The meeting was called to order at
05:30 p.m. All present included
Chair Pam Gardiol,
Commissioner Doug Clifford,
Commissioner Dave Robinson,
Commissioner Perry Brown,
and Commissioner Brandon Weight.
Dave Nasal stated that this application is for a seventy lot subdivision. We have worked through this with Staff regarding what City Council wanted us to include, specifically ultra-efficient water, a twenty foot height restriction, colors, and we got rid of parking that was going to be on the southwest corner next to Unity Park. That all got put into a development agreement with the City. Rob Dalley stated this preliminary plan has been rezoned and they have been great developers willing to work with the City to bring us a good product. This development agreement meets what Council asked them for. TRC recommends approval.
MOTION: Commissioner Perry Brown moved to approve Solterra Preliminary Plan, located at approximately 290 South 100 West. GVS Holdings, LLC/Clove Family Investments, LLC-Owner. The Lofts Development, LLC-Applicant based upon staff findings and alignment with the City Council development agreement requirements. Roll Call Unanimous.
SECOND: Commissioner Dave Robinson
VOTE: The motion carried unanimously.
| Chair Pam Gardiol |
AYE |
| Commissioner Doug Clifford |
AYE |
| Commissioner Dave Robinson |
AYE |
| Commissioner Perry Brown |
AYE |
| Commissioner Brandon Weight |
AYE |
Dustin Garr stated that he owns New Wave Construction. They have spent a number of months working through this project and this represents the best use of this land. Along Hwy 91 they addressed line of sight setback challenges and adjusted their amenities. There are thirty-three units along Hwy 91 and those have a primary bedroom on the main and they are townhome style units. The rest of the project has fifty-three units that are bedrooms on the second floor and resort-style amenities and a Short-Term Rental Overlay. Commissioner Dave Robinson stated we haven't landlocked any of the interior lots? 800 South goes all the way to Hwy 91. Rob Dalley stated that road does not continue through. It is a dead-end road. Dustin Garr stated that the Collin's property driveway is already in. Commissioner Perry Brown inquired what will the ownership be? Dustin Garr stated fall under a professional management company and on-site office. Development agreement and Conditional Use Permit and be brought to you in February. Chuck Gillette stated they intend to sell them. They will fall under a professional management company for the short-term rentals. Those could be investors or homeowners. Commissioner Doug Clifford inquired if the management company will be on-site? Dustin Garr stated it will be a local on-site management company. Chuck Gillette stated if you approve the Preliminary Plan they would need it to be contingent on an approved Development Agreement and Conditional Use Permit. Jared Bates with Rosenberg stated that the first phase will be on the southeast entrance, the first four buildings and the pool and amenity area. The second phase will be the units to the north depending on sales, or to the west. Then along Hwy 91. The last phase will be in the northwest corner.
MOTION: Commissioner Dave Robinson moved to approve Aventura Preliminary Plan, located at approximately 800 South Main Street. Aventura at Ivins, LLC-Owner. Rosenberg Associates-Applicant contingent upon Council's Development Agreement and Conditional Use Permit approval and based upon Staff findings. Roll Call Unanimous.
SECOND: Commissioner Perry Brown
VOTE: The motion carried unanimously.
| Chair Pam Gardiol |
AYE |
| Commissioner Doug Clifford |
AYE |
| Commissioner Dave Robinson |
AYE |
| Commissioner Perry Brown |
AYE |
| Commissioner Brandon Weight |
AYE |
Rob Dalley stated that we have to move quick on this item. It is an aggressive timeline and we have a lot coming up to meet our goals for the year. We don't want to take up too much time and get bogged down. Meetings 1 and 2 will be determining requirements. Meetings 3 is reviewing and refining the draft ordinance. Meetings 4 and 5 is the public hearing and final recommendation to City Council. Some meetings may go longer. This is doable. Chair Pam Gardiol stated that each of these items need to be put into context and it will depend situationally. This is a guideline to make sure we address what needs to be addressed. Key policies included eligibility, density, open space, lot size and design, compatibility and design and we need criteria against which to make those decisions so thank you for providing the guidelines for that discussion. It will help us to make substantive responses. If she doesn't know enough about something to create a response, the guidelines are helpful in that regard.
