February 24, 2021 | General Meeting

Voting

5-0 approving the Consent Agenda, which includes:

• Herriman volunteer citizen boards and commission appointments
• Monthly financial summary
• City Council meeting minutes for
  • January 13, 2021
  • January 27, 2021
  • February 4, 2021
  • February 18, 2021

5-0 approving a zone amendment, applying the Village Mixed Use Overlay Zone to 48.45 acres at Real Vista Drive and Academy Parkway. (see notes under "General Meeting" below)

5-0 approving a General Plan amendment for 31.9 acres located at 13374 S Rose Canyon Road from Low Density Residential to 30.4 acres of Agricultural Residential and 1.5 acres of Commercial.

5-0 approving a zone change for the above noted property to A.25 Agricultural (.25 acre lot size minimum) and 1.5 acres of C-2 Commercial. Included in the ordinance is a condition of an average of two dwelling units per acre and that 85% of the westernmost lots in the property allow uses for two large animals (which requires half-acre lots).

General Meeting

The Village Mixed Use Overlay Zone was created in November 2020. It regulates signage within commercial properties that span 40 contiguous acres. It is an overlay zone that compounds requirements with the existing base zone. The ordinance was approved, adding the VMU overlay zone to commercial property at Real Vista Drive and Academy Parkway.

Board and Committee Reports:

Councilmember Ohrn, reporting from the Wasatch Front Waste and Recycling Board, noted that WFWRD is moving forward with the transition from a special service district to a standard district, as reported in the January 27th City Council meeting. The biggest pushback from WFWRD board members is the ability of a standard district to create a tax to fund services. That is not the intent of this move, and WFWRD does not anticipate the levy of a tax. Doing so would require the support of the board, who are elected officials from member cities.

Councilmember Smith, reporting from the Utah Transit Authority Advisory Committee, noted the most recent meeting included an update on capital projects. One major project is a bus rapid transit (BRT) route in Ogden (Weber State University) that is moving forward. The other mentioned was that the Point of the Mountain's locally preferred alternative transportation is BRT. That route still has several layers of analysis and approval before construction and implementation.

Councilmember Smith, reporting from the South Valley Sewer District Board, said the sewer district also has proposed sewer line to service parts of Herriman and unincorporated areas of S.L. County, including the Olympia Hills area. After a discussion, item passed unanimously. Councilmember Smith also mentioned the sewer district’s new thermal drying facility that has been constructed. In January, the sewer district hauled in about 2 million pounds of raw waste. After the drying process was completed, only about 95k pounds of dry waste remained. This confirms that the result for the sewer district will experience a significant cost savings in terms of hauling/disposal of waste.

Councilmember Henderson reporting from the Southwest Mayors Caucus, noted that the southwest Salt Lake County cities (Herriman, Riverton, South Jordan, West Jordan, Bluffdale, Copperton), through working with local state legislator representatives, are gaining in influence at the Capitol. He noted the legislators are working as a team on behalf of the participating cities.

Councilmember Shields, reporting from the Utah League of Cities and Towns (ULCT) Legislative Policy Committee (LPC), discussed the progress of House Bill 98, and that the ULCT has moved its official stance on the bill from "opposed" to "neutral." The bill, in its original form, allowed builders in many circumstances to hire independent inspectors and essentially bypass City requirements. There has been a lot of discussion to narrow down the bill to its current state, which allows cities who work within required timelines to retain oversight and ensure safety of new building within their own boundaries. The bill has not yet been adopted in any form and is still pending.

Public Safety and Public Works Facilities Presentation

The Director of Public Works invited representatives from GSBS Architects to present their initial design of the proposed Public Safety Building and Public Works Facility. The facilities themselves are currently not budgeted nor finally approved, but have been under consideration by the City for several years. The facilities are intended to provide infrastructure for City services for immediate and future needs. Find the presentation of the design by clicking below.

Public Safety Building

Public Works Facility

Other notes

The City Attorney provided the Council with a required annual training of the Open and Public Meetings Act.

Councilmember Smith noted Herriman's high caliber of young people. He's met with two in particular lately as part of some projects and continues to be impressed.

Mayor Watts complimented the Engineering staff on the major project of updating the Engineering standards and making a (though lengthy) readable and usable document to review and understand.

There was one public comment from an individual representing the Butterfield family. The family currently owns the property located at 13374 S Rose Canyon Road that was approved for a zone change and general plan amendment later in the meeting. He noted the family has lived on the property for about 80 years and is supportive of the planned development. He also complimented the buyers who are planning the development, and said the project will be a positive addition to the community. 

Work Meeting

Olympia Hills density impact analysis

The City hired Bonneville Research in 2018 to analyze how Olympia Hills' then-proposed plan would negatively affect quality of life in Herriman. The firm concluded that the proposed development would not work based on the current general plan and City plans for a variety of reasons, chiefly the impact of Herriman City infrastructure.

The development has since been approved by Salt Lake County. Currently, the development is adjacent to—but not inside—Herriman City boundaries. During the development's approval process with the County, Herriman City was ultimately powerless over the plan.

In this meeting item, as part of a presentation and analysis, the Director of Finance recommended to the City Council to engage with the developer to discuss attempting to annex the property into Herriman City. The primary reasoning for this is that through developer impact fees, the City could offset significant costs of improving infrastructure to handle the growth. If Olympia Hills remains in Salt Lake County and outside City boundaries, the City would still need to improve its infrastructure, but without the additional funding. However, impact fees are one-time money and cannot be used to fund ongoing City services. The potential annexation of Olympia Hills would increase ongoing revenue for the City (sales tax, property tax, etc.), but also increase ongoing costs. The Council will continue to weigh all options and discuss the issue in future meetings.

Proposed City boundary re-alignment

The City of South Jordan has proposed a realignment of City boundaries at Mountain View Corridor and 11800 South. The City Council felt there is no benefit to Herriman City to make the change, and there are potential drawbacks for public safety response ambiguity and public works maintenance. The Council directed the Engineering Department to decline the change.

Harmony Woods Circle right-of-way

The City has received inquiries recently from those living around Harmony Woods Circle regarding the City's maintenance obligation for the road. The roadway is a 20' gravel road and has no utilities. The approximate cost to fund full roadway improvement and required utilities is $900,000 compared to a minor cost to continue basic plowing. The City Council has directed there be no road improvements constructed at this time.

Proposed City Code Amendments

The City Attorney, in accordance with the City Prosecutor, Animal Services, and Herriman Police, is reviewing and drafting amendments of Titles 5 and 6 (Public Safety and Vehicles and Traffic, respectively) of the Herriman City Code to identify possibilities for improvement. After a discussion, the Council is willing to consider adoption of proposed changes to Title 6 in the next meeting but will continue discussing tweaks to Title 5 in future work meetings.

Meeting agenda and video