Garden City Council Meeting

Anita Weston, Reporter

Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  March 8, 2018. Claudia Conder, Water Consultant and Real Estate Agent, requested a business license.  Her business will be located at 10 South Bear Lake Blvd. in the Vista Realty Office.  The license was approved with the condition that this business be inspected by the fire marshal.

The Spuhlers asked that Bear Lake Water Adventures business be granted a license to conduct a concessionaire business at the Garden City Park/Beach.   Leo Spuhler will be operating this business that is owned by Lance Bourne.  This is the third year this business has been handled by Leo.  It was noted that there be no storage in city facilities by this operation. The concessionaire license was granted.

Leonard and Sidney O’Reilly requested a short-term rental license for their current home.  The Property Manager will be Bear Lake Condo Rentals, LLC.  This home is located at 583 Aspin Dr. in Buttercup.   The license was approved.

Brook and Mieka Bateson have a home at 477 Raspberry Patch Road.  They also requested a short-term rental license.  It was approved.

Jerry and Pam Harper requested that the City encumber lots 1 and 2 in Buttercup Mobile Home Estates, lots 41-21-320-0001 and 41-21-320-0002.  They want to place a 1300 square foot double wide trailer on the property as a vacation home and build a garage on the other lot.  It was noted that these two lots can not be unencumbered in the future.  The request was approved.

Derek Eliason requested that lots 24 and 25 be encumbered.  These lots are in Raspberry Patch Estates unit 2.  The lots numbers are 41-17-050-0024 and 41-17-050-0025.  The home to be built there is large enough that both lots are needed.  The encumbrance was approved.

The ordinances that were discussed and passed by the Planning and Zoning Commission were sent to the City Council for their approval. 

Ordinance #18-03 is an ordinance changing the definition of Open Space.  After a brief discussion the Council approved this ordinance.

Ordinance #18-04 is an ordinance changing the percentage of open space required within subdivisions and PUDs (Planned Unit Developments).   The Council asked that the wording in this ordinance be reworked so that it is easier to understand.  This ordinance will be sent back to the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Ordinance #18-05 is an ordinance defining an accessory building.  After a discussion, the Council noted that this ordinance had no fee connected to this item. They wanted more information about the size of the buildings that may or may not be allowed, and it appeared that no clarity concerning what does and does not need a building permit.  This ordinance will also be returned to the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Ordinance #18-02 deals with accessory buildings in commercial zones.  It was noted that a conditional use permit is required when an accessory building is placed in a commercial zone.  The Council felt this ordinance also needed further discussion and will be returning it to the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Ordinance #18-06 covers residential storage structures.  The Council made the motion and passed this ordinance.

Resolution #18-02 changes the amount of mileage reimbursement when City employees travel.  The amount was changed to 53 cents a mile which is the same amount used by the State of Utah.  The amount that has been used for the past several years was 45 cent a mile.  This resolution passed.

The City Council Meeting then was suspended to hold a Public Hearing.

In the Public Hearing, an employee from Cody’s Restaurant asked if it would be possible to use their catering license to sell drinks and other food items on their property down by the lake shore during the summer months.  After a short discussion, the Council decided they needed to look further into this request before deciding.

Also, the public was invited to discuss and hear about the $350,000 interim loan that the City will need to obtain to complete Third West between Logan Road and Buttercup this coming summer.  This loan is needed so that the work can be completed.  When the road is done, the state will give the City this amount of money which will pay off this loan.

A comment was made by one of the individuals in the audience who said, “It is a good thing!  The road will be great.”

The motion was made to return to the City Council Meeting.

Matt Nielson presented his plans to build a PUD (Planned Unit Development) located between 100 West and 300 West at approximately 75 north.  This project will consist of 14 buildings with 54 units.  The name of this PUD will be Bear Lake Escape.  This item was approved by the City Council with the stipulation that it be rezoned to a PUD at the next P&Z Meeting.  The second step to this project was to be divided the construction into phases 1, 2, and 3.  The Council also approved this approach to the building of this project. 

During the discussion to this planned development, it was determined that a walking path be included which will be constructed with asphalt about 8’ wide to accommodate not only individuals in the PUD, but any other individuals walking or biking through this area.  It was also determined that an HOA will be created when the area is developed to take care of maintenance of the path, removal of snow in the winter, and other items that are necessary to keep this area in good shape.

It was noted that Planning and Zoning requested that this project to changed to a PUD instead of a subdivision.  They were unable to make the change in their meeting because it was not on the agenda.  However, they asked that Nielson come to the next P&Z meeting in April to make this change. 

Pat Argyle noted that the long red building just above the cemetery is in bad shape.  The roof has collapsed in one area, and the building itself needs an entire redo.  The individual who owns this building said that he would fix it up to look nice if he could use it as a storage building.  He noted that he would only use it for inside storage and would not allow any items to be stored outside.  He owner would, of course, need a business license.  A variance or zone change would also have to take place.  However, because this building is right on the curve coming down into the City, fixing it up to look nice would be a tremendous improvement and would give a much more positive impression for people coming into the valley.  The Council asked Argyle to get the owner to bring some possible plans as to how this building could be improved to the next meeting so that the Council could see how this building would be changed.