St. George


City Council

Thursday, May 12,2011
Minutes



ST. GEORGE CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
WORK MEETING
MAY 12, 2011, 4:00 P.M.
ADMINISTRATION CONFERENCE ROOM

PRESENT:

Mayor Daniel McArthur
Councilmember Gloria Shakespeare
Councilmember Ben Nickel
Councilmember Jon Pike
Councilmember Gail Bunker
Councilmember Gil Almquist
City Manager Gary Esplin
City Attorney Shawn Guzman
Deputy City Recorder Judith Mayfield

Mayor McArthur called the meeting to order and welcomed all in attendance. Judith Mayfield led those in attendance in the pledge of allegiance and the invocation was offered by Reverend Alex Wilkie.

Mayor McArthur congratulated Marc Mortensen and all the other employees who participated in the Ironman Triathlon event.

Airport Manager Rick Crosman thanked the Mayor and Council, Gary Esplin and Larry Bulloch for the opportunities he has had in his role as Airport Manager.

DISCUSSION ON USES IN C-3 AND C-4 ZONES:

City Planner Ray Snyder stated staff was asked to do further research on this topic and he handed out a packet of information which included attachments from the City of Draper “Permitted and Conditional Uses Allowed in Commercial Zones (except CSD zones)”; Utah “Cities that Regulate Payday Lending Businesses through Zoning Ordinances”; United States “List of Payday Lender Ordinances”; Salt Lake City “Salt Lake City Ordinance No. 7 of 2009”; and, City of St. George Business License Department “A listing of check cashing and payday loan types of businesses located within the city”. He said the discussion was intended to determine if further zoning regulation amendments are required to clarify the appropriate location of businesses such as pawnshops, thrift shops, secondhand stores, consignment stores, antique stores and payday loan stores in the core downtown area. He said the staff recommendation was to change the existing category of “pawnshops/secondhand stores” in the ordinance into several more defined categories which would be: antique store; furniture and large appliances sales (used); pawnshop; thrift shop/secondhand store/consignment store; and, payday lending/title loans.

Councilmember Almquist asked Mr. Snyder to explain the difference between a C-3 zone and a C-4 zone.

Mr. Snyder explained the C-3 general commercial zone is located principally along major highways for maximum visibility to the public. To maximize traffic safety, property owners should work together to provide access, parking, etc., to adjacent parcels and access should be provided in a manner that will minimize the hazard of traffic leaving and entering major highways. The objective of the general commercial zone is to provide space within the city where nearly all types of commercial goods and services may be provided. Since the zone permits such a wide variety of uses, the protective features which zoning normally affords

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May 12, 2011
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to adjacent properties are mostly nonexistent. Owners should develop and maintain their property in recognition thereof.
The objective in establishing the C-4 central business district commercial zone is to identify a principal shopping and financial center within the city. Uses characteristic of the zone include banks, office buildings, public offices, hotels, theaters, and similar uses offering a wide variety of services. Residential above commercial/office/retail uses are allowed and are subject to specific design standards. The types of goods which may be offered for sale include "durable goods" such as automobiles, appliances, hardware and sporting goods as well as goods that may be found in the C-1 neighborhood convenience commercial zone. Since it is intended that the establishments within this zone will serve the entire city and surrounding area, this zone is located in the central portion of the city in a location that will best serve the population of the area.
Councilmember Gloria Shakespeare expressed concerns about the number of payday loan stores that are already in St. George and mentioned other cities that limit the number of those types of businesses.

Bob Nicholson wanted to clarify what the real concern it. He said he thought the problem is what the business does inside their building rather than the building.

Councilmember Jon Pike said if it’s a problem with the design or look of the building then they could address that issue.

Councilmember Gloria Shakespeare said it is an image problem. She said she thought the area was saturated with payday loan businesses.

Councilmember Gil Almquist said he was worried about the historic district and the look of the area if proliferated with payday loan businesses. He said there are certain requirements in the historical district that aren’t in other areas.

City Manager Gary Esplin agreed that it is an image issue. He stated he liked the idea of keeping a certain distance between the payday loan stores. He suggested 1,500 feet.

Councilmember Jon Pike stated he also prefers distance as a requirement.