Rob Dalley stated that it is in ordinance form with his comments on the side. This is a PUD-R zone with his redlines and he hopes they read through this to see if there are things that need to be added. Chair Pam Gardiol stated line 81 regarding landscape plans "showing the general location of lawn areas, shrubs, trees, and fencing shall be submitted. This may be part of site or plat plan." The General Plan talks about organic open space. She suggests we add that. Line 75 says "common and open spaces," but organic is different. Rob Dalley stated 3000 square foot lots with 1000 square foot home leaves roughly five feet down each side. He has to require landscape on those sides. We already have that as a requirement. He doesn't know how enforceable "organic" is. Everyone wants a privacy wall to keep their children contained in their yard. Chair Pam Gardiol stated if we said that the landscaping plan looks at building in some organic elements that are already there to expand what landscaping looks like. Rob Dalley stated on the building side he can only ask for the landscape plan square footage and how much they are watering. Chair Pam Gardiol stated that makes her sad. On line 168 regarding height restrictions it states "no building shall be erected to height greater than 35 feet." Rob Dalley stated he wants that height down to 25 feet. That is what our current code states. Chuck Gillette stated this is someone else's code and we want to modify it. Commissioner Dave Robinson inquired if 35 feet is Commercial and Multi-Family? Rob Dalley stated yes and there are old parts of town you can still build up to 35 feet. Commissioner Perry Brown stated on small lots we need to get setbacks a little bit tighter. Rob Dalley stated that if he goes closer than ten feet between buildings he actually costs people money. The goal is to make attainable housing for people. To get homes any smaller you'd have to do a one-hour fire rating and that costs a fortune and defeats the purpose. Chair Pam Gardiol stated that Line 217 regarding "The density and building scale of the proposed units are similar in scale to an adjoining developed parcel or is considered in scale with the surrounding area and fits harmoniously into the neighborhood." What does harmonious mean? We have had discussions that we want to align with zoning around it. The Unity Park development we just saw this evening shows there is a benefit to mixing uses. Does harmonious mean fluidity or does it have to mirror what is adjacent to it? Rob Dalley stated this is to lessen the impact to a neighbor. The development adjacent to it should be able to flow and mix. Flex zoning is the new buzz word. Chair Pam Gardiol stated she is just concerned it does not become cookie-cutter on both sides. Commissioner Dave Robinson stated that it also states "no case shall exceed 25% dwelling units per acre." That was from some other City's ordinance, does that calculation work out here? That seems low for this high density situation. He doesn't know what that number is. Rob Dalley stated that we may want to be units per acre rather than a percentage. Six units per acre. We may do a percentage on higher pieces of property. No greater than six units per acre. When we get this completed in ordinance form, we will get your approval and move on to the next project.
Rob Dalley stated that this is where we have to add into our Table of Uses to add that PUD-R zone in. We need to push this through to allow those type of townhomes and twinhomes. He has this in ordinance form. He may have missed something but this is something we need to get rectified and have a public hearing next meeting. Commissioner Doug Clifford stated when you talk 3000 square foot lots and get it down to actual square footage for the home and add in roads, driveways and easements front and back. What's that math? Rob Dalley stated scroll down to the Table of Uses. It is in there. On a 3000 square foot lot, they can have a single car garage up to 240 square feet. 900 square foot minimum floor area for the dwelling. It still shows a twenty foot front yard but we may have to shrink that. Chuck Gillette stated go shorter than twenty they can't park in front of the garage and then you have on-street parking problems. Rob Dalley stated that then it is a ten foot back yard setback. Commissioner Doug Clifford stated maybe we can show a model next meeting. Rob Dalley stated this is tight. He will get a model. Commissioner Dave Robinson inquired if it is two story the minimum floor area has to be at least 600 square feet? Rob Dalley stated yes. This will have a Public Hearing in February.
Rob Dalley stated that this is another requirement by the State updating what we have. Chuck Gillette stated this is eliminating a whole section that was duplicated. Kaitlynn Krauss stated these changes are at the direction of the Rural Water Association of Utah and updating the International Plumbing Code. Chair Pam Gardiol stated on Line 164-165 regarding "required timelines to the owner and water services department, and waterflow technician on a form. Do we need to specify what form? Kaitlynn Krauss stated no all our forms come from the International Plumbing Code. Commissioner Doug Clifford asked that they state that. Commissioner Dave Robinson inquired within the International Plumbing Code, is there not a form number? Rob Dalley stated we won't refer to a specific number but we will refer to the International Plumbing Code. There will be a Public Hearing on this next meeting.
