Adam Allen with American Consulting and Engineering stated that that applicant is proposing to modify the zoning and land use designation to bring in some small single family homes and he presented a rough layout to give them an idea. They are hoping for attainable housing in that area. Rob Dalley stated that there is currently a commercial zone in the corner showing on the land use map. Bryan Pack stated they would have to do a rezone because it is RA-1, but pursuant to the land use, they could propose commercial there. Commissioner Dave Robinson stated it is nice to have the rough layout provided, but it can't be used as part of our decision today. Chair Pam Gardiol opened the Public Hearing. She stated she received some citizen letters about traffic congestion, speeding, possible two-story structures blocking views, backyard privacy, and asking the Commission to listen to the voices of the community. The Commission is bound by laws of the City and State and must be in alignment with ordinances and codes. Scott Cottam lives on Peaceful Lane and is opposed to the change. Traffic and parking is already a problem with the park if there are soccer or ball games. There are cars parked on both sides and it overflows into neighborhoods. People load and unload directly in traffic. It flows out onto the street. High Density will create more traffic as they always park in City streets. It is not contained within their own development and compounds the problem. Every house creates somewhere between 5-20 trips per day. 100 homes on 13 acres is 500 trips a day at least on City streets that are not built for it. Major arterial streets are made to handle that type of traffic, not these neighborhood streets that are already taxed. We come to Ivins looking for quiet and easy living. This is not an appropriate place for high density. He and his wife Shannon watched Jeff Foxworthy at Tuacahn and when he came on stage he noted the beauty of this place. He has been all over the world, and to every state in the nation. He stated that "you think you've seen it all, then you come to Ivins Utah. For heaven sakes don't ruin it." Lisa German lives on Peaceful Lane and asks that this application be denied. Her backyard faces Unity Park. She watches the ball games and watches her grandkids play from her yard. There are wall to wall cars that go into our subdivision. Some park in the dirt near the bamboo. She often sees children jet across the street. She sees children at the skateboard park sitting on the corner hanging out and spilling out onto the sidewalk. High density will be a detriment to that road. It is a safety issue to the kids that are playing. Cory Watkins lives on Legacy Trail and asked the Commission to deny the zone request and concurred with others. He added that there are a myriad of issues as high density becomes rentals. Those homes become a constant state of yard sales and the element that absentee landlords and homeowners bring. High density brings a higher level of crime and an extra load on police enforcement. Ivins is growing too fast. The housing development project on 200 West and Hwy 91 for Richmond Homes now has 24 single family homes there. They are move in ready. Not a single home is occupied. Unity Village has three homes vacant for the last six months. We have supply but not enough demand. Keep Ivins special. They retired here and want to keep it special. Jeff Wiita and his wife Lisa live on Peaceful Lane. He asked to deny the application, and don't ruin Ivins. It is a wonderful place. Gia Best stated that she lives on at 100 West and has for forty years. The bamboo will be gone, but she is concerned about the rentals. They have ten rentals and appreciate the City letting them put those in. Renters are a different element. They have had the cops called. We always have to ask them move their cars out of the road. A hundred homes there is dangerous. We end up with empty homes in a subdivision that is very enclosed. There is no telling what could happen. She is curious if any other subdivisions in Ivins of this size has this size of lots. She is concerned about property values and the element it will bring in will be different. They have experienced that themselves. Help keep Ivins the great place that it is to live. Charise Hunt lives on 135 South and if they made these homes a larger size, the homes surrounding it have two car garages and still have to park on the street. We weave in and out of parked cars all the way to Center Street. Maybe they need to make a deal with the City for some parking on that City Park portion and make things safer. She is happy to see the bamboo go and happy to get new neighbors. Debbie Keller lives at 300 South and stated that we are in a drought. Where does the water come from? Bryan Pack stated that no one was on Zoom. Michelle Cahill lives on Peaceful Lane and stated this is about the community and being respectful of the neighbors. Adam Allen didn't even know the street number. Where are the owners and why aren't they participating? Keep it Medium Density Residential. We still have four homes in Unity Village that she has not even seen anyone look at that have been built for over six months. High density brings a whole host of problems. Think this through. We show compassion for lower cost homes but Ivins has protected us from the ugliness of what high density does. Reach out to other communities. Speak with Gia Best that has lived here for forty years that has rentals. These will become rentals either on or off the books. A community can get crazy with crime when they are off the books. Approve either medium density residential or similar to Richmond American Homes. Lisa Wiita lives on Peaceful Lane and asked the Commission to put this application aside and not accept an approval for a period of time. Where are the people coming from to buy these homes? There are a lot of homes being built. Deny it now and bring it back when the housing situation gets better. Hearing no further comments, Chair Pam Gardiol closed the Public Hearing.
