Kevin Rudd displayed the plat of the Old Township block, indicated the location of the parcels and noted that the parcels have one tax identification number. The property consists of approximately 3.5 acres. Zoning is regulated by the Land Use Plan which is part of the General Plan. This property is Medium Density Residential on the Land Use Plan. There are three zones allowed in Medium Density Residential which are RE-12.5 (Residential Estates minimum lot size 12,500 sq ft), R-1-10 (Single Family minimum lot size 10,000 sq ft) and R-1-7.5 (Single Family minimum lot size 7,500 sq ft). The proposed zone does qualify under the Land Use Plan. The Commission is discussing the density. It is not a discussion on what the subdivision would like or what the homes would look like. That's another process whereby a subdivision plan is submitted and a public hearing would be set to give the residents another opportunity to comment. This body will make a recommendation to the City Council. If a recommendation is made at this meeting, the City Council will have a public hearing on March 21, 2013. The residents will also receive notification of that meeting.
Commissioner Benson asked how many lots could be developed based on these two densities.
Jay Page advised that he is proposing 15 homes on the property on a Concept plan.
Kevin Rudd advised that the lots average approximately 9,000 square feet but reminded them that we cannot discuss Concept Plan only density.
Commissioner Scott opened the Public Hearing.
Ellen Ence commented that a 7,500 square foot lot is okay for one or two houses but asked what protection they would have that the development might change and all the lots would be 7,500 square feet. We have seen this happen in other areas with starter homes. The homes are good for the first few years. Then the family grows and moves into a larger home, and the neighborhood goes down. That's our concern.
Steve Roberts lives across the street from this property and is excited to see the development going in because their lots have been pounded by tumble weeds. The concern is that 7,500 square foot lots are small when surrounded by 10,000 plus square foot lots. Everyone would be glad if the lots were 10,000 square feet. If the developer only did a few of the lots at 7,500, it would be okay but again once it is approved it could be sold to another developer. He recommended R-1-10 zoning.
Jenny Johnson lives next door to the property and agrees with Steve Roberts about being excited about the development but she doesn't want the small lots and homes.
Mindy Ronberger lives across the street and she too is excited about not having the tumble weeds but the 7,500 lots are too small. The lots on each side of the property are 12,500 plus and she asked that it be kept within the same square feet as the existing lots to keep the lots unified. She asked the Commission not to go below 10,000 square foot lots.
Amy Miller lives south of the development and agreed with what has been said. We keep referring to the Old Township, and she would like to keep it that way. She asked to keep the size of lots they have because it is a historical part of Ivins. If we keep it at 10,000 to 12,000 square foot lots, it would help to keep the area uniform; our properties would look similar and look good for downtown Ivins.
Alice Hunt asked what the square footage equates to on her lot which is one-third of an acre because she was unable to compare it with her lot.
Kevin Rudd advised that 10,000 square feet is a little less than a quarter acre.
Alice Hunt agrees that it should be kept at 10,000 square foot lots and in keeping with the historical township.
Charice Hunt lives in the top floor of the Hunt's and want the neighbors to be similar in property size and not have two houses behind them.
Jay Page stated that his parents have owned the property since 1969. His parents passed away and he feels it is time to develop the property and improve the whole area. The 7,500 square feet lots are something we looked at because of economics. He could take the property and run six lots with the 12,500 square feet. The problem is with that size of lots the lots would be long narrow lots. Consequently, there would be a lot of weeds of which the neighbors want to get rid of, and it's not going to happen with that much property. He developed a plan to run some lots across the north end and come with a cul-de-sac through the center. All the lots will not be 7,500 square because the zoning requires a 75 foot frontage. There is a minimum 75 foot frontage on the lots going up the cul-de-sac, and he cannot control the depth. If it goes according to plan, some lots will be 9,000, some at 10,500 and some around 8,000 square feet. The 7,500 square foot zoning is needed to adjust the plan. He wants to improve the City as much possible, and he commended the City for putting in the curb and gutter. It improved the City tremendously. The houses will be nice homes, beneficial to the City, and your children will be able to buy them. The problem is the new home buyer cannot afford to buy, and this would help some of our children to purchase homes. They will not be cheap homes but nice quality homes.