Dan Cazier stated he is the Fire Chief with Santa Clara/Ivins Fire Department and that this is not regarding House Bill 48 but it has an impact on his presentation. He is covering the 2006 Wildland Urban Interface Code. House Bill 48 went into effect January 1st. There was a lot of work done and a lot of work left to do. It has generated some controversy but he is focusing on the 2006 Wildland Urban Interface. The objective is to establish minimum regulations in this code consistent with nationally recognized good practices for the safeguard of life and property. These regulations are intended to mitigate the risk of life and structures from obtrusion of fire from wildland exposures and fire exposures from adjacent structures, and to mitigate structure fires from spreading to wildland fuels. Nothing is retroactive. There is going to be no requirement that they meet the 2006 code. If someone decides not to participate in the inspections or the process, they are not required to, but they will be designated at high risk. If two people live next door to each other and one participates and one does not, the one who participates will not be affected in a negative manner because the other does not participate. The most important part is that it allows code officials to administer and enforce the code. The code allows officials to require a site plan, a vegetation management plan, a fire protection plan, and a vicinity plan. The code also allows for access, inspections, reinspections and adopting this code is a requirement of House Bill 48. The requirements of this, most of Ivins already requires, like roadways, widths, turnarounds and hydrant spacing, clearance of fuels and things associated with access. It talks about defensible space around powerlines. Most Wildland Urban Interface areas are underground. It is important to understand the map has been around a long time and to establish it, they take data from emergency response calls and part of data is location, size, loss, the State also added factors to the map when they created the boundaries. Two or three years ago this was a much larger area. This has come down to a smaller geographic area and the goal is to continue to shrink the high risk area. There is a full list of vegetation like grass, perennials, plants, shrubs, vines and trees. Those are the recommendations because they don't burn easily, they have to get really hot. There are three zones that talk about fuels and mitigation, it is not an elimination. Moderate hazard is defined as natural fuels and plants within the first 30 feet. High hazard is 30-50 feet, and up to 100 feet is called an extreme hazard. Beyond that is allowable to have natural fuels that are already growing. The map shows the red high risk areas that used to cover a majority of the City. Any home in those areas, there is going to be a requirement for annual inspections. House Bill 48 states that every property with a structure on it is going to be required to have an inspection done. That inspect will cost from $20 to $100 and help pay for the implementation of the House Bill 48 program. There is no punitive action for not doing the inspection, but it will be assumed that the property meets the level 3 at the highest risk. In the springtime they hope to have all the rules out on identifying what that is going to look like to train those who will be doing these inspections. We will be involved in the inspections but the City won't be requiring them. That is through the County. He believes they will come to the City to ask for help on those inspections. Commissioner Dave Robinson inquired if beyond mitigation, is this to help with insurance and people getting dropped by insurance? Dan Cazier stated yes that is the driving force behind this. There are about a hundred insurance companies in Utah that offer fire insurance and we have heard they are increasing fire policy costs and dropping homeowners without cause. The goal for the insurance commission is to require the data to explanation and why the increase or why they are dropping policyholders. They are trying to keep competitive marketing. Commissioner Dave Robinson inquired if the City shows we have done what we can to mitigate, it will help with those people? Dan Cazier stated correct and this map is based off data from us and every time we have a fire we report the size, location and the loss and we have had volunteer firefighters for a long time and they have served us well. There is a response time required to get to a fire and in a well-run organization a volunteer hits the ten to fifteen minute mark. Knowing that a fire doubles in size every minute, right now our standard is out the door in 90 seconds. We anticipate that paired with these inspections and some improvements made to properties, we feel these areas will shrink down and some areas will go away. It will take a few years. We may have some small effect on this in the next year, but to work the bugs out in this program will take some time. We have seen the red areas shrink down some already. Chuck Gillette stated that the reason this is on the agenda tonight is that House Bill 48 requires that we adopt the Utah State Code for Wildland Urban Interface and the link attached to the agenda takes you to the the 2006 Wildland