Mannkind Perspectives: Highland City Council Preview: July 6, 2021

I love the ending of the 2-Minute Tuesday summary of our last council meeting. We nearly had another highly qualified candidate for mayor Smile

The most interesting items on the evenings agenda from my point of view are:

the work session discussion with DR Horton regarding the development of their property on the NE side of Micron (now Texas Instruments).
the discussion of options for the all-abilities playground to be constructed as part of Mountain Ridge Park.

This meeting will be held at city hall but we will also stream it on our YouTube channel (click here to watch).

You can find an abbreviated meeting agenda together with my thoughts below. The complete agenda (85 pages) which includes the staff reports associated with each item can be accessed by clicking here.

Highland City Council Agenda
Tuesday, July 6, 2021
6:00 PM work session / 7:00 PM council meeting

Virtual Participation

YouTube Live
Zoom: Call 1-346-248-7799 Meeting ID: 853 0302 1178
Email comments prior to meeting: council@highlandcity.org

The time and duration listed at the end of agenda items is my guess as to the start time of this item and how long it will run..

6:00 PM WORK SESSION

This will be a discussion with DR Horton regarding the development of their property north-east of Micron. DR Horton will review current plan for their property adjacent to Highland. Review the changes they’ve made from their original plan based on our (Highland elected officials and resident) input, discuss costs, and respond to council questions. 109 of the 189 acres they are planning to develop are located in the county and are part of Highland’s annexation policy plan. Lehi and Highland entered into a boundary agreement in 1999 which identifies the 109 acres as intended to be in Highland. DR Horton has submitted a request to Lehi to have the 109 acres annexed into Lehi and Lehi’s mayor and city council have indicated that they will go through the process to annex the property. We can contest the annexation but based on my research the odds are that they property owner’s decision will prevail.

There are pros and cons to both sides of the question as to whether the property should annexed into Highland or Lehi. Regardless of whether the property gets annexed into Lehi or Highland I am a fan of developments that include “active adult” subdivisions. These serve a growing part of our community, have low impacts on our schools, reduce traffic, and general have a lower impact on city services that other types of residential development (the exception being emergency medical services).

As mentioned DR Horton has updated it’s original plan. Here is the current concept plan:

This will be a discussion between the council and DR Horton. Comments regarding the work session discussion may be made during the unscheduled public appearances portion of the council meeting.

7:00 PM COUNCIL MEETING

UNSCHEDULED PUBLIC APPEARANCES: 7:00 (30 minutes)
Time has been set aside for the public to express their ideas, concerns, and comments. Comments are limited to 3 minutes.
CONSENT ITEMS 7:30 PM (10 minutes)
Items on the consent agenda are of a routine nature or have been previously studied by the City Council. They are intended to be acted upon in one motion. Council members may pull items from consent if they would like them considered separately.

Approval of the June 1, 2021 Council Meeting minutes Administrative
Approval of a request from the library to reduce size of the library board from 9 to 7 members. Legislative. Note the library board work load has been reduced over the last couple of years in part due to an invigorated Friends of the Library.
Approval of a perpetual utility easement with Workman Farms, LLC to facilitate the construction of a gravity sewer line project. Legislative.

PUBLIC HEARING/ORDINANCE: TEXT AMENDMENT – ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS Legislative 7:40 (10 minutes)
Staff has proposed changes to Section 3-624 of the development code to make it consistent with House Bill 82 which was passed by the legislature this year. Here is a summary of the change request:
- The proposed amendment includes the definition for an accessory dwelling unit found in Chapter 10 Definitions:
  An accessory dwelling unit is a room or set of rooms in a single-family home in a single-family zone that has been designed or configured to be used as a separate dwelling unit, which has a separate kitchen, living/sleeping area, and sanitation facilities, and has been established by permit.
  The amendment clarifies the difference between an ADU and a short-term rental. A unit is considered a short-term rental if the renting/subleasing of the unit is for a period of less than 30 consecutive days. Short term rentals require a business license.
- The proposed amendment prohibits ADUs on lots less than 6,000 square feet.
- A minimum of one (1) off-street parking space shall be required.
PUBLIC HEARING/ORDINANCE: TEXT AMENDMENT – CONDITIONAL USE UPDATE Legislative 7:50 (15 minutes)
Staff has proposed several changes in Chapter 4 Conditional Use Procedure in the Development Code to be consistent with House Bill 409 which was passed by the legislature this year. Here is a summary of the change request:
- The proposed amendment eliminates the requirement to hold a public hearing for a conditional use permit.
- General review criteria were added to clarify what the Planning Commission and City Council shall review when recommending or approving a conditional use permit (see proposed amendment for details):
  a. The site of the structure or use.
  b. The impact of the proposed building or use on surrounding uses.
  c. Conditions relating to safety of persons and property.
  d. Conditions relating to health and sanitation.
  e. Conditions relating to environmental issues
- Below is a comparison of the old state mandated process for lot line adjustment with the new one:
PUBLIC HEARING/ORDINANCE: TEXT AMENDMENT – PARCEL BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENTS, LOT LINE ADJUSTMENTS, AND PLAT AMENDMENTS Legislative 8:05 (10 minutes)
Staff has proposed several changes to amend several sections of the Development Code related to parcel boundary adjustments, lot line adjustments, and plat amendments to be consistent with House Bill 409 which was passed by the legislature this year. Note, a change was made to the proposed amendment based on a Planning Commission’s recommendation. Staff added a clarification under 5-10-103 (5a) Grounds for Vacating a Street or Right-of-Way. This clarifies that the City Council does not have to adopt an ordinance or approve a plat to vacate a trail or easement.
AGREEMENTS: PROPERTY PURCHASE AGREEMENT WITH GREGORY ROWE AND REIMBURSEMENT AGREEMENT WITH UTAH COUNTY Legislative 8:15 (15 minutes)
The City Council will consider a request for a property purchase agreement with Gregory Rowe and reimbursement agreement with Utah County to facilitate the purchase of ± 0.158 acres of property located at the southwest corner of SR92 and North County Boulevard. Once we have paid for the property the county will reimburse us for it and dedicate it UDOT. We did it this way because UDOT did not have a convenient way to purchase this property. The property owner was going to build a rental unit on this property (it was part of a developable lot). This was a good catch by city staff and kudos to MAG staff for coming with a work-around to resolve the purchase in a timely manner so that we could make this happen. Note, in the diagram below N is to the right and W is up.
DISCUSSION: MOUNTAIN RIDGE ALL ABILITIES PLAYGROUND 8:30 PM (45 minutes)
The City Council will discuss the options for equipment to be placed in the Mountain Ridge all abilities playground.
MAYOR/COUNCIL AND STAFF COMMUNICATION ITEMS 9:15 PM (15 minutes)