Moab City Planning Commission Meeting Report 2021-08-12

[Editor’s note: Apologies for the late posting of this PC meeting report. It got buried in my inbox.]

The Aug. 12 meeting of the Planning Commission lasted for about two hours. The last 1.5 hours focused on future plans and potential ordinances and zoning ordinance revisions. Most of the discussion focused on workforce and affordable housing.

The entire meeting is available here https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=R50GhfuQm3I The Planning Commission meeting packet is herehttps://moabcity.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_08122021-1062?packet=true

Action items:

3. Public Hearing And Possible Recommendation To City Council On ORDINANCE NO. 2021-12 An Ordinance Amending The Text Of The Moab Municipal Code (MMC) To Add Regulation For Brewpubs, Breweries And Distilleries By Amending Sections 17.06 Definitions, 17.21.020 C-2 Commercial Residential Zone, 17.24.020 C-3 Central Commercial Zone, 17.27.020 C-4 General Commercial Zone, 17.31.020 RC Resort Commercial Zone And 17.36.020 Industrial Zone. Moab has no zoning ordinance regulating the location of brewpubs, breweries and distilleries. Moab currently has these kinds of businesses and decided we need to include such businesses into our zoning code. The difference between these kinds of businesses is defined by state law. The location of breweries and distilleries will be permitted as below.

Section 2: Add Brewpubs as permitted uses in 17.21.020 C-2 Commercial-Residential, 17.24.020 C-3 Central Commercial, 17.27.020 C-4 General Commercial and 17.31.020 RC Resort Commercial Zones.  

Section 3: Add microbreweries and Distilleries as a permitted use to 17.27.020 C-4 General Commercial Zone and 17.36.020 I Industrial Zone.

Section 4: Add Breweries as a permitted uses to 17.36.020 I Industrial Zone.

Following a public hearing with no public comments the Planning Commission unanimously passed a resolution recommending the City Council adopt Ordinance No. 2021-12 as described above.

4. Public hearing on proposed planning resolution 06-2021, a resolution approving the Creekside Townhomes, a 9 unit townhome site plan and preliminary plat. The Creekside Townhomes site plan and preliminary plat were approved in 2018. Since no development occurred the developer must again seek approval prior to construction. A public hearing was opened. A neighboring resident spoke in favor of again permitting the development. The public hearing will remain open until the next meeting of the Planning Commission on Aug. 26.

Discussion item only: 

The last 90 minutes of the meeting were devoted to a discussion of Workforce Housing options. This was a wide ranging discussion concerning the development of affordable housing. An earlier discussion occurred on July 27, 2021 and is available on the Moab City YouTube channel.

Items discussed included accessory dwelling units (ADUs), PADs (Planned Affordable Developments), and other employee housing opportunities. The Walnut Lane development was discussed. The employee housing requirement for new Overnight Accommodations (WAHOO) was also discussed. 

Included in the packet was a copy of a Moab City resolution concerning affordable housing from 2011. The resolution listed these barriers to developing workforce housing: 1) Lot size; 2) Lot width; 3) Minimum home size; 4) Secondary dwelling regulations; 5) Density; 6a) Densities in PUD; 6b) Densities in MPD; 7) Open space requirements for apartments; 8) Excessive street widths; 9) Setbacks; 10) Height restrictions; 11) Inflexible sidewalk standards; and 12) Lack of inclusionary zoning.

Time is not on our side. The discussion is well worth watching. Those issues were once again discussed. 

The Planning Commission packet also included sample planning code resolutions from Ouray and Crested Butte in Colorado. Unfortunately Utah law does not permit local governments to use a wide array of potential mechanisms for developing workforce housing. As usual, the Utah legislature loves local control except when it doesn’t.