Planning commission backs map, ordinance changes for Tooele City Business Park

The Tooele City Planning Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to forward a positive recommendation to the City Council on an ordinance and zoning-map amendment for the Tooele Business Park.

The recommendation covers revisions to the business-park zoning district affecting about 326 acres near 1200 West 700 North, including updated lot lines, road alignments and conditions intended to improve parcel buildability and accommodate a possible future Mid Valley Highway alignment.

The amendment was presented by Mr. Perez, a city planning staff member, who said the proposal responds to interest from prospective industrial and commercial users. “We received 11 actual site visits this fiscal year out of about 36 inquiries,” Perez said, describing outreach through the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity and EDC Utah. He cited current vacancy rates — 6.3% for industrial, 0% for office and about 2.5% for retail — as part of the justification for revising the plan.

Perez described the approved changes as largely technical and layout-driven: adjusting building pads to reflect parcel ownership, simplifying odd-shaped lots, updating roadway layouts for future Mid Valley Highway alignment and addressing site infrastructure such as water and sewer and locations that may require sewer lift stations. He also said the previously shown rail spur (RHEL) was removed after a study with Union Pacific and Savage determined rail service was not financially viable for the park’s expected users.

The commission opened and immediately closed the required public hearing; no members of the public spoke. Commissioner Hammer made the motion recommending approval to the City Council and Commissioner Hamilton seconded. The roll-call vote was recorded as: Commissioner Hammer — aye; Commissioner Proctor — aye; Commissioner Hamilton — aye; Commissioner Jensen — aye; Commissioner Sonnelson — aye; Commissioner Sloan — aye. The motion passed 6-0.

The planning staff report dated Sept. 18, 2025, lists conditions the commission attached to the recommendation; the commission’s vote was to forward a positive recommendation subject to those conditions. The amendment does not itself change ownership or trigger land transfers; it modifies the city’s zoning map and ordinance language to reflect revised lot layouts, roadway concepts and utility considerations.

If the City Council accepts the commission’s recommendation, the council will consider adopting the ordinance and map change at a future hearing. The planning commission record shows staff expects some property configurations will still require negotiation with the local RDA and private owners to consolidate parcels the RDA owns.

Provenance: presentation and discussion began when staff introduced Item 3 and the zoning-map amendment (transcript excerpt starting at 136.715 seconds) and the commission vote concluding the item was recorded later in the meeting (transcript excerpt at 625.68–635.075 seconds).