Planning commission recommends rezoning near 4550 South 1900 West to allow two extra townhomes

The Roy City Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend that the City Council rezone a parcel at approximately 4550 South 1900 West from R-4 multifamily residential to R-5 multifamily residential, a change the applicant said is needed to add two additional townhomes to a proposed project.

Nathan Alvey, the applicant, told the commission he purchased the acreage and three adjacent homes in 2019 and is proposing townhomes he described as "the new single-family home"—each with four bedrooms, three bathrooms and a two-car garage. Alvey said the units would have about 2,237 square feet of finished living area and that changing the zone from R-4 to R-5 would let the project add two units that make demolition of three existing homes financially feasible. "We don't meet Royce City's calculation of square footage per unit," Alvey said, explaining the request was to move from a configuration that would allow 20 units on the site to one that his engineer can lay out for 22 units.

The planning staff presentation noted the city recently considered a text amendment that would have changed R-4 density to 18 units per acre and R-5 to 25 units per acre; the City Council did not approve the R-4 change but approved R-5 up to 20 units per acre. Staff recommended forwarding a positive recommendation to the City Council.

Two members of the public spoke about the proposal. Kevin Homer, who said he lives at 5398 South 4000 West, told the commission he supported the rezoning and said consolidating access points onto 4550 South would be safer than the existing three driveways onto 1900 West. In written comments read into the record, Robert and Cassandra Cherry of 1946 West 4600 South opposed the change, saying additional townhomes would reduce privacy and property values, bring more noise and traffic, and obstruct views. The written comment also expressed safety concerns and potential impacts on pets.

Commission discussion cited several points: commissioners noted the site is already designated multifamily on the future land use map; that the proposed product would remain subject to the city's parking and height limits (35 feet); and that some concerns—such as access onto 1900 West—would be reviewed by external agencies, including UDOT. One commissioner said that because the site is already zoned multifamily, traffic and view arguments have limited weight in a rezoning decision.

A motion to recommend approval of the rezoning to the City Council was made and seconded; a roll-call vote recorded Commissioners Bailey, Hobert, Feld, Bills and Tanner voting "aye." The recommendation passed 5-0. The staff member said he would notify the applicant when the item would appear on a City Council agenda; a date was not specified.

What happens next: The commission's action was a recommendation to the City Council; the council will make the final decision on the rezoning at a later meeting. The staff record and any future site-specific engineering or fire-department reviews will be part of subsequent approvals if the rezoning is adopted.

Votes at a glance: the commission also approved the July 27, 2025 work session minutes earlier in the meeting (motion and unanimous approval), and the commission passed separate agenda items later that evening (see separate article on Jiffy Lube approvals).