Commission recommends Main Street form‑based code amendments to clarify office placement, outdoor dining, signage and lighting

The Midvale City Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of amendments to the Main Street Form Based Code (chapter 17-7-11 of the Midvale City Municipal Code) to clarify permitted building uses, outdoor dining, lighting and signage.

Planner Van der Linden told the commission the revisions aim to preserve an active Main Street pedestrian environment while updating provisions that had caused confusion in recent applications. "Office only in upper stories," he said, explaining a change that removes office use from ground-floor Main Street storefronts to encourage sidewalk-level commercial and entertainment activity. Van der Linden also described a change to outdoor music rules: the revised language keeps compliance with the city's noise ordinance but allows outdoor music on Main Street up to a later cutoff, with the draft saying "no outdoor music shall be allowed after 10:30 PM."

Other changes include allowing limited up-lighting in some cases (to align city-installed lighting with what the code permits), clearer placement rules for sandwich-board signs and increasing the allowed percentage of text on certain signs from 30% to 70% to match common sign design. The staff report described the signage and office-location adjustments as partly "housekeeping" and partly responses to recent review issues.

The commission opened and closed a public hearing with no speakers and then voted to recommend approval. Roll-call votes recorded Chair Anderson, Vice Chair Erickson, Commissioner Snow, Commissioner Liedtke and Commissioner Kasperian as voting yes.

Because the amendments are legislative, the commission's recommendation will go to the city council for final action. Staff and the commission discussed that the council often reviews minutes or video of the commission when making its decision and that the council has final discretion on legislative code changes.