Ellen Ence asked if he was going to develop these homes the way he says will happen, or can he turn around and sell the property and then we will be stuck with 7,500 square foot lots.
Vice Chair Scott advised that he could sell the property and whatever it is zoned for is what would be allowed on the property.
Jenny Johnson reiterated that his idea is awesome if it went through the way he says. However, there is no guarantee that will happen and asked that the Commissioners consider that fact. We don't want to see 7,500 square foot lots.
Jay Page explained that the way the property is laid out with 7,500 square foot minimum lots, it requires a 75 foot frontage. Running a cul-de-sac up through the property is the only feasible way but with a 75 foot frontage it does not allow 7,500 square foot lots because the lots would be too long. He plans to take it to the recording stage with all the lots. Then, he may sale it or may not. He's been in the development in the past but doesn't want to put up with building. He will probably sale if he can find a decent buyer but he plans on recording it as a subdivision. Then any developer is stuck with the subdivision.
Vice Chair Scott closed the Public Hearing.
Commissioner Anderson explained that he recently went through a similar type of Zone Change and understands the dilemma with the City's zoning. The Mayor recently suggested an overlay so that developers don't have to jump so far with our zone changes. When designing a subdivision, a minimum lot size has to be met and in this developer's design it might be 10,000 square foot lots but there might be one that's not that size. So he tries to design a cul-de-sac to make it fit but if he doesn't do it, someone else could change that theory. It puts a developer in a bad situation. Commissioner Anderson gave an example of his recent Zone Change from RE-25 to RE-20. When trying to design it with the frontage and cul-de-sac it makes it complicated. However, if he decided to sell it and rezone it someone might be more creative. In previous meetings we've talked about having smaller lots in the middle of properties. As per Steve Roberts 10,000 square foot lots is a good number. 80% of the property would allow 17 lots at 7,500 square foot lots but he has designed 15 lots. Based on 10,000 square feet it equates to 13 lots. The problem is designing each lot to be 10,000 square feet which is tough. He has sympathy for both parties.
Commissioner Loris asked if the City would allow the applicant to run a street through the property.
Kevin Rudd stated that would be the preferred design rather than a cul-de-sac. The road would be a fifty (50') foot road and it would leave 115 feet on each side. The minimum width on an interior lot is 75 feet and on the corner 80 feet but it would not allow 7,500 square foot lots with those calculations. However, it would allow 10,000 square foot lots on the corners and 9,000 square foot lots on the interior.
Commissioner Anderson stated he would still have to have an R-1-7.5 zone to get that design.
Kevin Rudd mentioned that there is an agenda item to be discussed on lot averaging.
Commissioner Anderson stated with the lot averaging he could get his average lots.
Kevin Rudd stated that lot averaging would go with a subdivision plan. If he got 10,000 square foot zoning, it would allow him to go below 10,000 square feet as long as the average lot size is 10,000 square feet. It works well on larger parcels and would have to be some sort of overlay zone.
Vice Chair Scott stated that it's putting the cart before the horse because we don't have the lot averaging overlay. There are three zones that fit within the Land Use Plan of Medium Density which is RE-12.5, R-1-10 and R-1-7.5. The Medium Density range is 2.33 to 4.64 units per acre.
Commissioner Benson asked if they can recommend R-1-10 zone.
Commissioner Anderson stated that the Commission can deny the application and recommend a R-1-10 zoning.
Commissioner Loris calculated the lots based on running the road from 100 South to 200 South, as recommended by the City Engineer, with a minimum width of 75 foot frontage, the applicant would have 14 lots at approximately 10,000 square feet instead of 15 lots at approximately 9,000 square feet.
Kevin Rudd advised that the neighbor's lots on both sides of the property are over 12,000 square feet.
