2020-07-09 Moab City Planning Commission Report

Two future agenda items were discussed without much detail.

• First, a 5 unit townhome development is planned near 300 E and 100 S.
• Second, there will be a 2 lot minor subdivision review.

Lion’s Back development will begin construction using the 2008 permit. The casitas portion will come first.

• Recall that in 2008 the City Council approved a plan for, among other things, a nine-building 50-unit hotel, with a cafe, health club, meeting rooms and a 105-stall parking lot, as well as 188 single-family housing lots. After several years, the developers subsequently proposed changes, that the City Council approved without a hearing, that included: consolidating the hotel units into one three-story building (rather than nine two-story buildings) and designing the hotel units as three-bedroom condominiums with “lockout” doors so that individual bedrooms could be rented separately, creating the potential for 150 separate, rentable rooms in the fifty unit hotel. The footprint of the hotel and the parking lot would nearly double, and the amenities would include retail space and a conference center. These changes were eventually the subject of a lawsuit, in which the judge held that the City Council erred in approving “major changes” per the Moab Municipal Code without holding a public hearing. So it appears that the developers do not want to face a public hearing on the hotel changes (at this time) and will start construction of the single-family units.

Walnut Lane Zoning map correction. A resolution was discussed and passed to amend the ordnance for the Zoning Map for a parcel on Walnut Lane. This is the last parcel on the west end and on the north side. It is adjacent to the Moab City lot purchased for affordable housing. The amendment corrected a survey error and a zoning change to part of the parcel. The entire parcel will be R-4, the manufactured housing zone. This is consistent with  the adjacent City property.

Hotel development along north Hwy 191 Corridor to river. Most of the meeting concerned a future planning resolution to allow hotels and motels in the Resort Commercial Zone. This zone covers both sides of US 191 on the north end of town, ending at the river. There are about 6 parcels that could be developed with hotels/motels. Under consideration for the standards are the size of buildings including footprint and height restrictions. Conditions could include things like permitting a larger size if employee housing is provided beyond that currently required by the zoning code. Height restrictions were discussed including keeping large buildings with high facades away from the highway. Access to bike and foot traffic was discussed.