Chair Pam Gardiol stated that the Commission read the letters and she cited listening to the citizens. If you recall, we recently had a concerted effort regarding the General Plan to give the community a voice. The General Plan was with the Commission for two years of review before going to City Council and it was a significant investment. It is the guide for how we develop as a City. She reviewed the General Plan and in it, we need to be aware of the following seven items as we make our decision: Whatever the growth patterns, they need to benefit the City. Protect the vistas that compliment our community culture. Be good stewards of the land. Provide opportunities for future generations to live here. We are visitors on this land, and one day we will be gone and others will take our place. Ensure the distribution of densities across Ivins to foster balanced growth and promote a system of open spaces within neighborhoods and help connect residents with each other and with the natural environment. Encourage a cross section of economic and family situations for community inclusivity. Design a community that encourages organic connection, cluster developments to create opportunities for residents to interact within and outside of the neighborhood. In 1900 the State of Utah began marketing Washington County. We have been discovered. They are coming. Utah is a private property rights State which means each of us have the right to put on our land what they want within the laws and ordinances of the City, the County and the State. To reject that is a taking, and illegal. Commissioner Doug Clifford stated that we have an affordable housing crisis and it is a tremendous challenge for communities. We do need to address the fact that we have zero affordable housing in the community and there is tremendous pressure to create it within our community. It is great that you are all here, but your families can't live here. They can't live in Washington County. It is a tremendous problem. We need to look at how we are going to grow over time. There are people that work here in our community that can't afford to live here. People that have family in the veteran's home can't afford to live here. The Governor is pushing hard for cities to find ways to be inclusive and find a broader mix of housing. We need to find ways of developing higher density that doesn't look high density and attractive, but a smaller footprint of space. He is torn. It is a problem. What we try to find is situations when we have a large enough block of property that could have a higher density and not impact everything around it. As a larger area this could have a higher density and be self-contained in some way. Chair Pam Gardiol stated that the State has mandated that populations over 5,000 residents show substantive proof of how we are providing attainable housing within that community. We are trying to balance that. We need to invest in future generations that do not have the opportunity for real estate investments to create wealth as we all have. Commissioner Perry Brown stated that on this particular plan, with the exception of a couple small areas nearby it is all medium density housing on the land use, which was done with a lot of forethought to keep it compatible with other neighbors and the park itself. To the south and east, there are much larger areas that are on the land use plan as high density. The City has carefully plotted the land use plan map various parts of the City that could be high density and this is not one of those. In a development just west of Black Desert Resort, their proposed design has a considerable number of very small lots on the SITLA land. Those areas are places we can consider. Commissioner Dave Robinson stated we have high density property catercorner, and Unity Park is a PUD which is not medium density because of what a PUD allows. It is higher-density itself. We have spent hours upon hours to meet the State's mandate and he would much rather see homes than condos. There is a comment that triggers him, when people say they moved here because they wanted this area and now they don't want anyone else here. He has been here thirty years which was all small land. It was farmland and a trailer park. This City has grown from that with developments that have been done well allowing us all to live here. He lived in a starter home 900 ft and has grown into bigger homes. He lives a few blocks from this development. He is also affected. He understands the parking but if the land gets developed, the road gets developed with