Garden City Planning and Zoning

Randall Knight, Reporter.  Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  January 8, 2014.  The Planning and Zoning meeting was held as scheduled at 5:00 PM.  The board members in attendance were: Lance Bourne, Jim Stone, Nate Gracey, Mike Schiess, Susan House and Pat Argyle.  Dewayne Gifford was absent.

Lance Bourne and Pat Argyle were sworn in as board members.  Dewayne Gifford was not present so he will be sworn in at the next meeting.  Lance was nominated as the Chair and Mike as the Vice-chair.  It was also pointed out the Chair needs to cast a vote at all times and not just when there is a tie.  This will provide a voting record of their opinion as well as the board members.

Riley Argyle, Garden City Public Works, shared what he had learned about developers bonding requirements and coverage.  Bonds are for the whole project and not for subsections of the project as previously understood.  The current city policy is to bond only the infrastructure of a development and not for the whole project.  The new understanding is if the developer is unable to finish a project then the bonding company is obligated to finish the project they provided the bond for.  Further clarification is required for the town council to ensure what the bond is covering; i.e. is it really for the total project or can it be separated in phases.

George Peart, County Building Inspector, reviewed the status of the building permits.  He stated all projects are going according to their plans with no issues.  Pat Argyle asked if he had gone into the Waters Edge project area prior to any work being done.  He said he had not.  The board requested him to find out what the intention was for the work that was done prior to submitting for a building permit.  Apparently some trees and shrubs have been removed near the lake and they are not sure if approval had been requested and approved by the Corps of Engineers to improve the land which is most likely considered to be wet land.  George stated that 31 building permits were given for Garden City and approximately the same number for the county in 2013.  No permits have been requested for 2014.

A discussion took place about increasing the height for buildings in certain areas by rezoning or conditional use permits.  Lance thought the flat area between Bear Hollow and Lochwood could allow for higher buildings because it would not impact the view for the buildings on the ridge west of this area.  He also thought building sites bordering BLM land could be possible areas for height increase.  Further discussion will be held with the Town Council, working groups and public hearings. 

Under miscellaneous discussions it was pointed out the ordinances need clarification so that all citizens can read and understand them without any gray areas.  Mike recommended that when a motion is made the affected ordinance needs to be stated.  Lance said public input will be controlled more and not allowed to distract the board members or sidetrack the discussion except during public meetings.

Lance also stated that new information for proposals will not be allowed during meetings in the future, and the requirement to present all information to be reviewed be submitted a minimum of two weeks prior to the meeting to give board members time for review.  Pat  Argyle asked for clarification on a couple of items concerning Waters Edge and during those discussions Randall Knight, GCFD Secretary, asked Norm Mecham to attend the next Fire District meeting to ensure the new fire district board members are brought up to date on the plans and agreements that have been made.