Public Comment
Marisa Wright - Is a member of Preserve and Protect American Fork Canyon. Board of Adjustment in Utah County is meeting next month and could approve Snowbird project. This group has done a lot of research and water issue is a big issue. Mine tailings could be disrupted very easily if Snowbird puts in a lift. Recently a Jeep damaged one of the mine tailing plugs and hasn't been fixed. Contamination could be life-threatening to fish and wildlife in the Canyon. Feels the writing in our resolution may not be strong enough. Would like wording adding that we will give legal help to this effort.
TJ Lockbach - Noticed there isn't a community garden nearby and would like to know if the city is interested in establishing one.
Bill Knowlton - Has lived in Cedar Hills for a little over a year and loves the city. Thanks the elected officials for dealing with tactics of sovereign citizens that are trying to run roughshod over the city. Said to keep the faith and not get scared. Residents support officials in the city, as does the state and nation.
City Reports
David Bunker - This Saturday ULCT is hosting a municipal officials training, geared to new city officials. Jr Jazz has started. City BYU Basketball night is January 30th and tickets are available on city website.
Mike Geddes - Utah Valley Dispatch met last week to discuss new building under construction. It has been delayed because of weather, but all piers are now in place. On schedule to finish by the end of September. They are in serious need of employees so asking everyone to spread the word.
Mayor Gygi - Each Council member is required to have annual Open & Public Meetings training. You can view ULCT training online. LPPSD meeting was used to discuss personnel issues.
Rob Crawley - Thanks Council and staff for working to get resolution done tonight.
Ben Bailey - Gave condolences to family to officer killed in Salt Lake City.
Review/Action on Acceptance of 2015 Fiscal Year Audit
Annually we contract with independent auditors to review the basic financial statements. The independent auditors are expected to obtain reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free from material misstatement and are fairly presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
This is our first audit with Keddington & Christensen. They report they did not encounter any difficulties in performing the audit. There were no adjustments, no unrecorded misstatements for presentation, no disagreements with management that couldn't be resolved. The city only received one finding, and that was for having an unrestricted General Fund balance that exceeded the limit of 25% of current year revenues. We were over by $160,995. This was moved to the Capital Projects Fund.
The audit was unanimously accepted.
Discussion on Zoning Ordinance and General Plan
Based on the City Councils decision to enact a temporary land use regulation in the SC-1 Commercial Zone on November 17, 2015, staff is recommending that the City Council consider the hiring of a professional firm to assist in the revision of the City’s General Plan, Cedar Hills Municipal Code, and the Guidelines for the Design and Review of Planned Commercial Development Projects. Because the City only has six months to complete all of these revisions, and based on the fact that the revisions need to reflect current Utah State Code, as well as the industry’s established best practices, it is essential that the revision process begin immediately. Staff will continue to meet with Mayor Gygi and various members of the City Council to prepare the General Plan, Land Use Element, various elements of the City Code, and the Design Guidelines for review by both the Planning Commission and then for adoption by the City Council.
Last week, CM Zappala, Rees, Mayor Gygi, Chandler Goodwin, and David Driggs met to start discussing the commercial zone. The initial thoughts are that we need to determine if there should be subzones, and if so, what that should look like, and what uses should be permitted or conditional. Suggestion is that we have medium intensity uses for the eastern portion of the Smart property, then keep the rest of the zone neighborhood retail. There would be requirements in place to create a buffer between between the property and the residential homes so they are not negatively impacted. This would allow for commercial uses on the east and west side of the proposed 4700 South, which may be more attractive to businesses as it has direct street access.
One area I'd really like to focus on is the intent of the zone. Our current zoning ordinance says:
The SC-1 zone is established to provide an area in which the primary use of land is for commercial and service uses to serve the needs of the community and surrounding area and is located in the portion of the city most appropriately suited for the purpose. It is intended that development within the zone shall be characterized by a harmonious grouping of commercial stores and shops and essential ancillary uses(parking, signs, landscape features) architecturally designed and functioning as an integrated unit. Clean, well lighted parking lots, readily accessible from adjacent streets, and attractive, well maintained shops with significant peripheral and on site landscaping will be characteristic of development within this zone. It is the specific intent that architectural design and character of operation shall, to the maximum extent possible, be compatible with that of surrounding residential environment, and review, approval and attachment of conditions upon development within the zone will be predicated upon the accomplishment of this objective. (Ord. 10-11-95A, 10-11-1995)
It's important that, whatever we list as a permitted or conditional use, meets the intent of the zone as defined above. If we want to allow for other uses that don't meet this intent, then we need to change the intent of the zone. If we want to keep it more of a small town feel that is compatible with the surrounding residential environment, then we should list the uses to comply. We are going to send a 4 question survey to residents to get a feel for which direction they would like to go - more of what is outlined in our current zoning ordinance, or to make it more open to commercial uses.