Urban Interface Code and how land gets classified. It is quite intense. That is considered a land use ordinance and so the Planning Commission would make recommendation after public hearing to the City Council. Council has a public hearing and chooses to adopt it. There are consequences of not adopting it. The State may withhold resources and funding if we don't adopt it and there is any sort of event that occurs in Ivins. Dan Cazier stated if we need the State's help they come help but if we don't adopt the code they won't come in and help and we are out millions of dollars. Chair Pam Gardiol inquired unless we adopt this we pick up the tab but if we adopt it, does the State pick up the tab? Dan Cazier stated if it starts in Ivins and we have done all our required hours and fuel mitigation projects to stay compliant with the State like we have the last twenty years, and we don't adopt this we would be out of compliance. There is no bill that comes with that if we need the State's help. We don't ask for help unless it is on their land. Commissioner Brandon Weight inquired what about the overhead power lines? Dan Cazier stated fuel mitigation is clearing vegetation around the power lines. It talks about distances and clearances in the 2006 code and we have some fuel areas in this space. It gives us the ability to enforce keeping those fuels around the power lines clear. Commissioner Brandon Weight inquired if it is tees or do you clear the ground below? Dan Cazier stated there is no requirement to clear to soil, but we would keep that in the moderate hazard area. Trees are not allowed to come within ten feet of a power line. Commissioner Brandon Weight inquired who is required to clear that? Rocky Mountain Power owns the line. Does Ivins have to comply or do we force St George Energy services to comply in the area along Hwy 91? Dan Cazier stated the code allows for infrastructure to be put in for the work to be done. Enforcing them to keep it clear we would require no matter who it is. It is an avenue to keep our high standards in place. We know where we are not meeting these requirements. There are some areas in Kayenta. The high risk areas in the code we can enforce as far as requiring building standards to create a one-hour firewall. Rob Dalley stated on the 2006 code on our side, fire mitigation is that new construction will be one-hour fire rating. Commissioner Brandon Weight inquired about the added expense for the City of having to adopt this? Dan Cazier stated he doesn't anticipate expense on the City because of this. We would inspect and bill our time and money to the County. Chuck Gillette stated he has concerns about Kayenta's development styles and having to maintain that thirty foot defensible space and hopefully be classified in the moderate hazard. It is possible. Their courtyards may have to be bigger and their vegetation outside the courtyard may need to be modified so it meets code. They may need to add some fire resistant walls and a roof to their structures. Rob Dalley stated this will take time. It won't happen overnight. Commissioner Doug Clifford stated that he lived near a power line and it required the clearing of that pathway occur on a regular basis. They would clear it to the ground and they did it every few years. There was a fire that came down and hit the power line, and it stopped because of that defensible space. Rob Dalley stated Rocky Mountain Power already implements a fire mitigation plan. They do that all over the State. They rotate the areas. Dan Cazier stated that we aren't going to make people cut down trees but it just can't be within 10-15 feet of the house and prune them and pick up dead growth. They want some space. There is a lengthy list of trees and shrubs that they recommend. It is not punitive. If a neighbor doesn't comply and another does, it doesn't hurt the complying neighbor. We will do annual inspections. A resident calls and schedules that with the County and they send out an inspector. He assumes they will ask our Fire Department to get certified to do those inspections. It would be someone off-duty and the County would pay for it. By Spring they will have more definitive answers. Chair Pam Gardiol stated Staff will draft an ordinance and we will have a public hearing next meeting to move this forward. Rob Dalley stated that is the goal so that we get it to City Council as quick as we can. We will go through it then so we can continue to get funding.
MOTION: Commissioner Dave Robinson moved to suspend rules to Discussion of House Bill 48 Wildland Urban Interface Modifications. https://ffsl.utah.gov/wp-content/uploads/06_Utah_Wildland_5thdnd.pdf Unanimous.
SECOND: Commissioner Brandon Weight
VOTE: The motion carried unanimously.
| Chair Pam Gardiol |
AYE |
| Commissioner Doug Clifford |
AYE |
| Commissioner Dave Robinson |
AYE |
| Commissioner Perry Brown |
AYE |
| Commissioner Brandon Weight |
AYE |
MOTION: Commissioner Dave Robinson moved to approve the Ivins City Planning Commission Meeting Minutes for December 16, 2025.
SECOND: Commissioner Perry Brown
VOTE: The motion carried unanimously.
| Chair Pam Gardiol |
AYE |
| Commissioner Doug Clifford |
AYE |
| Commissioner Dave Robinson |
AYE |
| Commissioner Perry Brown |
AYE |
| Commissioner Brandon Weight |
AYE |