Planning commission denies full parking exception for 35 East Center Street; staff, applicants to pursue fee-in-lieu option

The Moab Planning Commission voted unanimously March 13 to deny a full parking special-exception request for a proposed restaurant and retail change of use at 35 East Center Street, saying the request risked creating an undesirable precedent for downtown parking approvals. Commissioners directed staff and the applicants to pursue a fee-in-lieu option and return for a public hearing.

Commissioners said they had sympathy for the applicants but emphasized consistency with past decisions and the administrative rules governing parking exceptions. The motion to deny referenced Planning Resolution 05-2025 and passed by an unanalyzed voice vote after a short discussion and public comments from the applicant team.

Staff described the technical and policy context behind the denial. City planning staff said the current code caps payment-in-lieu at 30 percent and that the city has relied on exceptions and fee-in-lieu payments to manage parking in a built-out downtown. “The fee for a parking space is easily half what it would actually cost to install a parking space,” a city planner said during the meeting, urging the commission to treat the fee as a tool to fund dispersed parking or multimodal pilot projects.

Applicants told the commission their proposed use would be difficult to operate under current parking requirements and asked the commission to recognize five spaces they said are functionally accessible through a neighboring property owned by Wells Fargo. The applicants’ representative reiterated that the business model relies on downtown foot traffic and argued that counting those five spaces would substantially reduce the fee burden.

Commission discussion focused on two related issues: whether a full exception for 11 required spaces would set a precedent, and whether the city should make more parking exceptions administrative rather than discretionary. A staff speaker said the code’s 30 percent cap on payment-in-lieu has created a process where projects must seek discretionary approval; staff suggested considering raising the administrative allowance (one example mentioned was permitting up to 70 percent administratively) or otherwise refining parking calculations as part of broader downtown planning.

The denial does not permanently bar the project. Commissioners and staff said they expect the applicants and staff to prepare a fee-in-lieu alternative and that the item will likely return as a noticed public hearing, potentially at the commission’s March 27 meeting if the applicants submit materials in time; staff also said an April hearing is possible if additional time is needed.

The commission’s action related specifically to Planning Resolution 05-2025, described in the motion as “the planning resolution approving the parking special exemption request for 11 parking spaces for the proposed eating and retail establishment change of use on property located at 35 East Center Street, Moab, Utah 84532.” The motion to deny was made and seconded and passed by a voice vote; the minutes record the outcome as a unanimous vote in favor of denial.

Next steps identified at the meeting include staff and applicants calculating the fee-in-lieu option, improving internal tracking (staff acknowledged there is not yet a separate account specifically for fee-in-lieu funds), and returning with a public hearing notice. Staff noted that fee-in-lieu revenues are restricted to parking and transit operations and maintenance or related dispersed-parking projects, and said the city will likely create a separate account for tracking those funds if collections begin to increase.

Details about the project’s proposed parking counts, the existence of the five contested spaces behind the property, and whether those spaces can be legally dedicated or formalized will be examined in follow-up filings and at the public hearing. The commission adjourned after closing the item.