Reservoir, rentals, & Removals
by kathy bence
Photo courtesy of Lori Cole
On YouTube, the July 15 City Council meeting begins with the public forum. I attended the meeting and don't recall anything significant taking place before that, so I'll begin my report there.
public forum
The public forum begins here when Al Keller is the first to comment. He expressed opposition to approving a nightly rental on Westfield Road that would come up later on the agenda. It had been used as a nightly rental without a license. He said the house was advertised as sleeping 16 when the ordinance limit was 10. He said the noise levels were too loud and it felt like a party all the time.
Next to speak was David Hawkins about the July 24, Pioneer Day celebration. He was asking for the city’s help on some things. He wanted the city to become involved because it is a state holiday. He also felt the whole community should be included because it is a state holiday rather than an LDS church designed holiday.
Presentation
Chris Haramoto, Deputy Director of Utah State Parks spoke. He was joined by Cory Cram, Associate General Manager, Project Development with the Washington Water Conservancy District. The presentation and discussion begins here.
This was about the Toqerville reservoir. It will be damned up in December of this year. The water district has a committment with BLM to allow recreational activities and to provide the infrastruture such as a boat ramp and parking lot. It was stressed that the state parks are funded mostly through fees and that parks and should be self sufficient.
Business Items
A resolution supporting the transfer of responsibility for Chief Toquer Reservoir recreation area to the Division of State Parks
This tied in with the presentation. Long ago, the Toquerville City Council had planned to manage the reservoir. Mayor Caitlin said, “We don’t do this for a living, state parks do.” The city did not want to tie up funding sources to manage this reservoir.
The council voted to transfer the responsibility for the reservoir area to the state parks division. This also involved dissolving the Chief Toquer Reservoir Recreation Committee.
Nightly Rental Application for 1115 S. Westfield Road, submitted by Derek Bergstrom
This was a continuation of the public comment by Al Keller. The discussion begins here. Mr. Bergstrom gave some background and explained that he had begun renting as a nightly rental in February or March prior to having a license. He has since applied for a nightly rental license and is doing what is required to comply with the rules at this time.
The council was reluctant to grant the nightly rental application because the applicant had not been following the rules. The Mayor pointed out that ignorance of the law is not an excuse, plus the applicant continued renting after he understood the need for a license.
There was a public comment from Johanna Adam, a neighbor of the rental. She said this had been advertised as a retreat for events and parties and was inappropriate for their neighborhood.
All of this resulted in an interesting discussion. The city attorney said they needed to only consider the application before them and the house met all of the requirements.
As the Planning Commission had done, the City Council approved the nightly rental with the stipulations that quiet hours would be enforced and the occupancy would be limited to 10.
Ordinance amending the zoning map from R-1-20 to Highway Commercial
Bradley Harrell, the owner of the parcels being considered, addressed the council and the discussion begins here. His property is in Anderson Junction near the 1-15. I believe this is north of Sapp Brothers. He is requesting a zone change.
Anderson Junction resident Andre Vegas spoke against the zone change. While it was near the freeway and Old Highway 91, his community was purchased and established with the understanding that it would remain residential. He asked the council to reconsider the proposal and presented some moving arguments.
Anderson Junction resident Mike Walker commented. He said it was mean spirited to designate highway commercial zoning directly across the street from two homes that will be impacted.
For several years the general plan has designated that area as future highway commercial zoned land.
In the end, although every council member acknowledged the painful situation, the zoning was changed to Highway Commercial. This followed the Planning Commission’s recommendation.
Conditional Use Permit for Zion Toquerville Storage
Now that the zoning had changed, the discussion involved a conditional use permit for a proposed enclosed vehicle storage and rental facility off Anderson Junction Road. Bradley Harrell again spoke and the discussion begins here. It was noted that the city’s revenue from storage units is minimal.
The council approved this conditional use permit.
The next item on the agenda was tabled because not everyone involved was in attendance.
Amending the process for removing Planning Commission Members
The discussion about this ordinance begins here. While they had previously been making changes to this ordinance, the state code changed. They amended the ordinance based on state code.
The ordinance amending the process for removing a planning commission member passed.
Withdrawing support for the Washington County Drug task force
This resolution allows the staff to withdraw the financial support for the Drug Task force. The Mayor followed up on a comment (from yours truly) during a city council public forum. Thank you Mayor. The discussion begins here.
The city had committed $10,000 annually to the Washington County Sheriff's Office to help fund the Washington County Drug Task Force. This is to help provide drug enforcement services.
The question was raised why the Sheriff’s office needed extra funding for something that is not a huge problem (yet, anyway) in Toquerville, and why it wasn’t covered with the funding they already receive. Also, the Sheriff who requested the extra funding from local cities resigned after allegations of misconduct.
Mayor Caitlin and the Mayor of Leeds met with the current Sheriff to see whether or not withdrawing funding from each city would have a negative impact on services and they felt assured that it would not.
The motion passed to withdraw support of the Washington County Drug Task Force.
The Use of City materials for a Pioneer day event
The discussion begins here. This is a continuation of the public forum comment about Pioneer Day. The general idea is that they are renting the park, although the fees are waived. There was a lively discussion about what they would get for free and what the cost to the city would be. It was decided that the cost would be minimal and the Mayor offered to do some of the jobs that may incur costs.
This resolution passed approving the use of city materials for the event.
Work Items
Wildland Urban Interface Map
The Battalion Chief, Dave Harmon, who oversees wild-urban interface was fighting wild fires at the time so he couldn’t attend this meeting. City Manager Ben Billingsly described the purpose of this map. This is not a state map. The state maps affect fees and annual inspections and perhaps insurance rates. This may will affect building codes for new homes. The city council is the body who adopts the map.
The discussion was tabled.
Calendar
Saturday, July 25 Pioneer Day celebration at Center Street Park; parade begins at 8:00 a.m. The breakfast and program begins at 9 a.m.