Mannkind Perspectives: 18-Apr-17: Rezone of Property to the West of the new Car Wash

Once again the most “popular” item on the agenda was a final vote on a rezone request for property located just to the west of the new car wash on Timpanogos Hwy from residential to professional office. This time only 22 residents attended the meeting (as opposed to 67 last time).

APPEARANCES

Rick Mullis: Rick lives in Beacon Hills and wants to purchase some open space behind his home in order to put a fence in adjacent to barbed a barbed wire fence which was put in behind his home on the other side of the open space. Rick was informed that there is a process in place for purchasing open space and that he needs to start be working with the Open Space Committee. Ed Dennis invited him to attend the next open space committee meeting.

Presentations

UTAH LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TRUST: Trust Accountability Program – Brent Oakeson: Brent presented Highland with award for participating in the Trust Accountability Program. Our participation earned Highland a 5% rebate on our liability premiums.

CONSENT

MOTION: Approval of Meeting Minutes for the City Council Work Session – March 14, 2017: Click here to view the minutes. Approved unanimously.
Approval of Meeting Minutes for the City Council Regular Session – March 21, 2017. Click here to view the minutes.. Approved unanimously.. Approved unanimously.

ACTION ITEMS

RESOLUTION: Approval of Intent to Annex 10.05 acres of Real Property located at 5901 West 10400 North – Day Annexation. Click here to view background info. We discussed the issue briefly. The city recorder confirmed that the property will be zoned R-1-40. The motion was approved unanimously.
MOTION: Preliminary Plat Approval for a 10 lot single Family Residential Subdivision located at 4800 West 11350 North – Stoney Brook, Plat B. Click here to view background info. The council discussed the location of the road which was stubbed to be a future south exit/entrance. It appeared the more logical location was on the east boundary of the property. This issue with the location is that the owner of the property south had no interest developing the land in the future so that next best alternative was to put the road on the boundary of the other properties south of the development. The motion was unanimously approved with the five stipulations recommended by the planning commission:
1. The final plat shall be in substantial conformance with the preliminary plat dated March 23, 2017.
2. Prospective homebuyers shall be informed by affidavit of the proximity of the existing gravel pit. A note shall also be placed on the final plat.
3. Final civil engineering plans to be reviewed and approved by the City Engineer.
4. All required public improvements shall be installed as per City Engineer’s approval and Highland City Standards and Specifications.
5. Water shall be dedicated as required by the Highland City Municipal Code and Development Code.
PUBLIC HEARING / ORDIANANCE: Approval of an Ordinance Amending the Land Use Designation of the General Plan from Low Density Residential to Office for the property located at 11020 North 5500 West – Requested by Garon Larsen. Click here to view background info from agenda. After listening to residents who by and large opposed the re-zone because of potential traffic issues, the potential for creeping commercial rezoning along SR 92 the council discussed the issue (more on the discussion in the next item) and voted 3 to 2 to approve the land use designation from Low Density Residential to office (for: Ed Dennis, Tim Irwin, Rod Mann; against Brian Braithwaite, Dennis LeBaron). Note, the planning commission recommended approval on a 4 to 2 vote.
PUBLIC HEARING / ORDIANANCE: Approval of an Ordinance to Re-Zone property located at 11020 North 5500 West from Single Family Residential, R-1-40 to Residential Professional (RP) Zone – Requested by Garon Larsen. Click here to view background info from agenda.

As we discussed how to mitigate the impact of the dental office on the residents one of the residents proposed putting a gate just north of the office property which could be opened by residents. This was an interesting idea but in the end the council did not support it. We did spend time discussing how to discourage northbound traffic and in the end elected to narrow the road just north of the office parcel and put signage indicating that this road was for residential traffic only.

Some residents had expressed concern about creeping commercial rezoning along SR 92. The council agreed to ask staff and the planning commission to look at SR 92 as a whole and make recommendations regarding zoning along the entire road. Note, most if not everyone present felt that best use of this property long term was commercial. The question was whether to wait for the study to be completed or approve this change now. Here are the reasons I supported going ahead with the project now.

(1) One of the stipulations agreed by the developer is that he will build an 8 ft. masonry wall along the north property boundary. This will reduce the current noise from SR 92 for property owners north of the office (a significant improvement). As far a commercial use goes the professional office would have the least impact of any of the options available. Why not lock in the best option now?

(2) By agreeing to the study the council has in effect said there will be no additional rezone considerations along SR 92 until the study is completed. I don’t see this study being finalized and any actions taken for at least 20 months.

(3) In narrowing the road and adding residential traffic only signs the city is mitigating an existing traffic issue for the residents. This will also serve as a test case for mitigating traffic issues on other roads.

(4) The present owner, a long time Highland resident, will be able to sell the property and is doing so believing that the new owner is developing it in the best way possible for Highland and the neighborhood. Note, they had turned down other offers from commercial developers.

(5) In terms of financial impact to the city putting an office in nets the city about $4,500 per year. Leaving it in residential costs the city (all of us) about $250 per year. A net win of nearly $5,000 per year for our budget. While by itself this would not have swayed my vote, it does show that there is a tangible benefit to the city. Note when the city is used we often think of it as an entity separate from us. In reality the city is us; we pay the taxes and fees that are used to pay for the services city staff provides us.
PUBLIC HEARING: Request to Vacate approx. 170 feet of the Right of Way located at 5500 West and SR92 – Requested by Resident Petition. Click here to view background info from agenda. The objective of this request was to close off 5500 West just north of the dental office. This had no support from the council and was not approved. The mayor did bring up asking UDOT if they would approve an access to the office property from SR92. While UDOT has already denied the request the council supported asking it again.