or a smaller lot. The homes are not all the same. She is concern about what is being built around schools and she is also concerned about the crime rate. She said crime rate does rise when you have high density.
Commissioner Burks said the applicant has made a wonderful presentation. He thinks to create a situation such as this that it would eliminate horse property in this City which is not in the best interest to the City of St. George.
MOTION: Commissioner Burks made a motion to deny this zone change. Commissioner Hullinger seconded the motion.
Chairman Bracken voted nay Commissioner Burks voted aye
Commissioner Hullinger voted aye Commissioner Taylor voted aye
Commissioner Campbell voted aye Motion passes 4 to 1
Meeting adjourned at 7:00 p.m. |
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