sidewalk, curb and gutter, paved roads and designated areas on two sides of that property, which makes a lot more sense that what is there right now. He has grandchildren and his kids can't afford to live here. We need to do something for our community, for our kids. Commissioner Brandon Weight stated that this body is required to recommend or deny based on facts. We have to separate feelings from the facts. The hard part of public hearings is there is a lot of feelings. Crime will go up, there is no proof of that. Homes will be dirty rentals. We don't know that. It is hard to absorb the information and produce a decision based on those comments. The City has ordinances that provides safety, curb gutter, sidewalks. Those are facts. He has a hard time not recommending approval because the fact is we should be in favor of the change. There is no proof to the contrary. Chair Pam Gardiol stated regarding the investment for future generations, we have a responsibility as we were fortunate enough to have the advantage of gaining property and growing in our income and lifestyle. Society has become more and more polarized and unable to listen to those that think differently than we do. For half a century, she lived in a home from 1910 and all homes on that street had giant front porches and there was a sense of a connection. Now we live behind walls and have lost the ability to interact with those who are not like us. A system is a collection of interdependent parts. Nobody does it alone. We are mandated by the State to create attainable housing and we want more connection within the community. This property is across the street from a park and catercorner from other high density and aligns with the elements of the General Plan as part of the findings and it makes sense. This is a place to put a high density use in the City. Commissioner Dave Robinson stated regarding water it is one hundred percent out of our hands. if the District tells them they have the water, we cannot deny that for them. The District has told them they can have that water. The other question was regarding traffic and movement. 200 West is a minor collection and 400 South is a major collector and they won't front either of those streets. There are larger traffic flows. Commissioner Brandon Weight stated those collector designations also have design guidelines associated with them as far as capacity. They have requirements to meet associated with that. They can't front these buildings to these roads. Rob Dalley stated high density can vary depending on what size zone the Commission recommends. HB 462 started in 2022 about attainable housing. We are mandated by the State to implement these types of units. Commissioner Doug Clifford stated that the Governor is trying to help us. We need variation for the community. We need to be more than just older, wealthy people. We can do an average density number and this screams as a planned development. Every exterior road is a collector. Chair Pam Gardiol stated it can't be part of the discussion. Commissioner Doug Clifford stated that this community will not have front yards anywhere on those streets. It will be an enclosed area for them to have some ingenuity building inside. We can't as a Planning Commission force them to solve the problems of the Park. Those need to be solved with the Park. That would be a total taking of the property. Rob Dalley stated he would have to speak with the Parks Department. We have an ordinance in place for 25 feet maximum building height, and it is pretty tough to do a two-story home. That alleviates that concern. Bryan Pack stated as the Commission makes their motion, please state your reasoning.
MOTION: Commissioner Dave Robinson moved to approve recommendation of a Concurrent Land Use Amendment from MDR (Medium-Density Residential) and Neighborhood Commercial to HDR (High-Density Residential) and a Zone Amendment from RA-1 (Residential Agriculture, minimum lot size 1 acre) to R-1-5 (Residential Single-Family, minimum lot size 5,000 square feet). Located at approximately 290 South 100 West. Carrol Winsor and Donald Alva Best Family Protective Trust. Sherrie Jean Best Jones-Successor Trustee-Owner. The Lofts Development, LLC-Applicant, based on State requirements and the adjacent properties, the need and community growth. Motion passed by split vote.
SECOND: Commissioner Brandon Weight
VOTE: The motion carried.
| Chair Pam Gardiol |
AYE |
| Commissioner Dave Robinson |
AYE |
| Commissioner Brandon Weight |
AYE |
| Commissioner Doug Clifford |
NAY |
| Commissioner Perry Brown |
NAY |