The Murray City Planning Commission on Jan. 16 received a presentation and discussion of a draft form-based code for the Murray City Center from city staff and consultants with VODA Landscape and Planning.

Mark, a principal consultant with VODA, described form-based code as a land-use regulatory approach that prioritizes the physical form of buildings—height, setbacks, placement and public frontage—over rigid use categories. The proposed code would replace the existing MCCCD (Murray City Center Commercial Development) zone for properties inside the city-center boundary and create multiple “form districts” with tailored height, frontage and streetscape standards.

Staff and consultants said the code is intended to encourage walkable, reusable buildings and predictable outcomes for property owners and the city. The draft includes regulations and prototype graphics for building types, street types, open space, parking, landscaping and signage; an administration chapter contains a worksheet meant to streamline review and show which tables apply to a given project.

Commissioners asked detailed implementation questions. Commissioner Jake Pearson and others said the document needs clearer visual cues or footers so a reader always knows which form district a given table or requirement applies to. Commissioners pressed staff on whether proposed curb “bulb-outs” and medians on State Street are feasible given Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) authority; consultants said similar treatments exist elsewhere and that UDOT negotiations would be needed but the code can state the city’s preference for future street redesigns.

Parking and shared-parking rules prompted sustained discussion. Staff said parking requirements in the draft are similar to existing MCCD standards and that the draft emphasizes shared parking reductions where uses have offsetting time-of-day demand (for example, office and residential). Commissioners expressed concern that the draft could allow multiple projects to count the same on-street public spaces toward reductions and asked for clearer limits and thresholds.

Vending carts, food trucks and food carts drew particular scrutiny. The draft distinguishes food carts (smaller, more stationary vendors) from regulated food trucks; it includes spacing and location limits intended to prevent a food cart from placing itself immediately in front of a full-service restaurant. Commissioners said the spacing rules (200 feet in the draft) and a requirement that carts be removed nightly could effectively eliminate many food-cart operations in the city center; staff said the language will be revised to allow reasonable on-premises storage or indoor storage and to clarify whether city-owned property may be used.

Other substantive discussion points included:
- Prohibited uses: staff emphasized the draft keeps a short list of uses not allowed in the city center, notably drive-through facilities; staff said drive-throughs are permitted in other parts of the city but are inconsistent with the walkable city-center goals.
- Signage: commissioners supported marquee and neon signs for character but asked the code to include concrete size and illumination limits; staff noted state signage law constrains municipal sign regulation and proposed an appeal path through an architectural-review committee then planning commission.
- EV charging: the draft requires space or conduit for future EV chargers in multifamily, commercial and mixed-use projects “per city requirements.” Commissioners asked staff to either remove vague language or specify the city’s actual requirement and thresholds (for instance, how many chargers per number of stalls).
- Administration and appeals: staff explained that minor projects meeting all code requirements could be approved administratively, while requests for variances or departures would go to an architectural-review committee or the planning commission; a worksheet in the administration chapter is intended to document compliance and expedite reviews.

Staff said the draft is a working document and hyperlinks, tables and prototype graphics will be fixed in the next revision. The project team will hold further steering-committee and City Council briefings; staff encouraged commissioners to submit written comments. The commission did not take action to adopt the code at the meeting.