Midway City Planner to Write Code for C-4 Zone (Part one of two)
by Robin M Johnson
Currently zoned commercial (C-2) the land south of memorial hill, between 400 East and 700 East, is the largest open space left on Main Street. Four recent proposed developments in the area include two commercial applications for storage units, totaling over 900 between both, and two residential applications, one PUD and one subdivision. Henke said the planning commission was not happy with any of the proposals.
Storage units do not meet the city's mission statement, according to Henke. They do not create a tax base, add vibrancy to the community, and are not useful to the entire communtiy. One storage unit application was dropped, the other completed the process but the developer did not act and the application is now expired. Henke said storage units have since been removed from city code.
Residential aplications "are not a beneficial use in the commercial zone", Henke said ."Midway City's general plan allows for 97% residental development and only 3% commercial. We need to make sure this is protectted as commercial. Most of it is already in the C-2 zone. "
Vibrant communities need a healthy commercial district. Henke said 'for every dollar the city collects in property tax on a home, it spends $1.16 to provide city services' to that home. One of the main reasons for commercial zones is to create a tax base. Commercial developments pay the way for existing residentail because the city collects sales tax from businesses. From the commercial tax base the city provides services to the community.
When the 2020 Census is released Midway City will lose $450.000 per year in Tourism tax revenue. The state of Utah uses a formula based on population compared to the number of nightly rentals available in the community to determine qualification to apply for collecting the tax. In 2010, with the building of Zermatt, Midway City met that requirement. Henke said Midway will need about 450 additional hotel rooms, basically another Zermatt, after the 2020 Census is published. Currently there are no applications for more nightly rentals.
Vision for the C-4 zone is to tighten the use in this specific commercial area as a guide to developers for what types of development are appropriate. It is proposed as mixed use for tourism, retail, residential and a center for the arts. The number of permitted and conditional uses will be reduced in the C-4 zone. It will have a central plaza for gathering, a walkable space with narrow streets to cross, a water feature, an outdoor stage to double as an ice rink, a theater for the arts, retail businesses, restaurants, residential in the form of apartments, and more emphasis on pedestrians than vehicles. The arts center/amphitheater is envisioned as the anchor. Developers who donate land for desired gathering areas and physical features will be given incentives such as higher density.
Natalie Streator, planning commision member, asked Henke if he could have new code in some kind of written form for more discussion by their next meeting in two weeks. Stu Waldrip, planning commission member, asked Henke if it could be ready in final form for submission to the city council by next month. Henke said he would work on the new code at the expense of other things happening in the city to have it ready.
Note:
Approxiamtely forty residents gave input to the Midway City Planning Commission Wednesday night. Although no Public Hearing was scheduled, Mickey Oksner, planning commission chairman, opened the floor to public comment.
Resident Concerns to follow.
