Town of Daniel
Town Council Meeting and Public Hearing Minutes
January 5, 2009
Wasatch County Services building
Room 132
55 South 500 East
Heber City, Utah
5:30 PM
This regularly scheduled meeting was held in conjunction with a joint Public Hearing of the Daniel Town Planning Commission and Daniel Town Council.
Quorum present: Mayor Mike Duggin, Council members Heather Bateman, Jon Blotter, Eric Bunker, and Gary Walton. Recorder Merry Duggin was present to record the minutes.
Members of the public signing as being in attendance: Darwin McGuire, Ryan Taylor, Harry and Vickie Weyandt, Mike Petersen, Paul Berg, Kipp Bangerter, Kathy Jo and Jim Percy, Cordell and Julie Peters, Lambert Deegan, Brock and Shane Carlson, Teri Welch, Lauri Klenk, Terry Heftel, Sara Blotter, Carson Clark, Karin Cottle, Rachel Rodgers, Rebekah Tozier, Karen Tozier, Barbara Martinez, Stephanie Villareal. The Recorder noted others present who did not sign the roster and are not listed above.
Mayor Duggin brought the meeting to order at 5:33 PM, and he opened the meeting with item number 8 on the agenda APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF DECEMBER 1, 2008 MEETING. Council member Bunker moved to accept the minutes as presented. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Walton, and the motion passed by a unanimous vote.
- BUSINESS LICENSE APPLICANTS
Julie Peters of 6 Dimensions Consulting formerly licensed in Bountiful, UT requested a new Daniel business license for her consulting business which she operates by email and phone from her home office at 2080 E. Little Sweden Road. Council member Blotter moved that this business license be approved. The motion was seconded by Council member Walton, and the motion passed by a unanimous vote.
Jill Bonner requested a license for Jill’s Beauty Shop located at her home at 20 E. Little Sweden Road formerly licensed by Wasatch County and has been operating for many years. Council member Walton moved that the license be approved, and the motion was seconded by Council member Bateman. The motion passed with a unanimous vote.
Council member Bunker informed the applicants that the future renewals of these licenses would be by mail and would not require another appearance before the Town Council unless a complaint should be filed or there is some other problem with their business that would require their appearance.
- INFORMATIONAL PRESENTATION ON WINDMILL POWER BY DANIEL RESIDENT JIM MCCLEARY. Mr. McCleary was ill and not present at this meeting and will make his presentation at some future meeting.
- CONSIDERATION OF AN ORDINANCE TO ADOPT CORPORATE SEAL FOR TOWN OF DANIEL. Recorder Merry Duggin explained that Daniel has not adopted a design for a corporate seal and proposed a few “humorous” designs. Ms. Duggin read ordinance DO 2009-01-05A proposing adoption of a corporate seal. Council member Bunker moved to accept the ordinance and seal as proposed by Ms. Duggin. Council member Blotter seconded the motion, and the motion passed with a unanimous vote.
- APPOINTMENT OF NEW PLANNING COMMISSION MEMBER
Council member Bunker explained that Francis Smith had submitted his resignation from the Planning Commission, and the vacancy had been noticed in the Provo Daily Herald, Wasatch Wave, the Town website, and posted in public places. Applicant Kim Norris, with a background of construction as a general and commercial contractor spoke concerning his qualifications. Council member Bunker noted that Mr. Norris has built his home in Daniel so he has experience with Daniel Town’s permitting process as well. Council member Walton moved to appoint Mr. Norris as a member of the Planning Commission to fulfill Mr. Smith’s term. The motion was seconded by Council member Blotter, and the motion passed by a unanimous vote.
- PUBLIC HEARING TO HEAR COMMENT FOR AND/OR AGAINST A ZONE CHANGE REQUEST BY MR. HARRY WEYANDT FOR PROPERTY LOCATED AT 2855 S. HWY 189 IN DANIEL FROM RA5 TO COMMERCIAL
The mayor turned the meeting over to Council member Bunker at 5:48 PM. As Chair of the Planning Commission, Mr. Bunker called the Planning Commission members forward. A quorum was present: Diane Grose, Barry Hobbs, Kim Norris, Eric Bunker, and Gary Weight (arrived late). Mr. Pressgrove was excused.
Diane Grose moved to open the public hearing, and the motion was seconded by Barry Hobbs. The motion passed by a unanimous vote.
After distributing information packets to the commission, Mr. Harry Weyandt discussed his acquisition of the property and his desire to master plan the entire 10 acres he now owns. He introduced his team: Lane Lythgoe, architect; Paul Berg, engineer; Mike Petersen, builder; and Rick Kinateder, concept artist. He discussed his concept of developing a project with a variety of retail businesses that would benefit Daniel by generating tax revenues. Nitro Pak will be the anchor business, but there are 3 parts to his plan. A fuel station built on approximately 1 ½ acres to accommodate trailers and large vehicles would bring customers into the development, retail businesses would benefit from these same customers, and the third part would be a business storage and warehouse complex. The 3 parts must work together in a synergistic way, and he believed that the project meets and exceeds the expectations of the general plan for Daniel.
He would like to use the Silver Creek complex in Park City as an example of the design and feel for the project with rustic wood and stone and a monument sign for the Town of Daniel at the entrance of the project and our town. He proposed that the Nitro Pak building will be the “greenest” building in Wasatch County, and he asked Mr. Lythgoe to explain the LEED (Leadership in Energy in Environmental Design) designation that he is striving to achieve. The building will utilize geothermal, solar, recycled materials, etc. Mr. Weyandt offered artist renditions of the buildings and concept design as he proposed it.
