Property on Fairgrounds Road used for a construction company until last year became a topic of discussion at the county planning and zoning board meeting last Tuesday.
Nelco Construction owner Neil Frandsen approached the board with a proposal for the property. But until the plan can be studied, the ideas will remain on hold.
“The county erred into letting it evolve into what it was,” commented county planning director Dave Levanger, referring to the fact that RR-1 property in a residential area was allowed to be used for a construction company for years.
“Part of the agreement with the company was that, when they moved their operation to Four Mile Hill, the place would go back into compliance. Because of that, I’m not sure it would be appropriate for it go commercial at this time,” pointed out Levanger.
Frandsen appeared at the board meeting to request that the zoning classification on the property be changed to C-1.
“Originally, we had a good thing going with some storage for the forest service. But what I am looking to do now is to bring some low key renters onto the property, the kinds of things that don’t require a lot of traffic,” explained Frandsen. “I just want it to be in compliance with those activities.
One of the problems when the construction company was located at the site had involved the traffic and the parking, pointed out planning board member Richard Tatton.
At one point, the possibility of issuing a conditional use permit to allow non-residential use on the property came up at the meeting.
But assistant zoning administrator Gayla Williams indicated that residential zones “don’t allow for conditional use permits.”
“Part of the problem is that Neil’s home occupies about a half an acre of the property,” explained Levanger. “That ties in with the surrounding property. But if we zone the rest commercial, it is an island in a sea of residential zoning.”
The discussion continued regarding the pros and cons of granting the zoning change request. The board members reviewed how Nelco Construction had expanded onto another piece of property and cleaned it up in the process.
The suggestion was also made that Frandsen may want to look at building houses on the property. But it was pointed out that there is a considerable investment in the various buildings already on the property. A storage option was also suggested.
“I want to be flexible on this, but I feel I need to say something about the situation,” stated Frandsen. “I took that piece of property and made it into a viable business. This community seems to be always spending so much money on getting outside businesses here, but sometimes don’t pay attention to those that are already in place. I don’t expect a red carpet, but we do deserve to get something out of what we have built there.”
After a little more discussion it was decided that the commission would table the issue for now and form a sub-committee to study the situation
“I appreciate what Nelco has done,” stated Levanger as the issue was winding up. “We, as a county, just stood by and watched the business develop on residential property. I have felt for a long time that we need to find ways for various zones to exist together in a better way. For instance there are many places in Utah County where first class commercial development is next to residential areas. Maybe we need a new way of looking at this, some kind of hybrid system.”
In another matter the commission also looked at another zoning situation concerning commercial development. Frank Perla, who runs a wood work and plastics shop wants to move from Carbonville to a location formally known as The Highway Rendezvous in Spring Glen.
“I just need a bigger building,” said Perla. “The property on two sides of the property is zoned C-2 and there are commercial buildings and a farm field on another.”
Perla was requesting a C-2 zoning, but commission member Lynna Topolovec said that she would like to see it be a C-1 instead.
“I am just worried about C-2 zones expanding in Spring Glen,” she stated. “We seem to already have too many of those, like truck terminals in the middle of residential areas.”
Levanger pointed out that Perla’s request would not be spot zoning or expansion, but that the property is right along side other C-2 zoning that presently exists.
The commission decided to recommend the C-2 zoning request.
The commission also gave preliminary approval for phase III of the Hill Subdivision, which actually consists of one large lot.
In the final minutes of the meeting the commission discussed a petition from the Spring Glen area concerning road and water pressure issues that the commission had recently received. The staff will be doing some research on the issue in the next month and will get back to the commission at a future meeting.
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