Planning Commission Study Meeting

WEST VALLEY CITY PLANNING COMMISSION Study Meeting September 2, 2020 The meeting was called to order at 3:30 p.m. by Chair Meaders using Zoom at https://zoom.us/j/95328405803 WEST VALLEY CITY PLANNING COMMISSION MEMBERS Brent Fuller, David McEwen, Clover Meaders, Darrick Porter, Harold Woodruff, Cindy Wood, Mathew Lovato and Martell Winters ABSENT WEST VALLEY CITY PLANNING DIVISION STAFF Steve Pastorik, Steve Lehman and Kirsten Hunt WEST VALLEY CITY ADMINISTRATION Brandon Hill, Assistant City Attorney ZONE TEXT CHANGE APPLICATION ZT-6-2020 Petition by WEST VALLEY CITY requesting a zone text change to Sections 7-1-103 and 7-6-301 to define and prohibit outdoor waste management facilities. (Staff – Steve Pastorik at 801-963-3545) Continued from the August 26,2020 public hearing Discussion: Steve Pastorik stated the main question from the August 26, 2020 meeting was how the City shop's handle waste collected by the street-sweeping trucks. Steve introduced Erik Brondum, Operations Engineer, to explain this process. Erik said that the City constructed a new washout facility and storage base at the Public Works shop. He stated the City trucks backs into the wash bay to dewater. From there, the water goes through a drain containing an oil/water separator directly into the sewer. Any solids are disposed of in the sweepings bin and hauled off to the dump. Commissioner Winters stated the process seems immediate as opposed to storage. Erik explained the process is quicker as they only deal with stormwater and not the sewer systems. Commissioner Fuller asked if there are any oil or grease traps in the system. Erik said within the drains; there is a pump that separates the oil and grease. Commissioner Fuller asked where the oil and grease get hauled off to once it is trapped. Erik could not recall and stated he would follow up. Commissioner Fuller asked Erik if he is familiar with the proposal. Erik said he was. Commissioner Fuller than stated the biggest concern is this business causing potential odors. Erik couldn't speak to that. Commissioner Woodruff asked if the City has a place where the waste is spread out to evaporate. Erik said no, the bins containing the waste are covered. Commissioner Lovato asked if there is anything to prevent illegal dumping. Steve stated he doesn't think so where the dump doesn't take liquid waste. Commissioner Fuller asked Steve if this was an indoor business would this be an issue. Steve explained an indoor facility would not be an issue where the companies are taking their waste to Salt Lake City. Chair Meaders asked Steve if it would be possible to have an alternative ordinance change that would allow some outdoor waste management. Steve said that would be possible and then mentioned two staff concerns. The first concern is the staff report gets a bit nuanced, and we need to make sure we do not inadvertently allow something we didn't intend to. The second concern is business aesthetics. Steve stated there could be a requirement to have the concrete slab screened off. Commissioner McEwen asked where the business owner stated speaking with the City about his conditional use and was given the okay to proceed, and the zone text is being changed is there any legal issue that could arise? Brandon stated if the complete application is not filed, there is no vesting, and legally there will not be an issue. Chair Meaders asked if there is a way to detect how potent smell is. Brandon said there is a device for that purpose. He stated the issue with using the device is finding the range that would be acceptable. Jody Knapp explained the applicant for the carwash waste business had attended a development meeting. She stated a green light was not given for this proposal due to many concerns brought up in the meeting. Commissioner Winters asked Steve what he fore-see's the landscaping to be. Steve stated in the M zone; there is a 5% landscaping requirement. If we offer alternatives, there can also be separation requirements added to restrict the use further, but still, allow it. Commissioner Woodruff asked if this would be a conditional use and the requirements being part of the condition. Steve stated he would put the restrictions as part of the standards that the applicant would need to meet. Commissioner Woodruff was wondering if this came before the Commission would they be able to say no. Steve  explained they couldn't say no; however, some standards could be put in to mitigate the impact to the City. Jody Knapp stated the need to add something in the conditional use to prevent illegal dumping. Commissioner Lovato was concerned that the City would be responsible for enforcing the unlawful dumping. Jody explained the responsibility would fall back on the applicant through the conditional use. She explained the applicant would need to obtain permits through the state that would require annual inspections, so there might need to be communication with the state. CONDITIONAL USE APPLICATION C-11-2020 Petition by PM DESIGN GROUP INC., requesting a conditional use for a fast food restaurant with drive-up. The property is located at 3346 South 5600 West on 1.02 acres and is zoned C-2 (General Commercial). (Staff – Jody Knapp at 801-963-3497) Discussion: Jody presented her application for a new Raising Cain’s restaurant. Jody explained that the applicant would be using a pad site that the current owner will lease to the applicant. She said there was a lot of discussion about the placement of the restaurant on the subject location. Most of the meeting was about access to the building and pedestrian traffic. Jody stated the developer would limit access on the northeast corner of the site to a right- in and right-out only and there would be no direct access to 5600 West. The primary pedestrian access will be on the south side of the site connecting to the adjacent shopping center. Jody explained the proposed building design has a lot of building articulation and different materials and complies with the commercial design standards. She said this parcel already has landscaping along the frontage; however, the applicant will have to update the landscaping along 5600 W. The Planning Commission and staff spoke about this being the first Raising Cane’s located in Utah and how excited they are to have this addition. DISCUSSION ITEM COVID-19 Land Use Effects and Underdeveloped Properties Discussion: Steve Pastorik addressed the discussion item. He discussed the housing market trends from 2000 through 2020. From 2000 through the first half of 2020, there was a 150% increase in housing prices. Rentals also increased, however, not as much as homes. The prediction, towards the end of the year, is that home prices will increase by 5%, and rentals will be flat or potentially go down. Steve explained the percentage of online purchases with the introduction of COVID-19 has risen from 12% to 16%. He also pointed out the increase in unemployment is a factor. The upside is Utah has the lowest unemployment rate in the country.  Next, Steve presented the potential impact on West Valley City. He explained that developers could redevelop vacant or underutilized parcels along major streets if the office, retail and restaurant business decline. With the unemployment rate increasing, we could see more illegal conversions of homes to duplexes. With businesses and homeowners struggling, we could see a decline in property maintenance, causing a need for increased enforcement. Steve said there are parcels within the City where the land is worth more than the structures on it, and those properties would be more likely to redevelop. Commissioner McEwen hopes that we could have the townhomes and apartments attached to commercial property. He feels this could help drive up business. Steve explained this discussion is more for understanding why there have been more requests for apartments and townhomes before the Commission. He explained the challenge is to keep balance in the City with the market changes. Commissioner Lovato asked if the City has a strategy for the “new normal.” Steve said he feels this has already been addressed in our General Plan. The focus for higher intensity units is along major streets, keeping the neighborhoods intact. Steve explained an update to the General Plan is done every five years. He stated an update is due, which would be a great issue to address at that time. Commissioner Winters feels it is hard to judge if our actions are positive or negative to the City when the outcome of today’s vote will not be seen for 15-20 years down the road. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted, _______________________________ Kirsten Hunt, Administrative Assistant