Midway water board favors church subdivision, asks staff to confirm water-use stays under six acre-feet

The Midway Water Advisory Board voted to forward a recommendation to Midway City Council for the Bergey Lane Church Subdivision (referred to in materials as Midway West Bergey ICF), with a condition that staff verify the project's estimated water demand remains at or below 6 acre-feet.

Board members heard a presentation showing the site is roughly five acres and will be recorded as a single lot for a future meetinghouse with frontage on Bergey Lane and Canyon View Road. The project will connect to MSD's line, Midway's culinary water line and the Midway Irrigation Company secondary line; the developer will extend a secondary line along its frontage on Perdue Lane.

Michael (staff member) summarized the water calculation used for the recommendation. He reported the parcel's post-dedication acreage as 4.77 acres, with 3.4 acres of pervious surface made up of building, sidewalks and parking; on-site irrigated area was stated as 1.36 acres and the park strip as 0.22 acres. "Those two combined come out at 4.74 acre-feet," Michael said, and indoor plumbing fixtures were estimated to add 0.50 acre-feet, giving a total estimated demand of 5.24 acre-feet.

Michael added that Midway Irrigation Company shares are valued at 3 acre-feet each, and the church would be dedicating two shares (6 acre-feet). That leaves a gap between the estimated demand and the two-share total: "we have a gap of 0.76 that if we went above 0.76 it would push it about" past the two-share threshold, the staff presentation noted. Board members asked staff to verify the sample set used for the indoor-use estimate by comparing it to the city's meter records for the three existing churches inside city limits.

Mike Davy, the project's architect, described the applicant's parking and landscaping approach and defended the proposal's layout. "We want to provide adequate parking so we're not gonna have street parking, you know, on bigger events," Davy said. He also said the design includes trees around the perimeter and parking-end caps, and that the project team prefers not to add numerous interior parking islands because of winter maintenance concerns. Davy said the current plan calls for about 297 parking stalls.

Board members discussed whether the church could reduce asphalt and add more planting islands and trees. Staff explained that more planted/irrigated area would increase required secondary water because the code requires three acre-feet per acre of irrigated area. Michael said that the board could ask the church to consider more landscaping, but city code sets only minimum parking requirements, not a maximum.

Because the recommendation hinges on the water-calculation comparison, the board voted to forward the subdivision to city council with the caveat that if staff's comparative meter analysis shows a materially higher indoor-use number that pushes total demand above 6 acre-feet, the board will rescind or amend the recommendation before the sale or otherwise return the item for revision. The board agreed that, if needed, an amended motion could be circulated by email to finalize the board's position. The motion passed by voice vote; no dissent or abstention was recorded in the meeting minutes.

Board members and the project team also noted next steps: a code-text amendment regarding steeple height will go to city council on March 18, and the subdivision plat must be recorded before a building permit is issued. The project team indicated it expects to bond the required infrastructure so site work and permitting can proceed quickly.

The board asked the applicant to increase the number of trees where feasible and asked staff to provide the comparative meter data for churches within city limits so the board can confirm the water estimate before the item is considered by council.

The advisory board adjourned after the vote.