Vice Chair Scott noted that the applicant doesn't want to build lots as small as 7,500 feet and from a practical standpoint he cannot build lots at 7,500 square feet but that's what he needs to have the flexibility to build what he wants to build.
Commissioner Loris and Commissioner Anderson did some additional calculations of the roads, right-of-ways and frontage. 7,500 square feet is the minimum the applicant can get under that zone but it would not be feasible to have lots less than 9,000 square feet because of the frontage, etc. If the road goes straight through with approximately 78 foot frontage X 120, it equates to approximately 9,360 square feet with a total of 14 lots and even with the cul-de-sac and three lots on First South, the cul-de-sac lots would be around 9,000 square feet which is a total of 15 lots. R-1-10 zone would allow 12-13 lots.
Commissioner Anderson would develop it as a cul-de-sac because it creates a nicer subdivision. The City likes continuity but most people like living on a cul-de-sac because it's more private.
Commissioner Loris stated that the applicant cannot feasibly do 7,500 square foot lots. It's not available to the applicant because of the minimum size requirements under that zone. 10,000 square foot lots are not as feasible or an economical process to get the maximum lots for the applicant, but the Commission could take into account the residents because he will be around 9,000 square feet. The lots won't be 10,000 or 12,500 square feet but the lots won't be small lots
Kevin Rudd noted that if the applicant does a cul-de-sac there would be three (3) lots facing 100 South that's 7500, 7,600 and 8,000 square foot lots and those would be the smallest in the subdivision.
Commissioner Loris stated if he follows the recommendation of the City Engineer with the road going straight through, it can't be less than 9,000 square feet but with the three lots on 100 South there would be small lots compared to the other lots in the area. If we recommended R-1-7.5 zone, it would push those lots to be smaller.
Commissioner Benson noted that Kensington Court Subdivision is fairly dense which is across from 100 South. Having the smaller lots on 100 South makes more sense than if it was on 200 South but we cannot guarantee that will happen. He was comfortable with the intentions but not with the risk of going to R-1-7.5 zone and being creative.
Commissioner Loris stated that the land is not large enough to be very creative. If you put more roads in you are wasting your money. Putting in smaller lots to get that creative, you would be wasting your money and lose lots. According to the minimum City requirements he could not put in 7,500 square foot lots because there is a 75 foot minimum road access.
Commissioner Anderson noted that Kensington Court is multi-family.
Commissioner Loris stated that the risk for the three (3) lots is 7,500 square foot lots but the remaining area has to follow the width requirement of approximately 9,000 square feet. He was inclined to favor the R-1-7.5 zoning because it would benefit both the developer and the residents in the area.
Commissioner Benson favored the R-1-10 zoning because of the risk with the R-1-7.5 zone. They could choose anywhere to put the smaller lots.
Commissioner Anderson favored the R-1-10 zone because of lots surrounding this property.
Commissioner Loris agreed that the R-1-10 would make all the lots be consistent in size but he is already forced to bump the lots up to 9,000 square feet. He would lose a lot with R-1-10 which is not that much difference.
Vice Chair Scott favored the R-1-10 zone. It is an awkward situation because we aren't approving a series of 7,500 square foot lots.
MOTION: Commissioner Lance Anderson moved to recommend denying the application on Proposed Zone Change from RE-12.5 (Residential Estates minimum lot size 12,500 sq ft) to R-1-7.5 (Single Family Residential minimum lot size 7,500 sq ft) and recommended R-1-10 to the City Council on property located at approximately 50 West between 100 South and 200 South. Walter G. Page Trust, owner, and Jay C. Page applicant
SECOND: Commissioner Todd Benson
VOTE: The motion carried unanimously.
| Commissioner Lance Anderson |
AYE |
| Commissioner Todd Benson |
AYE |
| Commissioner Jeffrey Loris |
AYE |
| Commissioner Mike Scott |
AYE |
| Chair Adel Murphy |
ABSENT |