Weber County staff recommend final approval for six subdivision plats and related amendments

Weber County planning staff recommended and the meeting moved forward with approval actions on multiple subdivision plats and an amendment during the Administrative Review meeting on May 22, 2024.

Staff told the panel the items fit the county's previously approved development agreements and recommended final approval of each subject to the conditions and findings in the staff reports and required agency sign-offs. Several items discussed included water and sewer provider requirements and provisions for required landscaping or geologic hazard studies.

The recommendations covered the following: The Orchards phases 2, 3 and 4 (multiple townhome and cottage-cluster lots within the JDC Ranch community, Southeast Village and East Central Village areas); Summit Eden Phase 1, Amendment 10 (consolidation of lots in Eden); Lazy S Subdivision (one-lot subdivision to bring a parcel into zoning compliance near 2950 North, Liberty); and Blazey S Subdivision (one-lot plat for a pump/booster station for a water and sewer improvement district). Staff repeatedly noted applicable zone standards, prior preliminary approvals, and the requirement that final approval letters from service providers be received prior to recording final plats.

Why it matters: these approvals advance several residential development parcels toward final plat recordation and construction. They also raise implementation questions planners flagged repeatedly: culinary and secondary water proof-of-service letters, landscaping plans where secondary water is not available, geologic-hazard study requirements in mapped hazard areas, and final agency sign-offs before recordation or building permits.

Key details and conditions cited by staff

- Orchards Phase 2 (code spoken in the record as "LV 0031224 P2"): Staff said the phase would add 22 townhome units and six cottage-cluster single-family lots, with 0.811 acres of HOA-maintained open space. Staff noted prior preliminary approval (Dec. 12, 2023) and county commission action in February 2024 and recommended final approval subject to the findings in the staff report and final utility approval letters prior to recording.

- Orchards Phase 3 (code spoken as "LB 0031224"): Staff said Phase 3 consists of 36 townhomes and nine cluster cottage lots with 1.447 acres of open space in the R-3 zone. The same utility providers were listed and staff recommended final approval consistent with planning commission recommendations.

- Orchards Phase 4 (recorded in the discussion as a 32-unit phase plus additional units on the southern boundary): Staff said the phase includes 42 townhomes and open space parcels totaling a little over 3 acres (R-3 zone). As with prior phases, preliminary approvals were previously granted and staff recommended final approval subject to standard conditions and agency letters.

- Summit Eden Phase 1, Amendment 10 (UBS 030424): The amendment consolidates seven lots and two small open-space parcels into four lots at about 8455 East Coppercrest Drive in Eden, in the DRR-1 zone. Staff noted the development agreement already provides more open space than the minimum; staff recommended approval subject to inclusion of a note on the final plat that a geologic hazard study will be required prior to building permits because the area is within a mapped geologic hazard zone. Powder Mountain Water and Sewer issued a "will-serve" letter and staff recommended compliance with all review-agency requirements.

- Lazy S Subdivision (UBL 032524): The one-lot subdivision involves a roughly 3-acre parcel at about 4126 East 2950 North in Liberty in the FV-3 zone. Staff said the subdivision would bring the parcel into zoning compliance and that the lot has an existing well; staff required either demonstration of sufficient water for irrigation or a limited landscaping covenant and a final approval letter from Nordic Mountain Water prior to issuance of a land-use permit. Engineering staff had asked whether a future road connection could be made to adjacent parcels; staff said a connection may be feasible but may require future work and is not assured now.

- Blazey S Subdivision (UB E 032524): A one-lot subdivision to create a parcel for a pump/booster station (a well house/pump house) to serve the creek water and sewer improvement district. Staff said the primary outstanding concerns were landscaping and access to secondary water; staff recommended approval of the plat with standard conditions and suggested modifying condition 2 to require that the landscaping issue be resolved with the county legal department prior to recording. Staff noted a conditional-use permit would be required for the utility use and that landscaping and site-improvement plans would be reviewed as part of that process.

Statements from participants and applicants

- Mike Durchi, Garden Engineering, identified himself during the Blazey S discussion and described the practical difficulty the district faces in providing secondary water while also meeting a general requirement for landscaped public-utility sites: "the district has a hard time saying that we're gonna allow secondary water ... when we have a memorandum against everybody else to give connections with secondary water," he said, describing constraints the district faces in providing irrigation water. (Transcript attribution: Mike Durchi, Garden Engineering.)

- County staff repeatedly noted the need for final written letters from water and sewer providers and for geologic-hazard studies or recorded covenants where required by ordinance; where secondary water availability was unresolved, staff recommended documenting landscaping requirements and resolving irrigation obligations prior to recording or via deed restriction or covenant.

Votes at a glance

All items were advanced with staff recommendations; the meeting record shows staff recommended approval of each item subject to conditions and findings in the staff reports and required agency letters. The transcript did not record formal roll-call vote tallies for each plat in the excerpt provided.

- Orchards Phase 2 (LV 0031224 P2) — final approval recommended; outcome in the record: approved subject to conditions and findings and required agency sign-offs prior to recording. - Orchards Phase 3 (LB 0031224) — final approval recommended; outcome in the record: approved subject to conditions and findings and required agency sign-offs prior to recording. - Orchards Phase 4 (phase listing discussed) — final approval recommended; outcome in the record: approved subject to conditions and findings and required agency sign-offs prior to recording. - Summit Eden Phase 1, Amendment 10 (UBS 030424) — approval recommended with requirement for geologic-hazard study noted; outcome in the record: recommended for final approval subject to conditions and agency letters. - Lazy S Subdivision (UBL 032524) — approval recommended with conditions that include a final approval letter from Nordic Mountain Water prior to issuance of the land-use permit and demonstration or covenant regarding irrigation/landscaping; outcome in the record: recommended for approval subject to those conditions. - Blazey S Subdivision (UB E 032524) — approval recommended with modification that landscaping be resolved with legal prior to recording and that landscaping/site plans be provided with the conditional-use permit; outcome in the record: recommended for approval subject to modified condition and standard findings.

Next steps

Staff emphasized that final plat recordation and issuance of building or land-use permits depend on receipt of required written approvals from the listed water and sewer providers, completion of any required geotechnical or landscaping conditions, and compliance with the development agreements and staff-report findings. Where secondary irrigation water is unavailable, staff recommended documenting landscaping/irrigation responsibilities before recording or through recorded covenants.

Ending note

The meeting proceeded through the listed items with no extended public controversy recorded in the provided excerpt; staff and applicants addressed technical conditions tied to utility sign-offs, geologic-hazard requirements and landscaping. Several items were advanced toward final recordation subject to the enumerated conditions.