Planning commission backs zoning changes to regulate event centers and require site-plan approval for outdoor seating

The Farmington Planning Commission on April 3 recommended that the city amend its zoning ordinance to add and regulate “event centers,” treat banquet facilities and event centers as special land uses requiring planning commission approval, require site-plan review for outdoor tables and chairs (including for carryout), add standards for enclosed, weather-resistant outdoor seating, and allow outdoor seating year-round.

Mister Weber, presenting the staff report, said administration "recommends adding event centers and treating them identically to banquet centers" and that changing banquet facilities and event centers to a special land use would mean they "require planning commission approval." He said the proposals also would add standards for outdoor seating and make all outdoor tables and chairs subject to site-plan approval so the city can document and enforce what businesses place on sidewalks and adjacent areas.

Commissioners asked for clarifications about terminology and enforcement. The chair raised concern about replacing the word "dining" with "seating," and staff confirmed the intent is not to change liquor-licensing rules but to broaden the phrase so it covers different uses while relying on site-plan review to limit inappropriate encroachments and seasonal overuse. Staff noted the city currently allows outdoor seating April 15 through Oct. 31 with the ability to extend that period; the proposed change would permit seating year-round.

A commissioner asked whether the ordinance change would require one-time events to obtain site-plan approval; staff answered that the proposed text targets the permanent use of a building as an event center. "They would have to have that whole building approved for that use as a special events center," staff said, adding ad-hoc single events are generally regulated under a different part of the ordinance.

Committee member (speaker 6) described public-safety reasons for treating event centers as a discretionary land use, saying that some event venues have drawn large crowds without sufficient parking or safety planning and that, in other communities, unregulated events have required mutual-aid responses. "You get a wedding with 350 people… they had an event and they had to call mutual aid. There was a riot in the street," the member said, arguing the commission needs discretion to impose conditions such as occupancy limits, parking requirements, private security, or notice to the police department.

Staff and commissioners discussed how special-land-use review would allow case-by-case conditions and factual findings — for example, limiting occupancy based on parking, requiring sprinklers to meet building-code thresholds, or denying inappropriate locations. For enclosed, weather-resistant seating (the COVID-era "igloos" example), staff said those structures would be handled as a special land use because they raise additional design and safety questions and, if in the DDA, would require DDA design-committee review.

After receiving no public comments during the public-hearing period, Commissioner (speaker 4) moved to recommend approval of the proposed amendments to Chapter 35, Article 7 (sections 35.102 and 35.158) and forward them to city council for review and consideration. The motion was supported and approved by voice vote. The commission will forward the recommendation to city council for a first and second reading.