Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use Access Requirements topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning commission backs tiered access requirements for large subdivisions, with engineer discretion
Summary
The commission recommended City Council adopt tiered ingress/egress triggers (second access at 80 lots, third at 200, engineer review at 400+) and added flexibility for city-engineer exceptions after public comment from a developer raised UDOT and practical constraints.
City Manager Ryan Robinson told the Enoch City Planning Commission that the city’s current code requires a second ingress/egress once a development reaches 80 lots, but a recent development with nearly 700 lots had only two access points. Robinson presented proposed amendments to sections 12.2800.2804 and 12.2300.2304 to create a tiered system: a second access at 80 lots, a third at 200, and a city-engineer review at 400 or more lots to determine whether additional access points are necessary based on a traffic study.
Developer Tyler Melling of Velocity Builders supported reviewing access requirements but urged flexibility. "Having a hard and fast requirement of three accesses at 200 units could be problematic," Melling said, citing Utah Department of Transportation and county constraints on crossings near the belt route and Minersville Highway and recommending alternative mitigation such as road widening.
Robinson said staff could add language to the draft ordinance allowing exceptions after review and recommendation by the city engineer and argued that "the city engineer should be the standard-bearer for such exceptions rather than allowing developers to find outside consultants who might provide favorable opinions." Commissioners debated balancing emergency-access and traffic-safety needs against placing excessive burdens on developers.
Commissioner David Hoopes moved that the commission send a favorable recommendation to the City Council to amend sections 12.2800.2804 and 12.2300.2304 to establish the tiered access requirements and allow flexibility via city-engineer review; Commissioner Kyle Jones seconded and all voted in favor.
What happens next: The commission’s recommendation will be forwarded to the Enoch City Council for consideration. If the council proceeds, the proposed ordinance language will return to the council for public hearing and final action.