During the PUBLIC portion of the Public Hearing the following commentators gave their comments:
Lambert Deegan voiced concerns about the following: advertising signs, directional signs and other signage, night time lighting, traffic problems at the intersection, parking. He commented that the design needs work to make it feasible for local residents.
Shelly Bunker supported the project. She commented that the lights from the transfer station are already objectionable. No one wants to live around the transfer station and county building. We need tax revenue, and it makes sense to zone this property commercial.
Jim Percy had concerns for the increased traffic that will occur on 3000 South, and he hoped that this would not become the bypass that Daniel has fought for so many years.
Mayor Mike Duggin showed an aerial photograph of the area illustrating that the property is directly in line with the Heber City airport runway. He offered the opinion that there is not a better spot in town for commercial property, and he couldn’t imagine a more elegant entry into our town than the one depicted in the artist’s rendition. The project could provide employment opportunities for our young people.
Teri Welch had praise for Mike Peterson’s building history. She pointed out that our town currently has no property tax, and we need to find a location and design that will bring tax revenue into our town. She believed that “these gentlemen are sincere and really want to do this”.
Kipp Bangerter spoke in favor of the concept plan and felt this was the best location for it. He noted that traffic is already coming up 3000 South, but he did not believe that large diesel trucks would use our residential roads.
Terry Heftel testified that Harry Weyandt has always carried through on his projects. He believed that commercial zoning should be in this location and favored the project.
Merry Duggin noted that this project might provide jobs for some of our citizens who require a job, shopping would be convenient for our citizens, and she commented on the beauty and environmental friendly design of the proposed project. She also noted that if a person wishes to drive on 3000 South, no one can prevent that as it is a public road.
Vickie Weyandt commented that as a non resident of the area she wouldn’t get off the main highway and use residential streets for fear of getting lost.
Council member Jon Blotter asked for an estimate of the tax revenue that Mr. Weyandt believed would benefit the town. Mr. Weyandt replied that his estimate was between $3,500 and $5,000.
To answer some of the concerns of the public, Mr. Weyandt indicated that the project would have a block wall on the eastern edge to buffer the adjoining property. There would be a 20’ buffer between commercial and residential zones. Signage would be installed to direct traffic back to 189 and not encourage use of 3000 South. Paul Berg is planning to work with UDOT to change the intersection and move the present driveway on HWY 189 to a new alignment. Lane Lythgoe commented that canopy lights would be used to avoid light pollution and would probably be more restrictive than Daniel Town ordinances currently require.
Planning member Barry Hobbs moved to close the public portion of the hearing. Mr. Gary Weight seconded the motion, and the vote was unanimous.
The Planning Commission opened their discussion with a comment from Mr. Hobbs that though the design appeared to be beautiful, once the zone change was approved Mr. Weyandt could sell the property and many other things could be built on the property. Ms. Diane Grose noted that we consider only one application at a time, and we were currently considering only this application.
Mr. Hobbs also believed that the traffic issues are substantial and could become a problem.
Mr. Gary Weight noted that even if we have no guarantee that his project will be completed as illustrated, we could have this project or sound barriers from the airport. He also noted Mr. Weyandt’s willingness to work with the town, and stated that if Daniel is going to have a commercial zone, then this would be the place to put it.
Mr. Hobbs moved that the Planning Commission recommend to the Town Council to approve the zone change from RA 5 to Commercial. Ms. Grose made the second, and the following commissioners voted to recommend approval: Weight, Hobbs, Norris, Grose. There were no nays.
The motion to adjourn the Public Hearing was made by Diane Grose. And the meeting was turned back over to Mayor Duggin and the Town Council.
- POSSIBLE CONSIDERATION OF AN ORDINANCE AUTORIZING A ZONE CHANGE FROM RA 5 TO COMMERCIAL FOR PROPERTY LOCATED AT 2855 S HWY 189
Upon receiving the above recommendation from the Planning Commission, the Daniel Town Council reconvened at 7:15 PM. Mayor Duggin read DO 2009-01-05B which would approve the zone change from RA 5 to Commercial for property located at 2855 S Hwy 189 and asked for discussion from the Council members. Council member Blotter was very concerned about traffic problems that could occur on 3000 South. Mayor Duggin responded that a town is not able to close traffic to a road that has been public for 10 years. Mr. Blotter asked the applicant to consider putting the fuel station farther north away from the intersection or consider eliminating one of the entrance/exits to the project onto 3000 South. Council member Walton hoped that the proposed future bypass road from Hwy 189 to Hwy 40 east would become a reality and relieve the bottleneck at 189/40 intersection. Mr. Bunker said, “I like it.”
Council member Bunker moved to approve the zone change from RA5 to Commercial at 2855 S Hwy 189, and Council member Walton made the second. The Council voted unanimously to approve the zone change, and the ordinance was passed and approved.
- COMMITTEE REPORTS
Recorder Merry Duggin announced that a court hearing has been scheduled for Feb. 10, 2009 for the Town’s Motion for Summary Judgment against West Daniels Land Association.
- This item was taken out of order and was considered at the beginning of the meeting.
- ADJOURN
Council member Walton moved to adjourn. The motion was seconded by Council members Bateman/Blotter. The vote was unanimous to adjourn, and the mayor adjourned the meeting at 7:30 PM.
Merry Duggin,
Daniel Town Recorder