Garden City Planning And Zoning

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  October 4, 2013. The first item discussed by the Planning and Zoning Committee dealt with the conceptual and preliminary plat approval for phases 1 -5 of The Water’s Edge, a planned unit development at approximately 50 South Bear Lake Blvd. 

The developers were asked if they had been able to obtain a report from the Army Corp. of Engineers concerning the wet lands that exist on the development property.  Such a report will not be available for at least three to four months.  The developers had met with Danny White, the City Planner, along with Bryce Nielsen and Bess Huefner, a City Council Member, to determine what wetlands were involved in the subdivision and their locations.  Mr. Mecham noted that none of the buildings touch or are near to the wetland areas.

A meeting with UDOT had been held.  No diagonal parking would be placed in front of the development.  Parallel parking could be put into this area, but would not accommodate nearly as many cars as was originally planned.  UDOT is also going to move forward on a traffic study which will be made available to the City as soon as it has been completed.

Storm water retention was also a problem. A swale could be made to collect all storm water runoff on site to take care of this issue.  A berm could be built along the south edge of the development, then the 6' - 8' swale could be built.  A cement walkway down to the lakeshore would be placed next to this drainage area with parking next to the sidewalk.  A turnaround at the bottom of the lane would give cars and way to easily turn and come back up to Bear Lake Blvd.  All storm water from the roadway and street and sidewalk would drain over into the swale to the north.  All water from the hotel parking lot and development roadways would drain south into the swale.  A drainage easement needs to be obtained by the City to make sure that both parties are in agreement.

At the present time, no cars are to be parked on the beach.  Also, changes were made that make it necessary for all boat owners to launch from a harbor as well.  There is supposed to be no more beach launching.  This is going to force the City to get more parking lots along the streets closest to the lake–150 South being one of those streets.

Currently 439 stalls for parking are required by City ordinance to accommodate the number of individuals who will be staying at The Water’s Edge Development.  Forty Four of these stalls are required to be oversize so that boats, 4-wheeler trailers, and so forth can be parked on the site.  Also, some of the parking stalls are not quite the required 9' x 20' size. 

The commercial buildings along the east side of Bear Lake Blvd. can be up to 35' high.  However, as the subdivision moves closer to the lake side, the buildings appear to be 35' high, but because the land slopes down to the lake, the hotel will actually be about 50' in height.  In the past, it was determined that Mr. Mecham would buy the City a ladder truck that would be able to reach above the 50' height if there were an emergency at The Water’s Edge location.  However, the City ordinance requires that 35' is the maximum on the lakeshore side of the road.  As the buildings get closer to the water, the height actually goes down to 25'.  This ordinance was written so that the lake could be seen by everyone. 

It was noted that perhaps the Variance Committee could be approached to solve this dilemma by using what was called “reasonable and practical” solutions.  

After about a two hour discussion, the Committee approved phases 1-5 of The Water’s Edge Conceptual and Preliminary Plat with the following constraints that must be taken to the Variance Committee:     

1.      number and size of parking stalls

2.      oversize parking

3.      building heights

4.      development of swale, sidewalk, and parking on 150 South including the turnaround.  An easement between both parties should be written and agreed upon.

A letter from the Army Corp. of Engineers, the traffic study underway by UDOT, and other matters will continue to be worked on to make sure everything is in place as soon as possible.

The P&Z Committee then approved the change in Ordinance #13-13 requiring the City to withhold short term rental licenses from individuals living in HOA’s that do not allow short term rentals.  Because this motion requires the changing of an ordinance, it will need to be brought back to the committee next month for final approval.