Special Zone Change hearing
by Dean Haymore
Here’s some facts:
On Monday, July 17, at 6 pm there will be a Toquerville City Planning Commission public hearing. Public input is being sought, once again, on a zone change application submitted by an agent for the Shangrila valley property.
The application is requesting that 8 parcels currently zoned R-1-20 be changed to PC Planned Commercial Zone. The purpose of the Planned Commercial (PC) Zone is:
The permitted uses of the PC zone include:
The conditional uses of the PC zone include:
Exhibit A of the zone change request states that, among other things, this area should become “a place that tourists intentionally come to visit.”
Here’s some recent History:
Within the last year the planning commission and city council considered the request for the same property to be zoned Highway Commercial. When that request was denied, a new request for MU-20 was submitted with the hope that a conditional use permit would allow for an RV park.
For this reason, the planning commission and city council took a closer look at what is allowed with MU-20 zoning. The result was the council passed an ordinance amending and restating Article A, Chapter 11, of Title 10, which involves the MU-20 zoning of Multiple Use Districts under the Land Use Regulations.
The purpose was to clarify the number and nature of dwellings on a lot, amend the abbreviation from MU-1-20 to MU-20, and eliminate or modify several conditional uses that don’t fit the purpose of this zoning district (including RV parks).
Here’s some opinion:
The applicant apparently believes that the third time is a charm.
Hopefully the planning commission and city council will once again see the problems with this zone change application. After all, this PC zone request is even more extreme. It allows RV parks and pretty much anything else.
While the zone change application says they intend to limit the development to certain less objectionable purposes, a developer who buys the property may see things differently.
Before there is a zone change for a commercial use, many cities require that they know exactly what will happen on the property (we don’t know what will happen on this property). This protects a city from potential legal actions should a commercial business be rejected in an area previously zoned for commercial use.
Exhibit A of the zone change request compares Anderson Junction to Shangrila Valley: both spots can be tourist destinations. The difference is that many residents have other concerns now. Citizen concerns include traffic, crime, water, and over development.
They prefer to focus on our way of life rather than the tourists who are passing by.
It’s my hope that city will not make a zone change to assist in the sale of property. Instead, that the city leaders will continue to put the residents who live in Toquerville first.