Planning commission begins review of comprehensive zoning-code revision; staff seeks commissioner input on definitions, parking and short-term rentals

Payson City planning staff on Jan. 22 led a lengthy work session with the planning commission to review proposed edits to the city's zoning ordinance and to solicit commissioner input before issuing a request for proposals to rewrite the code.

Michael and Jill, representing planning staff, outlined the scope of the review, which includes definitions, administration and procedural sections, zoning districts, parking standards, and relationships to the subdivision ordinance. Staff asked commissioners to highlight terms or sections they found unclear and to propose priorities for the consultant-led rewrite.

Commissioners and staff discussed several recurring topics: - Definitions and density: Commissioners noted confusion between net and gross density calculations and asked staff to clarify how wetlands, rights-of-way and unusable lands should be treated for unit-count calculations. Ben (legal counsel) advised using a clear catch-all that gives ordinary words their usual meaning and reserving precise definitions for "terms of art." He said, "you shall give every word its usual and normal meaning unless we define it here for you." - Parking standards: Staff flagged that some uses (for example, field houses) are not specifically identified in existing off-street parking tables. The commission discussed typical ratios (2–3 stalls per 1,000 sq. ft.), the ability to accept engineered parking studies, and downtown parking constraints for special-event uses such as wedding receptions. Michael noted that a parking study could save applicants money when a use is not specifically listed. - Short-term rentals and related regulation: Commissioners discussed whether the code should restrict short-term rentals by bedroom count or otherwise regulate them, noting pending state-level activity that may change enforceability and data sources for enforcement (for example, short-term-rental listing sites and transient-room-tax collection). - Appeals and boards: The commission reviewed alternatives to the board of adjustment, including an "appeal authority" or administrative-judge model, and discussed which land-use decisions should be heard by which bodies. - Other items: family/household definitions, accessory dwelling units, parking requirements for multifamily developments, the transportation/trails master plan and the relationship between zoning and subdivision code provisions.

Michael told commissioners staff deliberately avoided inserting their own policy recommendations into the draft so the commission could provide raw feedback. "We have deliberately as staff not putting any of our thoughts in here because we don't want to keep your thoughts," he said. Staff asked commissioners to email suggested definitions or examples and to flag sections that require clearer or additional language.

Next steps: staff will collect commissioner comments, finalize an RFP for a consultant to perform a comprehensive code rewrite, and return with prioritized sections (including zoning districts and sections 13.1' 13.14/13.18/13.20). Commissioners asked staff and legal counsel to propose sample language on several topics, including density calculations, parking reductions for downtown, and definitions that conform with state law. No formal land-use decisions were made during the work session.