Commission recommends five strategies for Santaquin—s moderate-income housing update

The Santaquin City Planning Commission unanimously forwarded a recommendation to the City Council Jan. 28 to adopt an update to the general plan addressing moderate-income housing and to pursue five strategies staff proposed.

Planning staff presented the required annual update and explained the state law that requires cities to adopt and report progress on a set number of strategies (three minimum; five to receive priority transportation funding). Staff recommended strategies that the city is already implementing and others that would be pursued in the coming year.

The commission adopted the staff recommendation by motion: Commissioner Waite moved to recommend approval of the general-plan amendment and to endorse strategies 1 through 5 with option 1 for strategy 1; Commissioner Mook seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

The five strategies the commission recommended are: - Strategy 1 (option 1): Amend code to allow detached accessory dwelling units (DADUs) in the R-15 residential zone (staff said residents had requested the change). - Strategy 2: Update the storm-drain master plan and reduce the storm-drain impact fee (staff identified a 10% reduction for detached ADUs as the example) as part of a two-year strategy tied to the regular master-plan update cycle. - Strategy 3: Apply a square-footage reduction incentive (previously applied to the Main Street Residential zone) to adjacent Main Street Commercial/Residential zones; staff said the state agreed this would count for the housing report. - Strategy 4: Advance the City—s Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) upgrade into contract approval by Aug. 1 and start construction by Aug. 1 of the following year (a two-year strategy staff expects to complete and count toward the plan). - Strategy 5: Offer a PUD density incentive (6% density bonus) tied either to deed-restricted moderate-income units or to ensuring 10% of the PUD units meet minimum unit-size standards.

Commissioners discussed but did not select strategy 6 (rezoning options) as part of the forwarded recommendation; staff said the city could pursue rezoning work in the future but recommended strategies 2, 3 and 4 as "highly recommended" because staff already plans those actions. The commission—s recommendation will go to the City Council for a public hearing and final adoption. Staff said it has documented phone and email confirmations with the state on what qualifies as countable strategies.