Washington Fields zone change proposed at latest Washington City council meeting

WASHINGTON CITY — In many rural Southern Utah city council meetings, residents can always see the chief of police, fire chief and staff from the various departments that keep a town running smoothly.

Residents gather in the parking lot at city hall to celebrate the denial of a proposed zone change for a large planned development in Washington City, Utah, Wednesday, May 24, 2023 | Photo by Haven Scott, St. George News

So when a city hall is filled with residents, a land issue is usually the reason.

That could be said Wednesday evening as a packed house cleared the room seconds after the Washington City Council put the brakes on a large planned development.

The item on the agenda listed developers Conner Atkin and Quinn Allgood requesting approval to change the zoning of approximately 19.346 acres, located near the northeast corner of Washington Fields Road and George Washington Blvd., from the current Agricultural-20 Acres, or A-20, to a proposed Planned Unit Development/Commercial, PUD-C, mixed use zoning designation.

According to the council’s public information packet downloaded from the Washington City website, the project would bring a large shopping district to the area historically known for agriculture use.

“The project is showing a proposed grocery store, bank, car wash facility, office building, two small food establishments, a larger restaurant type establishment, bottom floor retail spaces with apartment units above and finally another five apartment buildings,” the packet states.

An artist rendering showing a large planned development in the Washington Fields area of Washington City, Utah, Wednesday, May 24, 2023 | Photo provided by Washington City, St. George News

Councilman Craig Coats seemed perplexed by the request when questioning the developers on their reasoning to “ramrod” a project the city planning commission had already denied unanimously.

Also unanimously, the city council voted against the zoning ordinance change.

Residents gathered in the parking lot to celebrate a victory that could be short-lived. Also included in the council’s packet was a list of 13 reasons why the planning commission denied approval for the project, most of which included changes to drainage, property walls, signage and the lack of a development agreement with the city.

The council was advised of residents concerned about a rural part of the city that in decades past had more dirt roads than paved, more horses than cars and dogs roamed without fear of getting run over.

A photo from the city council packet showing a proposed zone change for a large planned development in Washington City, Utah, Wednesday, May 24, 2023 | Photo provided by Washington City, St. George News

“Past commercial approvals have faced stiff opposition from residents who want to keep open space and farms in the ‘fields’ area, or express concern with traffic and other issues related to commercial development in an area that has seen almost exclusively residential projects,” the council was advised by City Manager Jeremy Redd. “For many years, commercial projects were not successful in receiving approval because of this resident opposition.”

Before voting against the zone change, Councilman Bret Henderson advised the council of his opinion they were “putting the cart before the horse” on the issue at hand.

“I really think we need to go back to square one on this with city staff and the planning commission,” Henderson said.

A photo from the city council packet showing a proposed zone change for a large planned development in Washington City, Utah, Wednesday, May 24, 2023 | Photo provided by Washington City, St. George News

While the Washington City planning commission ultimately denied the planned project for other concerns, they did provide an opinion to the council about the proposed zoning change.

“The requested zoning conforms to the intent of the land use designation of the General Plan,” the commission advised the council. “The utilities that will be necessary for this type of development will be readily accessible to the site.”

To end the discussion, the developer was advised to address the issues raised by the planning commission, provide a development agreement from the city and hopes from Councilman Coats that the developers can address his concerns for a rural appeal instead of resembling planned developments “in Salt Lake City.”

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

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