Discussion on Half-way Houses
Recently an inquiry was made to the city regarding the development of a half-way house for
recovering alcoholics. An inquiry was made to city attorney, David Shaw to advise on the options
available to the City when it comes to these types of facilities. Current city code does not define a
half-way house or other rehabilitation-type facilities. The closest definition currently in the code is for assisted living facilities or as the single family definition of four unrelated individuals living in the same dwelling. An assisted living facility could house persons with disabilities; our current assisted living code would allow for up to 16 occupants to be housed in the same facility in a residential zone.
HUD has definitions on housing for individuals with disabilities. Alcoholism is considered a disability under the Fair Housing Act. It is unlawful to prohibit these types of facilities. Alpine recently dealt with this same situation. The city turned it down, and it was appealed. A settlement was entered into allowing for a 16-bed facility in the residential area. It appears that we can require that the facility meets similar conditions we place on assisted living facility in a residential area, but cannot deny it completely. This is being researched by staff, but no application has been made.
Review/Action on Resolution Regarding American Fork Canyon
Public Comment
Mark Allen - Founder of Protect and Preserve Canyon. Group now has 10,200 people. Was here the last time we passed a resolution. Has issued many GRAMA requests to find out how we've gotten to where we are and has discovered many concerning things. Four email accounts have been deleted. Some mayors have not responded to requests. Is waiting on a GRAMA request from Cedar Hills. Said he was happy that Mayor Gygi did not go on the Switzerland trip, but other elected officials from other cities have. Largest campaign donor to Mayor Ben McAdams was Snowbird. Would like us to add a requirement for an Environmental Impact Study in our Resolution. Snowbird needs to clean up their land, just like other groups such as Geneva Steel has done. Formal decisions shouldn't be made until more research and studies have been done.
Protect and Preserve has asked the Council to issue another resolution expressing the desire to protect the watershed in the Canyon and asking the Board of Adjustment for Utah County to deny Snowbird's request for a conditional use permit. The resolution reads as follows:
WHEREAS, Cedar Hills has environmental, economic, social, and historical interests in American Fork Canyon; and
WHEREAS, Cedar Hills desires to establish best practices and policies regarding the management and care of the Canyon; and
WHEREAS, Cedar Hills has an obligation and a vested interest to protect the watershed, and the sources and quantities of water; and
WHEREAS Cedar Hills is committed to protecting the health, safety, and
welfare of its residents, and
WHEREAS, there is a potential for a negative impact on the City water system; and
WHEREAS, there is a need to balance new development with existing recreational uses in the Canyon that value isolation and the natural mountain environment.
NOW THEREFORE BE IS RESOLVED:
The City of Cedar Hills believes that the proposed development by Snowbird does not meet the intent of the CE-1 zone listed in Utah County code sections 5-5-A-2 and 5-5-A-3 and does not meet the conditions listed in Utah County code sections 3-47-H-3 and 3-47-H-7;
The City of Cedar Hills urges the Utah County Board of Adjustment to consider the potential impact on area watershed and water supply and require the applicant to provide all applicable studies to address this issue, including the long term effect of any undesirable elements that could be transferred to the ground water; and
The City of Cedar Hills encourages the Utah County Board of Adjustment to maintain existing easements and public access to the land; and
The City of Cedar Hills encourages the Utah County Board of Adjustment to request Utah County staff and elected officials to obtain additional input from stakeholders that use the surrounding property and commission an independent developmental and environmental impact report that is free from bias of the developer; and
The City of Cedar Hills urges the Utah County Commission to establish a transparent, public, and collaborative process for coordinating the land uses in American Fork Canyon that brings together all interested stakeholders, similar to the Mountain Accord process that has been used successfully in Salt Lake County; and
The City of Cedar Hills urges the Utah County Commission to suspend further development in American Fork Canyon until such a collaborative process has been completed.
This was unanimously approved.
Discussion on Payment to Eric Johnson for Legal Fees
The Golf Course Committee requested legal advice while doing their research, though they did not have a budget provided to them. During those meetings, our current and former attorneys were in attendance to answer questions, and emails were directed to both of them as well. Our current attorney was paid for his time, but our former attorney's invoice was denied as there was not a current contract with them and three members of the Council expressed to the City Manager they did not want to pay for this invoice. It was requested this come to the Council for further discussion.
CM Geddes gave an example of the Parks & Trails Committee wanting funds for architectural designs for the roundabout. They had to come to the Council for approval. This is the same thing that should have happened with the Golf Committee. There was a breakdown in communication and not the fault of anyone in particular. I have requested that we have an agenda item for our meeting in two weeks on a policy regarding committee use of city funds, committees & council members authorizing work from others who are not staff members, and handling invoices for work that wasn't previously approved by the Council. The entire Council and staff agreed this is a good idea, we need to make sure we all understand how funds are being spent.
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