Consultant presents draft town‑center urban design standards; council urged to take short survey

Sherry introduced Mark Morris of VOTA, who presented draft urban design standards developed with a Wasatch Regional Council grant. Morris described a subdistrict approach to the town center, prototype graphics for a key parcel near the post office, and priorities that include setbacks, building mass articulation, ground‑floor activation and calibrated parking rules.

"What we're trying to do is create code and design standards that are easy to understand...for property owners," Mark Morris said, summarizing the goal of making standards graphic and usable for planning staff, the planning commission and the council. He noted the code will focus on elements that are difficult to change (mass, height, setbacks) and leave architectural style choices to property owners.

Morris said the prototype maps and survey results show that respondents ranked ground‑floor activation as the most important element and unexpectedly supported higher maximum heights in some town‑center locations. Council members asked about parking, sidewalks and multiuse trail placement adjacent to Highway 89; Morris explained a 12‑foot multiuse trail and pedestrian zone are planned behind the curb in several sections and suggested parking requirements can be calibrated by subdistrict.

Staff will circulate a 10–12 question survey for elected and appointed officials and return with draft code text in subsequent meetings. The council was invited to provide feedback on building heights, parking management strategies and the prototype parameters before formal code drafting.