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Spring City council pauses recent zoning changes amid referendum concerns
Summary
The council voted to repeal recently adopted ordinances and pause zoning changes to give Planning & Zoning time for public hearings and recommendations, aiming to avoid an automatic half-acre rezoning that could follow referendum certification.
Spring City Mayor Paul Penrod and the City Council voted May 7 to step back from recently enacted land-use changes and allow Planning & Zoning more time to develop recommendations before a potential referendum could take effect.
Council Member Chris Anderson, citing the results of the most recent municipal election and the risk that a certified referendum would immediately change zoning in a large portion of the city, urged repeal of Ordinances 2026-03 and 2025-05. “If the referendum signatures are certified, zoning in much of the city would automatically shift to half-acre lots before Planning & Zoning could provide input,” Anderson said, recommending the council restore the prior zoning baseline while public input is gathered.
The move is intended to buy time for a fuller review: council members asked Planning & Zoning to hold public hearings, solicit broader community input, and present options such as overlay criteria or targeted exceptions rather than a citywide change. Council Member James Baker said residents deserve a thorough process: he urged surveys, public comment opportunities and clear links between any recommendation and the general plan.
Several council members said the pause is not a permanent decision on lot sizes, but a procedural step to reduce polarization. Council Member Laurel Work stated it “makes sense to return to the zoning conditions that existed before” and then proceed with deliberate planning. Council Member Michael Broadbent described the decision as buying time for “give-and-take” among differing views.
The council’s discussion emphasized process limits and community outreach rather than adopting a new substantive policy; no final, long-term change to lot-size rules was enacted at the meeting. The council instructed staff and Planning & Zoning to pursue public engagement and return with recommendations to inform any future ordinance updates or ballot language.
What happens next: Planning & Zoning is expected to hold hearings and produce formal recommendations; the council did not set a specific deadline for that work at the May 7 meeting.
