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Midway council debates Main Street character, heights and setbacks in extended commercial zoning discussion
Summary
City planning staff and council spent roughly an hour debating commercial zoning changes for Main Street and surrounding areas — focusing on setbacks, building footprints, height limits, parking strategies and preservation of historic dwellings. No zoning ordinance was adopted; council requested illustrative vignettes and code language options.
Planning Director Michael Henke presented the Midway City commercial zoning framework and led an extended discussion on how Main Street and adjacent commercial corridors should change as development pressure grows.
Henke reviewed General Plan boundaries, distinctions between C-2 and C-3 corridors, Main Street design guidelines (fenestration, pitched roofs and roof colors), and suggested “stepping” second-story setbacks to reduce perceived massing. He told the council that Southill’s master plan governs its internal zoning and that block-by-block division of commercial and residential uses may help control scale and character.
Council members and staff debated specifics at length. Several members said front setbacks of 10 feet were too small and proposed increasing front setbacks to 20 feet while allowing a 15-foot covered porch to preserve active storefronts. The group discussed limiting commercial building footprints to a percentage of lot size, stronger side and rear setbacks where commercial abuts residences, and a 30-foot rear setback for some commercial uses.
Parking and density repeatedly framed the debate. Members discussed subterranean parking as one way to preserve surface-level character, and noted that current commercial parking requirements include employee parking. UDOT access restrictions also limit driveway placement on state routes, complicating on-site parking solutions. Several council members said a trolley and off‑Main parking could reduce congestion and preserve Main Street’s walkability.
The council agreed on several preferences without adopting code changes: a two-story/35-foot maximum for most commercial structures, required pitched roofs, and producing illustrative vignettes that show preferred building forms and materials for use in rewrites of the municipal code. Members also emphasized incentives to preserve historic dwellings and deed restrictions for affordable housing if extra density is allowed.
No formal ordinance or motion to change zoning was adopted during the meeting. Council members directed staff to draft code examples and visual vignettes to bring back for future consideration.