Councilmember Gil Almquist stated distance is the easier. He said he didn’t want any in the historic district.

Councilmember Gloria Shakespeare suggested having a moratorium on the payday loan business along with regulating the others with distance.

City Manager Gary Esplin agreed with not having any of the payday loan business in the historic district and suggested looking at the distances between the other businesses being discussed.

Mayor McArthur asked staff to plot the locations for the payday and/or title loan stores and pawnshops on a zoning map and bring it back to a future work meeting.



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REVISION TO THE AIRPORT OVERLAY ZONE:

City Manager Gary Esplin said the staff had reviewed the Airport Overlay Zone standards and had some recommendations now that the replacement airport is completed.


Community Development Projects Coordinator Rob Nicholson distributed copies of the Proposed changes to the Airport Overlay Zone (Chapter 13D of Zoning Code). He said the they are requesting direction from the City Council on the following issues: building design standards; outside storage; design review process; major deletions from present OL Zone standards; design review for buildings backing against the Southern Parkway and within 200’ of the Southern Parkway; and proposed changes to the list of permitted and conditional uses within the ASBP, AVI, and C-RM (commercial mixed-use) zones.

Councilmember Gil Almquist said if a solid concrete wall is poured it should be a requirement that it either be colored or textured.

Councilmember Jon Pike stated he would like to see the staff take care of new commercial buildings located on the airport property that are smaller than 20,000 sq. ft.

Bob Nicholson said because the proposed changes are to the Zoning Code, public hearings are required before both the Planning Commission and the City Council.

Public Works Director/City Engineer Larry Bulloch distributed a proposed airport overlay zone map that he said would reduce the overlay zone significantly.

City Manager Gary Esplin stated they would put the zone map over the airport overlay zone map so they could identify any potential conflicts. He said staff would make the requested changes and they would bring it back one more time to the City Council for their review.

REQUEST FOR TEMPORARY SIGN:

Councilmember Jon Pike said the Doctor’s Volunteer Clinic had requested permission to put up an 8’ x 12’ temporary sign for 2 weeks to promote their annual fund raiser. He stated they would want approval to do this every year for a week or two.

The City Council agreed to allow them to have the temporary sign up for 2 weeks annually.
DISCUSSION ON DOWNTOWN PARKING:

City Manager Gary Esplin said that staff had been asked to look at the downtown area and determine whether angled parking would be possible on some of the streets in order to provide additional parking spaces for the businesses and also to reduce the speed of traffic.

Transportation Services Manager Cameron Cutler presented several power point slides that showed current parallel parking and how many spaces could be added by going to angled parking. He explained on the east side of Main Street parking could be increased from 23 spaces to 37 spaces. He stated below Tabernacle there were too many driveways for any type of angled parking. He said on 100 East they could go on either side of the road but not on both sides. On 400 East and Tabernacle parking spaces could increase by 4 spaces. On


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May 12, 2011
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100 West between the Boulevard and Tabernacle there are too many driveways. On 700 East they would go from approximately 78 spaces to 124 on the east side of the street.

Councilmember Gil Almquist asked Mr. Cutler to do some research on whether backing into angled parking spaces reduced traffic accidents.

Mr. Cutler stated he would do that research and report back.

City Manager Gary Esplin asked Mr. Cutler to also look at the possibility of angled parking north of the Boulevard at 100 West.

Mayor McArthur stated they should go ahead with the angled parking but to make sure they talk to the businesses that will be affected before they make the changes.

DISCUSSION ON THE 2011-2012 FISCAL BUDGET:

City Manager Gary Esplin distributed a proposed budget and presented a power point presentation that covered the City’s revenues and major expenditures. He stated the Department Heads would be available to attend the next two work meetings to answer any questions.

ADJOURN:

MOTION: A motion to adjourn was made by Councilmember Almquist.
SECOND: The motion was seconded by Councilmember Pike.
VOTE: Mayor McArthur called for a vote, as follows:

Councilmember Pike - aye
Councilmember Almquist - aye
Councilmember Bunker - aye
Councilmember Shakespeare - aye
Councilmember Nickle - aye




________________________________
Judith Mayfield, Deputy City Recorder